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HERD PERFORMANCE
Veterinary surgeon
Mike Thorne
XLVets practice
Farm Veterinary
Solutions, Rutland
MIKE THORNE
FARM VETERINARY SOLUTIONS
A small price to pay
for good health, fertility and
herd performance
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
Leicestershire dairy farming couple Nigel and
Suzanne Smith maintain the good health,
fertility and productivity of their herd, working
together with their vet, Mike Thorne of Farm
Vet Solutions.
Mike makes regular fertility visits at key times of
the year, and advises the Smiths on all aspects
of herd health on an ongoing basis. Each
year, Mike and the Smiths also review the
annual 'vet spend' using a computer-generated
report which itemises the costs incurred in
maintaining good herd health, and links these
to herd performance. In the latest review,
the investment in health amounted to just
0.61pence per litre of milk (ppl) produced.
The Smiths milk 230 cows at Marriott Farm,
near Lutterworth. Cows have access to
grazing in the summer, and the herd yields
around 8,300 litres/cow.
The milk contract is focused on the supply of
winter milk, so calving has a seasonal bias
and Mike only needs to make fertility visits
over the autumn and winter months.
Mike explains: ‘Some herds have moved
away from all-year round breeding and
adopted block or seasonal calving. So
fertility visits are tailored to the needs of the
farm. They also provide the opportunity to
discuss other aspects of herd health, check
youngstock and dry cows.’
In the autumn of 2011, the Smiths installed a
heat detection system to help reduce their
calving interval, and also keep milk supply in
line with the demands of the contract. They
opted for motion-sensing collars which signal
to a central computer when cows are showing
signs of heat.
This system has improved the detection of
return to heats at 21 days (see Figure 1).
Overall, it has helped bring calving interval
down from over 420 days to around 411.
However, such systems are not the total
solution, as Mike explains: ‘Around 20% of
high yielding cows will have silent heats. So
a proportion of cows will still need veterinary
intervention so they can be assigned to
synchronisation programmes and fixed
time AI.’
He adds: ‘Silent heats can also occur when
diets are low in copper. Farms using bore
holes should also be aware that the water
can be high in iron which will bind the copper
and reduce its availability to the cow.’
The herd at Marriott Farm has a 100d
in-calf rate of 42% - not far off the target
of 50%. Calving interval is 411 days;
replacement rate is 23%.
Nigel explains: ‘Back in 2005 we had
150 cows and we've expanded the herd
largely using our own home-bred
replacements. So it's been important to
keep involuntary culling to a minimum,
and that includes not losing cows for failure
to breed.’
Good herd fertility
Suzanne and Nigel Smith