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XLVets
member practices
608 Farm and Equine Veterinary Surgeons
Allen and Partners
Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group
Ardene House Vet Practice
Armour Veterinary Centre
Belmont Veterinary Centre
Bishopton Veterinary Group
Cain Veterinary Centre
Calweton Veterinary Group
Capontree Veterinary Centre
Castle Veterinary Practice
Chapelfield Veterinary Partnership
Cliffe Veterinary Group
Clyde Vets
Donald S McGregor & Partners
Drove Veterinary Hospital
Dunmuir Veterinary Group
Endell Veterinary Group
Farm First Veterinary Services
Fenton Vets
Fenwold Veterinary Practice
Friars Moor Veterinary Clinic
Glenthorne Veterinary Group
Hook Norton Veterinary Group
Kingsway Veterinary Group
Lambert, Leonard & May
Larkmead Veterinary Group
Midshire Veterinary Group
Millcroft Veterinary Group
Minster Veterinary Practice
Northvet Veterinary Group
Paragon Veterinary Group
Parklands Veterinary Group
Penbode Veterinary Group
ProStock Vets
Rosevean Veterinary Practice
Rutland Veterinary Centre
Scarsdale Veterinary Group
Scott Mitchell Associates
Severn Edge Veterinary Group
Shepton Veterinary Group
Shropshire Farm Vets
St Boniface Veterinary Clinic
Synergy Farm Health
Thrums Veterinary Group
Tyndale Vets
Wensum Valley Veterinary Surgeons
Westmorland Veterinary Group
Willows Veterinary Group
Wright & Morten
XLVets
is a novel and exciting initiative
conceived from within the veterinary profession.
We are all independently owned, progressive
veterinary practices located throughout the
United Kingdom committed to working together
for the benefit of our clients.
SPRING EDITION
C O N T E N T S
Livestock Matters
is published by:
XLVet UK Ltd, Carlisle House
Townhead Road, Dalston
Carlisle CA5 7JF
Tel: (01228) 711788
*This publication is supplied free of charge to
farm clients of XLVets member practices.
© XLVet UK Ltd
No part of this publication may be reproduced
without prior permission of the publisher.
Disclaimer:
XLVets does not necessarily share the views of
contributors. No responsibility can be accepted
for opinions expressed by contributors, or claims
made by advertisers within this publication.
ANIMAL HEALTH
07
Cattle healthcare and management:
John Cammack, Glenthorne Veterinary
Group takes a look behind the scenes
at the healthcare and management of a
top-yielding British Friesian herd.
10
Avoiding lameness through attention
to farm roadways and an understanding
of cow behaviour:
Tom Ryan, Teagasc, and XLVets Ireland’s
Ger Cusack, Comeragh Veterinary
Practice look at how white line disease
is affected by the design and condition
of farm roadways and cow tracks.
13
Protecting dairy cow health and
production in the transition period:
An overview from Dr Finbar Mulligan,
School of Veterinary Medicine, Dublin,
of the nutrition and production diseases
of the transition cow, presented at the
XLVets’ annual conference in October
last year.
15
Giving lambs the best start:
Josh Batterham, Fenton Vets, highlights
the potential pitfalls that must be avoided
to successfully rear healthy lambs.
INDUSTRY FEATURE
17
DairyCo Mastitis Plan:
Tyndale Vets explain how the use of the
DairyCo Mastitis Plan has helped reduce
the number of clinical cases of mastitis
on one dairy farm.
THE ED I TOR
Welcome to the
‘Spring’
issue of Livestock Matters
In this issue we have the second two
articles from the XLVets international
farm meeting that took place in Cork
in the Autumn.
The first takes a look at how we can avoid
lameness by focusing on cow flow and
considering roadways and cow track
design. In the second article we have
advice on care of the transition cow,
concentrating on managing body condition
score and negative energy balance.
We also take a look behind the scenes at
Gold Cup finalist, James Tomlinson's farm
and learn more about calf rearing on the
farm. With lambing well underway for
many, James Batterham from Fenton Vets
guides us through giving lambs the best
start and tips for rearing healthy lambs.
Finally we welcome our two new 'Student
Diaries' columnists; Alice, who is in her
third year at Edinburgh University and
Antonia, a veterinary student at the Royal
Veterinary College, who is also the proud
owner of a small herd of dairy goats.
Over the coming issues Alice and Antonia
are going to take us through a year of their
studies and give us an insight into life as a
vet student at their respective universities.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Joanne Sharpe
XLVets
25
Student Diaries:
We welcome our new veterinary students
Alice McLeish and Antonia Matthews as
we follow them over the next year of
their studies.
FARMSKILLS TRAINING
23
FarmSkills:
Dairy cow lameness and foot trimming.
SPRING FEATURE
Ian Cure, Lambert, Leonard & May reports from
Bilsborrow Hall Farm near Preston on the results
achieved since the installation of a new calf
shed and we see how these changes led to
them being runner-up in last year’s NMR/RABDF
Gold Cup award.
19
A new calf shed for award-winning dairy herd
has benefits for both calves and calf-rearer!