Getting a vets perspective on potential herd health improvements can help farmers put practical and effective measures in place, but it is important to make the most of regular vet visits. Dairy Farmer reports.
Having a fresh pair of eyes in the form of a vet can help identify issues with herd health and highlight ways to improve disease prevention on-farm.
As vets are seeing cows less often, they can be more likely to spot things which may get missed day-to-day, according to Nicole Baldry, MSD Animal Healths dairy technical adviser.
She says: When working in practice, I found there could be a significant discrepancy between farmer and vet perceptions of issues such as lameness and respiratory health.
"You get used to your normal, such as a particular cow being lame, or calves always coughing in a certain shed - things you see on your farm day in and day out.
"Especially on a dairy farm, where farmers are seeing cows walk in and out of the parlour twice a day, you are constantly surrounded by the herd.
She adds favourite cow bias is real.
She says: Emotional attachment can be a barrier which affects business savvy decision-making, hence why it is really useful to have someone who is one step removed from the herd.
"It can be a lot clearer for a vet to assess the true picture of individual animal health and disease prevention protocols and also notice any problems getting worse.
What is viewed as an acceptable level of disease differs from farm to farm and sometimes people are not sure of what is acceptable, whether that is what is normal in comparison to other farms or if they could do better.
This can be an issue with mastitis, for example, Dr Baldry says: Unless you have the wider picture of what good disease management looks like, it can be difficult to gauge how well you are doing, especially if you are not experiencing obvious signs of disease within your herd.
"It should not take a dramatic problem, such as disease outbreak, for farmers to make improvements to herd health and welfare.
The sooner you spot a problem, the sooner you can prevent it from getting any worse. Your vet can help pick up on early indications of an underlying issue and help you put management protocols in place to prevent it escalating.
Routine vet visits are a valuable farm investment to help continually protect and improve herd health and performance.
During these visits, vets can vocalise their observations and have an open conversation with farmers to help build a full picture before suggesting some practical solutions, based on what is working on other farms, she says.
It can also be useful to make time to look at different age groups of stock, advises Dr Baldry.
In practice, I would try to look at different age groups during routine dairy visits. If we had not discussed youngstock in a while, I would suggest looking at the calves with the farmer, to see whether there was anything we could do to support calf health and growth, she says.
There is a risk that dairy vets may not go much further than the parlour or a race, where cows are presented for a routine check.
Once every couple of months, I would recommend farmers take their vet for a wider look around the farm on their routine visit, to help make connections between herd health concerns and potential causes.
If something has changed, always get your vet to have a look. To get to the bottom of the issues, you always need to ask why.
Vet observations should not be viewed as a criticism; this is a starting point for conversations on ways to proactively improve.
To help with creating a full picture for your vet, Dr Baldry recommends the whole farm team are engaged in reviewing herd health routines and processes. They should also be encouraged to put forward ideas for improvements.
It is a great idea to get relief milkers and calf rearers involved in routine vet visits if you can they spend a lot of time with the herd and may be the first to spot things.
She says that WhatsApp groups can work well for communicating observations and routine changes within large teams on bigger farms.
If the whole farm team understands why they are being asked to do things such as a new herd vaccination routine, it can help people become more receptive to changes too, she says.
It is more likely to not just be seen as extra work.
Although time is often tight on-farm, spending a little more time upfront explaining different protocols and the reasons for changes can pay dividends in the long run.
BOX OUT: Getting the most out of your vet visits
Use routine vet visits to assess different areas of herd health and not just for pregnancy diagnosis
Source outside expertise to help with areas such as mobility scoring to give a true reflection of herd health
Involve the whole team when carrying out a herd health plan and explain why things such as vaccination are being carried out and ensure they understand protocols
