Animal Health

With over 20 different species affecting livestock in the UK, flies are one of the biggest ectoparasite problems faced by farmers across the country. From loss of productivity due to reduced grazing time, through to acting as a vector for diseases, the impact of flies can be significant and, if not appropriately controlled, can even result in livestock fatalities.

Sheep flocks often suffer from an increase in lameness during the later summer months, so much so that shepherds are being urged to implement disease mitigation measures in the run up to weaning.

Vets are calling on the retail and food service sector to give priority to British produce, even if future trade deals enable the import of foods produced to lower standards.

Willows Vet Group have launched a VetTech service to support with essential tasks to improve animal health, welfare and productivity on-farm.

“Weaning is a very useful management tool, allowing allocation and prioritisation of the dry matter available, but it has to be weighed up against potential pit falls such as the challenge they could face from worms.”

The Control of Worms Sustainably in cattle (COWS) group has published the final chapter in its updated Guide, bringing together key technical messages from other new chapters on roundworms, lungworm, liver and rumen fluke and ectoparasites.

Producers can now take control of the health management of individual gestating and lactating sows with Anpario’s new easy application product, Orego-Stim TD, which can be top dressed to sow daily rations. 

Taking precautions against incoming vehicles, and keeping visitors to your livestock buildings to a minimum, are both an important part of protecting your herds from the spread of disease.

The latest antibiotic usage figures for the UK pig industry show that levels remain unchanged last year, despite significant disease challenges.

Scientists from the Pirbright Institute say they are one step closer to finding a vaccine for African swine fever, as a recent trial found all immunised pigs were protected from severe disease.

Deosan HH+ is the latest product to join the Deosan range and aims to effectively target lameness, an issue that is currently costing the dairy industry more than 1p per litre of milk produced on the farm, according to AHDB.

The risk of blowfly strike has now risen to ‘medium’ in parts of southern and central England, according to real-time updates produced by Elanco and the National Animal Disease Information Service (Nadis).