Animal health

By Cody Yanzick and Ann Hoskins
Calves are naturally herd animals, but, on many farms, the transition period is the first time they are grouped with others, bringing about a set of challenges that need specialized attention. Limiting stress on calves can offer some of the greatest paybacks in terms of health and performance.

By Ann Hoskins
Many calves show subtle signs of sickness before it becomes clinical. The “look, listen, smell and feel” strategy will help you identify those calves much earlier and can be used in all calf-raising systems. The key is to closely observe calves in the moment without making assumptions or overlooking small signs.

More than 330 dairy producers, Vita Plus consultants and industry peers came together December 6 and 7 for Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2017 in Madison, Wisconsin. Follow the links in this post to access full event coverage, including speakers' PowerPoint presentations, articles, videos and more.

By Stacy Nichols
A fresh cow pen should provide cows with a clean, comfortable environment to recover from calving and minimize the social stress they experience when being moved into new groups. The primary goal of a fresh group must be to minimize health events to allow cows to reach their production potential.

By Dr. Mat Faulkner
One of the amazing things about ruminant animals is their ability to turn feedstuffs with little or no nutritional value into nutritional products. Ruminants accomplish this through a mixture of rumen microorganisms that convert feedstuffs into energy and protein sources to be used by the host animal.

Essentially, when you feed the cow, you are really feeding the rumen microorganisms. What you feed them will affect the balance of these organisms and, subsequently, the function of the rumen.

By Stacy Nichols
A shift in the metabolism of dietary oils in the rumen is now recognized as the major cause of milk fat depression. The cause of this shift is related to two main factors: the amount of vegetable oil in the diet and rumen pH.

By Dr. Zach Sawall
A persistent concern on many dairy farms is the rising copper concentration levels in cattle liver samples. According to Dr. Jeremy Schefers, University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, the concern stems from the common usage of copper sulfate in footbaths to control digital dermatitis and the subsequent higher copper concentrations in manure and on cropland.