Dairy Herd Health

Dairy cow herd health is an important and universal topic in large animal veterinary practice and farming, covering both preventive medicine and health promotion. With the move towards large scale farming, the health of the herd is important as an economic unit and to promote the health of the individuals within it. This book will focus on diseases within herds, herd husbandry practices, youngstock management and environmental issues. Major diseases and conditions will be covered such as mastitis, lameness, nutrition, metabolic and common infectious diseases from a herd health perspective.

This book is comprised of 9 chapters focusing on dairy cattle disease prevention at the herd level. Topics covered include concepts in dairy herd health, facilitating change in herd health, rearing youngstock and replacing cows, managing herd reproduction, mastitis control and milk quality enhancement, lameness control, control of infectious diseases, nutritional management of herd health and dairy farming, food security and environmental issues. Appendices on sample sizes and disease prevalence estimates as well as on genetics and herd health are provided.

This text aims to teach students, practitioners and farm advisors how to give management support to the dairy farmer in order to optimize the health, productivity and welfare of his herd. The book covers management practices and farm conditions which have both positive and negative influences on these aspects, rather than a more traditional focus on specific diseases. The core element in this methodology is the protocol. In order to illustrate the standard protocol the practitioner and farm advisor are taken through a farm visit, during which operational and problem-solving issues are addressed. These issues include: nutrition; health care; reproduction; milk production; replacement rearing; and farm economics.

This is the second edition of the book, containing 16 chapters which focus on prevention and control of mastitis as well as on the different factors that lead to mastitis resulting in poor milk quality. The book contains two appendices, the first contains a liner line chart and the second contains parlour audit. An index is also provided.