Housing To Optimize Comfort Health And Productivity Of Dairy Cattles An Issue Of Veterinary Clinics Of North America Food Animal Practice

This issue of Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, Guest Edited by Dr. Nigel B. Cook, in collaboration with Consulting Editor Dr. Robert Smith, focuses on Housing to Optimize Comfort, Health and Productivity of Dairy Cattle. Article topics include: The housing dilemma: natural living vs. animal protection; Calf barn design and management; Lying time and its importance to the dairy cow: impact of stocking density and time budget stresses; Feeding behavior, feed space and bunk design, and management for adult dairy cattle; Maximizing comfort in tiestall housing; Free stall design and bedding management; Maternal behavior and design of the maternity pen; Housing the cow in transition to optimize early lactation performance; Ventilation systems for adult dairy cattle; Cooling systems for dairy cows; Designing dairy herds with automated milking systems; and Low stress handling areas for dairy cow barns.

This issue of Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, edited by Dr. Pamela Ruegg and Dr. Christina Petersson-Wolfe, focuses on Mastitis, with topics including: Methods for Diagnosing Mastitis; Implementing OFC in a Veterinary Practice; Antibiotic Usage for Mastitis; Impementing Effective Dry Cow; Mastitis and Animal Welfare; Genetic Selection for Mastitis Resistance; Teat Condition and Diseases; Maximizing Udder Health in a Robotic Milking System; Impact and Mitigation of Heat Stress for Mastitis Control; Optimizing Mastitis Records; Mastitis Immunology; and Communicating with Dairy Workers.

This issue of Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, guest edited by Dr. Christopher Chase in collaboration with Consulting Editor Dr. Robert Smith, focuses on Ruminant Immunology. Article topics include: Herd immunity: an epidemiologist's view; Genetics of immunoresponsive and correlates of immunity; Microbiome and immunity: an evolving field; Vaccine administration dos and don'ts (endotoxin stacking; delayed MLV); Mycoplasma bovis: interations with the immune system and failure to generate an immune response; Nutriceuticals and their effect on immune response; Adjuvants; Immunology of maximizing passive transfer; Mucosal immunity and common mucosal response; Vaccinating in the face of maternal immunity; and Gamma Delta T cells in ruminants: their role, function, and importance.

This issue of Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, edited by Dr. Rick Funston and Dr. J. Travis Mulliniks, is dedicated to Developmental Programming in Livestock Production. Topics include: Fetal Growth and Development; Cellular Mechanisms and Epigenetic Changes; Overgrowth Syndrome; Effects on Progeny and Nutrient Partitioning; Effects on Neonatal Mortality; Effects on Tissue Growth and End Product; Effects on Fertility; Effects on Animal Health and Immune Function; Effects on Dam and Progeny Milk Production; Multigenerational Effects; Developmental Resiliency: in utero Adaptation to Environmental Stimuli; and Developmental Programming in a Beef Production System.

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.