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What is Locomotion scoring?

How many lame cows do you have? I have a strong suspicion that most farmers don’t actually know. When we go to a farm to do hoof trimming, we often end up treating more cows than what had been [...]

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So, what is lameness?

I have come across the comment a few times that people are confused about the advice they are getting regarding lameness. There are contradicting messages going around from professionals about [...]

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Calving increases stress

Calving has started. What are the points that are important to minimize lameness currently? At the start of the season, it is important to realise what the risk factors are, and how to manage [...]

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Winter feeding

Last month I wrote an article on OAD milking. I got quite a bit of positive feedback from that as it resonated with what farmers were experiencing. This month I want to write about cows on winter [...]

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Dealing with heifers post-calving

Calving is underway and most of you will be busy starting to train your freshly calved heifers into your milking routine. From experience, I know this can be a highly stressful time for a farmer. [...]

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OAD or TAD? That’s the question.

When you hear a farmer talk about OAD (Once-A-Day) milking it is often noted that cows are so much happier. Milk production does not seem to drop that much, and they have a lot less lame cows. If [...]

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Ensuring your safety and cow comfort

How do you handle your cows individually? Can you restrain your cow so that she is comfortable and you are safe? This is a major issue on dairy farms. I went to a farm a little while ago to trim [...]

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Heat stress and lameness

It has been a dry hot summer for most of the country so far this year, and it doesn’t look like letting up any time soon. There has been less lameness because of it but that doesn’t mean that it [...]