Herd health planning and disease investigation are essential components of modern livestock management, ensuring the overall health, productivity, and welfare of the herd. Both play a crucial role in preventing diseases, enhancing performance, and mitigating risks that could harm a farmer’s operation.
Herd Health Planning
Herd health planning is a proactive approach that involves working with us to assess, monitor, and improve the health status of your herd over time. It’s a structured, long-term plan that aims to manage and prevent diseases, improve animal welfare, and optimise productivity, tailored specifically to your farm!
Key Components of our Herd Health Plan:
- Health and Welfare Goals: Establishing goals to improve herd health, including targets for reproduction, disease control, and management practices. For example, reducing the incidence of mastitis or improving fertility rates.
- Preventative Measures: Including vaccination protocols, parasite control, biosecurity measures, and routine veterinary check-ups. Preventing disease is far more cost-effective than treating it.
- Reproductive Management: Focusing on improving reproduction rates through routine scanning and heifer pelvic scoring and heat scoring. Effective fertility management directly impacts herd productivity.
- Monitoring and Data Collection: Herd health plans often involve routine monitoring, such as regular visits, health checks, and record analysing (e.g., calving intervals, milk production, and weight gains). This data helps track trends and identify potential issues before they escalate.Nutrition and Management: Proper nutrition is essential at every stage of life and has a significant impact on overall health. We are eager to work alongside your ruminant nutritionist, as we believe this collaborative approach enhances herd health management. By combining our efforts, we can optimise health and performance, prevent metabolic diseases, and promote long-term sustainability.
- Infection Control and Biosecurity: A herd health plan includes specific measures to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases on the farm. Biosecurity practices may involve quarantine of new animals, proper hygiene, and controlled access to livestock.
Disease Investigation in Herds
Disease investigation is the process of diagnosing and determining the causes of illness, infection, or poor performance within a herd. It involves identifying pathogens, investigating potential disease outbreaks, and implementing corrective actions to prevent further losses. A thorough investigation can also pinpoint management practices that need improvement.
A disease investigation will involve an initial assessment on farm, this will include getting an accurate history, reviewing records and performing clinical exams. Once a diagnosis is made, we will help coordinate a treatment and intervention plan. Once a disease is identified, it is important to have a preventative strategy going forward which may include changing management practices, ensuring adequate nutrition, improving biosecurity, enhancing vaccination protocols, and isolating sick animals from the rest of the herd.
Herd health planning and disease investigation are integral to maintaining a productive and healthy herd. Our well-designed herd health plans help to prevent diseases, optimise animal welfare, and improve farm profitability. When issues arise, a thorough disease investigation ensures the best possible outcome for you and your stock.
