Sophie Mahendran - Handbook of Calf Health and Management: A Guide to Best Practice Care for Calves

Claire Wathes and Sophie Mahendran

Sophie Mahendran and Claire Wathes

Claire Wathes

Tom Shardlow and Sophie Mahendran

Esme Moffett and Sophie Mahendran

Nicola Blackie and Claire Wathes

Sophie Mahendran and Claire Wathes

Sophie Mahendran and Richard Booth

Benjamin Barber

Peter Plate

Editor

Sophie Mahendran, BVMedSci, BVMBVS (Hons), MSc, DipECBHM, MRCVS

Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College, UK

Royal Veterinary College, Regional Veterinary Centre South of England, Stinsford, UK

Business Centre, Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester

Authors

Benjamin Barber, BVetMed (Hons), MRCVS Veterinary surgeon at Synergy Farm Health, UK

Dr Nicola Blackie, BSc, PhD

Lecturer in Production Animal Science at the Royal Veterinary College, UK

Dr Richard Booth, BVSc, PhD, BSc (Hons), MRCVS

Associate Professor in Veterinary Extension Services and Infectious Diseases of Cattle at the Royal Veterinary College, UK

Esme Moffett, BVMS, MRCVS
Veterinary surgeon at Synergy Farm Health, UK

Peter Plate, Dr med vet, MRCVS

Lecturer in Livestock Veterinary Extension Services at the Royal Veterinary College, UK

Tom Shardlow, BVSc, MRCVS
Veterinary surgeon at Synergy Farm Health, UK

Professor Claire Wathes, BSc, PhD, Dsc, FRASE, FRSB

Professor of Veterinary Reproduction at the Royal Veterinary College, UK

Ensuring the future of a dairy herd must start with the health and development of its youngstock only then can a farm build strong foundations that will have long lasting positive results. However, calf health is often under-appreciated and can be overlooked in favour of the adult milking herd when deciding on herd priorities.

This book explains the reasons why successful calf rearing is vital, right from conception, all the way through to first service of heifers. It draws on the authors wealth of knowledge and experience to provide both in-depth science and evidence-based reasoning for decision making in calf health. In addition to this, the authors have first-hand experience of rearing calves, and appreciate that it can be both one of the most rewarding and most frustrating jobs on a farm, often switching between the two on a daily basis!

This book offers some practical tips for both stockpeople to use during day-to-day rearing, as well as tips for vets who are dealing with young-stock herd health. It takes the reader through the important life stages of the calf in each chapter, highlighting common areas for improvement and outlining gold standard practice that we should aim for. Important information regarding legislation is also included for completeness, as well as descriptions of common diseases and health management procedures.

We hope you will find this book to be a useful guide in your future calf rearing enterprises.

Claire Wathes and Sophie Mahendran

Even prior to birth, the future of a calf is being defined by decisions made that lead to conception and development of the fetus. These include parent selection, the effect of genomics, methods of conception, the environmental and management factors affecting the dam (such as nutrition and heat stress). This chapter discusses the choices and impacts of the decisions made in this period, as well as briefly exploring some fertility issues, such as twinning and abortion.