How cystic cows reflect underlying problems...

摘要

According to herd fertility and nutrition vet Paddy Gordon, cystic cows act as a warning beacon to the state of the whole herd's health, and farmers shouldn't just focus on individual cystic cows if they want to reduce fertility problems. "The cysticcows are just the tip of the iceberg. The problem with a cystic cow is that her fertility is effectively switched off. What we need to do is look at the next batch of cows that are calving down and see if we can manage those better and get their fertility switched on," said Mr Cordon. A practising vet with the Shepton Veterinary Group, which looks after over 20,000 dairy cows in Somerset on farms whose herd size averages 170, Mr Gordon has been fronting a series of regional MDC run events this spring focusing on the risk factors of infertility on farm.