Menu

Know How / Livestock diseases

Expert advice on identifying and treating livestock diseases such as BVD, Johne’s disease, leptospirosis in cattle, navel ill in calves, orf in sheep, watery mouth in lambs and swine fever in pigs. See the latest thinking on controlling parasitic diseases and worms such as liver fluke and lungworm.

Advice and tips

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Redwater fever in cattle: What it is and how to manage it

Redwater fever is the colloquial name for bovine babesiosis, a disease of cattle. In the UK, redwater is caused by two species of protozoan parasite: Babesia divergens and Babesia major.…

LAMBING

Tips for managing ewe mastitis during lambing

Mastitis in ewes costs the UK sheep industry more than £120m a year in direct and indirect costs, according to AHDB. It is a primary cause of premature culling, loss…

SHEEP

Expert advice for lambing amid iodine shortage

The Sheep Veterinary Society has warned about shortages of strong (10%) iodine ahead of lambing due to production ceasing in Chile. If farmers can source 10% iodine, they could face…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Shortages of key vaccines threaten flock health

Shepherds are currently facing supply shortages of the vaccines Heptavac P Plus and Footvax. Manufacturer MSD Animal Health said stock disruption was being caused by “logistics and regulatory challenges in…

See all

Case studies

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Closed policy yields 1.7 lambs reared for Durham flock

A string of flock health setbacks has forced a Durham family to rely on its own breeding to maintain high output in its stratified sheep outdoor lambing system.    Several iceberg…

PARASITIC DISEASES

How goat herd uses targeted parasite treatments

A Gloucestershire goat herd is successfully managing a low parasite risk with a treatment targeted at higher risk animals. The Whitehouse family’s fully housed and zero-grazed herd of 800 British…

DAIRY

Cut in mastitis saves 460-cow herd more than £23,000

Adopting five recommendations from the AHDB mastitis control plan has saved a 460-cow herd £23,572 in one year just by reducing the amount of mastitic milk that had to be…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Maedi visna outbreak leads to soul-destroying 4,000-ewe cull

Aberdeenshire stockman, Harry Emslie, suffered a cull of 4,000 ewes after maedi visna (MV) was discovered in his flock.  He had a soul-destroying autumn sending sheep to the local cull…

See all

Community

LIVESTOCK

Farmer Focus: Calving difficulties cause extra work

Calving is nearing completion on our farm, with just five cows to calve at this stage. I’m ready for a break! The problems we had with difficult calvings on heifers…

See all

Insights

BOVINE TB

Is England headed for healthy cattle and TB-free future?

Bovine TB is a devastating disease affecting cattle, causing significant trauma for livestock farmers and rural communities. It is the most challenging animal health disease the UK faces, costing taxpayers…

BOVINE TB

Survey reveals full impact of bovine TB on Welsh farmers

Bovine TB is continuing to put an immense financial and mental health strain on farmers in Wales, with the cost of the disease to each farm business averaging more than…

See all

News

BOVINE TB

Bovine TB cattle slaughterings below 20,000 in England

The number of cattle slaughtered in England over the course of a year due to bovine TB has dropped below 20,000 for the first time in 15 years. The latest…

NEWS

'Tighten the borders' say farmers, as swine fever reaches Sweden

The UK government is under pressure to raise the threat level of African swine fever (ASF) from medium to high, after Sweden reported its first case, with humans thought to…

BOVINE TB

New TB rules mean less red tape to move restricted cattle

Livestock movements during a bovine TB breakdown can be made using a single general licence from 2 October 2023, replacing the need for individual movement licences. The rule change, described…

BOVINE TB

Defra ministers mull epi culling to tackle TB spread

Defra plans to consult on reserving the right to targeted badger culling to tackle bovine TB where epidemiological assessment points to a reservoir of disease in wildlife, according to reports.…

See all

Opinion

BOVINE TB

FW Opinion: Wider review of slurry role in bovine TB needed

Queen guitarist and animal rights campaigner Brian May has shared with Farmers Weekly in some detail how, working with vet Dick Sibley, he has helped a Devon dairy farm regain…

See all

Test and reviews

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Buyer's guide to ketone testers for dairy farmers

Simple and quick tests that measure ketone levels in dairy cows are allowing farmers to act promptly with interventions to protect milk yields and herd performance. Subclinical ketosis can’t be…

DAIRY

Buyer's guide: Teat disinfection technology

As herd sizes increase and labour sourcing continues to create challenges, more farmers are turning to automated teat disinfection technologies to ease pressure in the parlour and promote efficiencies. Although…

See all

Video

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Video: Farmers plunge dip a mammoth 6,300 sheep in one day

Sheep farmers and contractors have carried out a mammoth 6,300-ewe plunge dipping day as part of a new joint venture between two businesses. Neil Fell, owner of NR Fell Mobile…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Video: How to use orf vaccine correctly on sheep

About one in five lambs – 900,000 – are affected by the highly contagious orf virus in England’s sheep flock each year according to MSD Animal Health. Added to that…

BOVINE TB

Video: Brian May's Gatcombe Farm project gets TB-free status

A new approach to disease control on a dairy farm in Devon – taking out infective cows and minimising exposure to slurry – has seen the herd attain TB-free status…

MEDICINES

Antimicrobial resistance: How it works and why it's important

Antimicrobial resistance, and specifically antibiotics resistance, are high on the agenda for animal agriculture and veterinary medicine. Government and industry targets have been set for antibiotics reduction and antibiotics use is…

See all