A new published article has shown how the microbial environment in the uterus of cows alters in the development of Clinical Endometritis. These interesting results show that Healthy cows have a diverse population of bacteria present in their uterus at 30 days post calving. Subclinical Endometritis cows had more Acinetobacter and Lactobacillus present and Clinical Endometritis cows had Fusobacterium, Trueperella and Peptoniphilus as predominant species.
This confirms that Gram positive, anaerobic bacteria exist in the unhealthy uterus of dairy cows, which is important to know when choosing antimicrobial therapies. The authors review a lot of previous work on the species variations as endometritis develops but propose that in the future, more work should concentrate on looking at how those species interact to produce such dramatic population changes.
This work was carried out in China, on 38 cows from an 800-cow dairy. Cows treated with antimicrobials were excluded from the study and all cows in the study were of comparable parity and body condition score. Samples were taken at 30 days post calving from the uterus and DNA analysis techniques were used to identify species. This fascinating new paper is from Wang et. al. (2018), Frontiers in Microbiology, 9:2691 doi 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02691
Inspire Cattle Solutions is now at EuroTier in Hannover! This huge agricultural fair is the largest in Europe and has every agricultural business type imaginable on display. From Animal Health, Education institutes and Feed businesses to machinery and data solutions, this is an exciting event to put into your calendar.
As we remember soldiers and civilians from all countries who gave their lives in war today, it is fitting to include the vets and their roles in our thoughts.
in Egypt as well as their usual equine and canine patients. At the end of the First World War, the Corps were given a Royal Charter by King George V and the Quartermaster-General made this quote of the brave vets in combat: “The Corps by its initiative and scientific methods has placed military veterinary organisation on a higher plane. The high standard which it has maintained at home and throughout all theatres has resulted in a reduction of animal wastage, an increased mobility of mounted units and a mitigation of animal suffering un-approached in any previous military operation.”
Whether they own 2 cows or 2,000 cows, farmers are extremely busy people. They have animals to nurture, a business to run and a family to support. All of these have multiple demands and priorities can be easily distracted. So the key to making significant changes is to keep focus on whichever is the primary need. 
risks of disease have knock-on effects on productivity: more milk, better quality milk and better fertility for another healthy lactation after the present one. Learning how to make changes and SHOW the value from these is the key to excellent consulting.
Sand bedding has been shown by research to be associated with fewest mastitis cases, least lameness lesions and longest lying times in dairy cows. 
ture from the last 20 years up to present day in order to reflect the types of bedding that are seen in Dairy Barns by most practitioners today. A lot of evidence supports deep sand bedding but also deep RMS is shown to have good welfare parameters (less lameness lesions, less mastitis and less bacterial growth) compared to rubber mattresses covered with straw, wood shavings or other materials. It is worth mentioning that in all cases, the sand and RMS must have been replaced frequently and kept clean in order to achieve these better conditions.
Huge value can be made from improving reproductive efficiency on most dairies. Up to US$33 (29Euro, £26GBP) per % point of improved Pregnancy Rate at $0.40/L (0.35 Euro or £0.31) milk price has been calculated by a new prediction model.
More comfortable cows are more productive and more efficient, utilizing more food for milk production and therefore wasting less energy and CO2. Find out how to spot heat stress, what it does to dairy businesses and what to do to show more value to your advice.
migrating to, or interacting with the immune system of the calf 
exposed to either frequent, short bursts of sprinkler activity (1.5 mins “on” every 3, 6 and 12 minutes) or longer bursts: 3 minutes “on” every 3, 6 or 12 minutes for 45 minutes duration. Body temperature, Respiration rate, Air temperature, Temperature Humidity Index and the temperature on the surface of the shoulder and leg of the cows were measured.