BCVA Cattle Health Plan

We are experienced in the design and implementation of Herd Health Plans, and have been providing the BCVA Health Plan service for several years

Herd Health Plans should be seen as more than simply fulfilling a requirement for Farm Assurance or NDFAS purposes as they provide an opportunity for farmer and vet to sit down together annually, discuss the current disease picture on that farm and design a tailor-made, cost effective programme for the treatment, control and prevention of the individual problems.

Sections of the plan include:

Infectious Diseases – A summary of the diseases present on the farm, a record of all laboratory findings in the previous 12 months, and an action plan for treatment and preventative measures including practical vaccination programmes suitable to the specific requirements and management systems on the farm.

Parasites – The present picture and likely risks in the next 12 months, and customised dosing / management regimes.

Mastitis – An overview of bulk cell count trends, incidence of mastitis, bacteria involved and an action plan with specific recommendations for dealing with the particular problems and monitoring the response.

Lameness – Incidents of lameness, the levels of specific types of lameness, and detailed methods of treatment. A targeted action plan is provided for the control and prevention of each individual cause of lameness.

Calf Health and Welfare – Including an assessment of levels of disease and measures for preventing scour and pneumonia, if these are a problem.

The BCVA herd health plan is drawn up and revised annually following an on-farm discussion usually lasting 1-2 hours. The more information that is available at the meeting, the more useful the outcome: on-farm records include bulk cell counts, NMR records if available, records of incidence, cause, treatment and outcome of lameness and mastitis, and fertility and calf disease records. Records provided from the surgery include lab results, intra-mammary tube usage and drugs and vaccines used.

Health planning is a very cost effective way of highlighting the problems that are holding back performance on the farm and designing a tailor-made economic plan for improving the health and welfare of the animals and profits for the farmer.