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Veterinary Doctor., London Colney (2025)

22/09/2025

Casting of a cattle 👇

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21/09/2025

When should cows be inseminated?

If cows are inseminated too early the s***m will no longer be viable when they meet the egg; if they're inseminated too late then the reverse will occur.

However, there is more leeway with the former than the latter. The golden rule of timing of insemination remains: inseminate before the cow releases the egg ('ovulation') - we want the s***m to be in the oviduct before the egg gets there.

This means that the timing of insemination is based on predicting when ovulation is likely to occur not when it has occurred. In the cow, ovulation occurs 24 to 32 hours after the start of standing heat; this means that we can tie the timing of insemination to observing heat, with initial research showing that the best conception rates occurred when cows were inseminated from mid oestrus until 2 to 3 hours after the end of oestrus.

The am/pm rule
This research led to the development of the 'am/pm rule' - where a cow which was seen on heat in the evening was inseminated the next morning, while a cow that was seen on heat in the morning was inseminated the following evening.

However, the modern dairy cow shows heat less intensely (fewer than 50% of cows in oestrus stand to be mounted compared to >70% in the 1980s) and shows it for a shorter period of time (duration of standing oestrus has decreased from an average of 15 hours to 5 hours), so the question is often asked as to whether the am/pm rule needs to be changed.

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14/09/2025

Did You Know These Fascinating Facts About Chicken Egg Fertility?

🪶 A hen can lay eggs even after mating, but they might not be fertile!
Yes, even with an active rooster and hen, eggs may not be fertile. Why? Chickens don’t form romantic bonds like other birds. The rooster simply mates with the hen, and his semen is stored in special s***m storage tubules (SSTs) inside the hen. But here's the twist — if the hen doesn’t like the rooster, she can actually eject the semen and avoid having his chicks!

🪶 Not all eggs are instantly fertile after mating.
It takes about 25 hours for a hen to produce one egg. S***m is released just after she lays an egg, so the egg laid on the day of mating won’t be fertile. The next egg might be, but by the third day — you’ll likely start seeing fertile eggs.

🪶 One rooster isn’t needed every day!
Once a hen mates, her SSTs can store s***m for 10–14 days — sometimes even longer in highly productive hens. This means even if you separate the rooster after mating, the hen can still lay fertile eggs for up to two weeks!

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12/09/2025

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐃𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 — A Veterinary Guide

Correct drug dosage in goats is crucial to ensure therapeutic efficacy and avoid toxicity. When weighing scales are not available, body weight can be estimated using simple body measurements. This image demonstrates a practical and scientifically-backed method to estimate a goat's weight using a formula based on heart girth and body length.

🔍 Required Measurements:

1. HG (Heart Girth) — Circumference of the chest just behind the front legs.

2. SHG (Shoulder Girth or Body Length) — Distance from the point of the shoulder to the pin bone (hip).

This method provides an accurate estimate of live body weight in goats, which is especially useful in field conditions or rural veterinary practice.

Reference:
Jainudeen, M.R., & Hafez, E.S.E. (2000). Reproduction in Farm Animals, 7th Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Khan, C.M. (Ed.). (2010). Merck Veterinary Manual, 10th Edition. Merck & Co., Inc.

10/09/2025

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.

What is Breeding in Animal
Production?

Animal Breeding is simply the application of
genetic principles to enhance or improve the
production efficiency in farm animals.

There are two basic systems of breeding. They
include:

•Inbreeding
•Outbreeding

What is Inbreeding?
Inbreeding is the mating of closely related
animals together. It is further classified into
two groups:

•Close breeding
•Line breeding

Close breeding is the mating of sire (father) to
daughters, son to Dam (mother), or full brother
to full sister. Line breeding is the mating of not
too closely related animals together.

What is Outbreeding?

Outbreeding is the mating of unrelated animals
together. Outbreeding is subdivided into:

Outcrossing : This is the mating of
unrelated purebred animals within the
same breed,
Crossbreeding: This is the mating of
animals of different breeds together.

Grading-up : This is the mating of
sires of a given breed to non-descript
females and their offspring.

Many livestock farmers don’t know which
breeding system is the best. In fact, some
farmers just mate their animals, not minding
the breed or family of the animals they are
mating together.

The most common breeding systems are
inbreeding and crossbreeding. I defined
inbreeding earlier as the mating of closely
related animals together while Crossbreeding is
the mating of animals of different breeds
together. If you are mating two animals of the
same breed or the same family together, that is
inbreeding. But did you know that inbreeding is
not advisable for a commercial or profit-
minded livestock farm? Yes! You may want to
ask: why?

Demerits of Inbreeding
The reasons why inbreeding is bad
(disadvantages of inbreeding) are as follow:

1. Adverse effect on the growth rate of
animals: When inbreeding is continuously or
intensely carried out, the growth rate and
mature weight of the offspring (progeny) is
negatively affected. That is, the growth rate
and mature weight would moderately

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08/09/2025

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

It is well observed that a female cat will scream, screech or become very aggressive during or just after mating with the tomcat. When cats mate they caterwaul and it can be quite loud.

The reason for this aggressive behaviour is that the tom cat’s p***s has little barbs or spines on it. When the p***s is inserted the spines lay flat, but when withdrawing the p***s, the spines cause a raking action on the female’s cat’s va**na, causing pain, and so the female reacts by attacking the male.

Why does the tom cat’s p***s have spines?

Female (virgin) cats who have not mated do not ovulate. The pain caused the first time the female cat mates causes shock, initiating the ovulation cycle (this will take a little over 24 hours to actually begin).

The female is then ‘on intense heat’ for around 3 days. A queen may mate as quickly as 30 minutes after the first copulation.

Why does the male (tomcat) bite the female on the neck during mating?

This all explains why the female cat is so angry and tries to swipe the male, and also why the male has to be very careful not to get injured – hence why he holds the female by the neck (scruff of the neck).

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31/08/2025

What's your diagnosis?

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30/08/2025

What's your diagnosis?

28/08/2025

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬
𝐀 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬

Scientific Explanation:

Occasionally, calves are born with serious congenital anomalies (birth defects) that affect their normal body structure. A calf with six legs and two heads is an example of such a rare condition.

Main causes include:

1. Genetic defects – inherited abnormalities from the parents.

2. Errors in embryonic development – problems during cell division and organ formation.

3. Incomplete twinning – when two embryos fail to completely separate.

4. Environmental factors – exposure to toxins, drugs, or nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy.

5. Infectious diseases – certain viruses or bacteria can interfere with fetal growth.

In most cases, such calves are not viable and die shortly after birth. For farmers, this represents an economic loss and emotional stress.

Prevention:

Provide pregnant cows with balanced nutrition.
Regular vaccination and disease prevention.
Avoid inbreeding and maintain proper herd management.
Veterinary monitoring during pregnancy.

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23/08/2025

Difference between good egg layers and bad egg layers

22/08/2025

Signs of heat in cattle 👇

20/08/2025

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬
𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐬
A dog’s tail isn’t just a piece of flesh — it’s an extension of their spine, filled with nerves, blood vessels, and sensation. When a tail is docked, the spinal vertebrae are literally being cut. This procedure is not done for the dog’s health — it's a painful amputation.

Dogs use their tails to express joy, fear, stress, and connection. Tail movement is one of their key tools for communication — with humans and other animals. When we remove their tails, we don't just cause physical pain; we take away their natural voice.

Next time someone considers docking a dog’s tail for looks or “tradition,” they should understand: it’s not a fashion statement — it’s a story of pain, loss, and silence.

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Veterinary Doctor.

22/09/2025

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