All Outputs (7)

Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on long term heifer production on a UK commercial dairy farm (2023)
Journal Article
Mahendran, S., Blackie, N., Wathes, D. C., & Booth, R. (in press). Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on long term heifer production on a UK commercial dairy farm. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010125

Pair housing of pre-weaning dairy calves has previously demonstrated positive impacts on their growth, health and behaviour, but longer-term effects on production are still relatively unknown. This study followed a cohort of 431 Holstein heifers recr... Read More about Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on long term heifer production on a UK commercial dairy farm.

A Survey of the Current Farming Practices and Perceptions on Adopting Orphan Lambs in the United Kingdom: How Do “Ewe” Do It? (2023)
Journal Article
Whatford, L., Chivers, B. D., Rowe, M., & Blackie, N. (2023). A Survey of the Current Farming Practices and Perceptions on Adopting Orphan Lambs in the United Kingdom: How Do “Ewe” Do It?. Ruminants, 3(4), 468-482. https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3040038

Fostering orphan lambs is common in the United Kingdom and therefore it is important to understand more about these practices to support sustainable sheep farming. Data were collected on current approaches to adopting lambs and the perceived success... Read More about A Survey of the Current Farming Practices and Perceptions on Adopting Orphan Lambs in the United Kingdom: How Do “Ewe” Do It?.

Survey of current UK alpaca husbandry practices: Vaccination, treatment and supplementation (2023)
Journal Article
Middleton, A., Blackie, N., Crilly, J., & Reilly, B. (2023). Survey of current UK alpaca husbandry practices: Vaccination, treatment and supplementation. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.3602

Background The popularity of alpacas in the UK is increasing, with the British Alpaca Society (BAS) estimating that there are currently 45,000 registered alpacas and a further 15,000 unregistered alpacas. This research set about to investigate what... Read More about Survey of current UK alpaca husbandry practices: Vaccination, treatment and supplementation.

Calf health, feeding and social behaviours within groups fed on automatic milk feeders (2023)
Journal Article
Mahendran, S., Wathes, C., Blackie, N., & Booth, R. (2023). Calf health, feeding and social behaviours within groups fed on automatic milk feeders. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3040025

Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on short term health and behaviour on a UK commercial dairy farm (2023)
Journal Article
Mahendran, S., Blackie, N., Wathes, C., & booth, R. (2023). Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on short term health and behaviour on a UK commercial dairy farm. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132140

Social pair housing of calves has previously demonstrated positive impacts on calf health and productivity compared to individual housing, but much of the research has been conducted in research institutions in different environmental conditions to t... Read More about Effects of individual and pair housing of calves on short term health and behaviour on a UK commercial dairy farm.

Randomised Control Trial Investigating the Efficacy of Meloxicam and Sodium Salicylate Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs for Calf Cautery Disbudding (2023)
Journal Article
Prior, S., Blackie, N., Fishwick, J., & Mahendran, S. A. (2023). Randomised Control Trial Investigating the Efficacy of Meloxicam and Sodium Salicylate Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs for Calf Cautery Disbudding. Animals, 13(11), 1768. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111768

Simple Summary: The disbudding of calves is undertaken as a routine management practice. It is known to be a painful procedure for calves, and it is a legal requirement that calves are disbudded under local anaesthesia. It is also recommended that ca... Read More about Randomised Control Trial Investigating the Efficacy of Meloxicam and Sodium Salicylate Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs for Calf Cautery Disbudding.

Comparison of environment quality measurements between 3 types of calf housing in the United Kingdom (2023)
Journal Article
Mahendran, S., Blackie, N., wathes, C., & booth, R. (in press). Comparison of environment quality measurements between 3 types of calf housing in the United Kingdom. Journal of Dairy Science, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22613

Pre-weaned calves are kept in a range of housing types which offer variable protection against the weather and provide differing internal environments. This cross-sectional observational study assessed the influence of housing type (shed, polytunnel... Read More about Comparison of environment quality measurements between 3 types of calf housing in the United Kingdom.