Besides faeces and other cattle, pathogenic vectors in the dairy farm can include feed, water, rodents, wild animals, flies, birds, etc. What are the producer’s management priorities to sustain dairy calf health?
A dairy farm in the simplest form is a population of dairy cattle living in barns, corrals, or pastures that surround a centralised milking parlour where animals are milked for commerce. However, co-existing on these facilities is another population, one that is often overlooked as it is invisible to the naked eye. It is the microbial population. The dairy farm’s microbial populace consists of a vast and diverse array of commensal and pathogenic micro-organisms that are easily transmitted. Among the pathogens, there are viruses, fungi, algae, protozoa, and bacteria. Among the bacteria, Salmonella can have an especially serious impact on calf health.
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