Dairy and beef farmers are being given the chance to learn how to read their calves’ body language for signs of illness in the UK’s first-ever calf signals courses.
Hosted by Wynnstay and run by Cheshire vet Owen Atkinson, the courses use skills developed in the Netherlands by Joep Dreissen, a Dutch vet who started running cow signal workshops five years ago.
By monitoring calves’ actions and how they interact with their environment, farmers can get a better understanding of their animals’ needs and potentially pick up on signs of illness much more quickly.
The courses are being held in March across the region, and are open to exclusively to members of Wynnstay’s Calf Club - a free-to-join group which keeps members up-to-date with the latest technologies and developments in the industry.
Wynnstay calf specialist Gill Dickson says the courses focus on critical factors to ensure calves are healthy.
These include calf housing, drainage, humidity and hygiene, but also ways of detecting and preventing stress and illness in animals.
“Many people pick up on illness by noticing a calf’s not feeding, but stopping feeding is actually the last thing they do - there are lots of other signs you can pick up on to tell a calf is ill,” she said.
“If you can preempt and catch the illness you stand a better chance of the calf surviving the disease.”
The courses are being held in Lancashire on March 2, Oswestry, Shropshire, on March 10, Cheshire on March 12 and Denbigh on March 19. Spaces at each workshop are limited to 15 participants.
