Calf Pneumonia: Prevention is less costly than cure

This webinar is a past event - watch the recording.

Join Dr Michael Overton from Zoetis as he looks at the hidden costs of calf pneumonia. Learn about practical changes you can make immediately to help improve the performance of your replacement heifers and reduce the impact of pneumonia.

Do you know how much calf pneumonia is really costing your business? Would you benefit from advice that can help improve your calves’ health and welfare?

Calf diseases and growth rates have a major impact on the economic viability of all on-farm operations. These losses include the immediate direct costs of calf losses and treatment, as well as the long-term effects on performance from birth to lactation.

Research at the Royal Veterinary College has shown that, on GB farms, mortality rates of liveborn dairy heifers in their first month of life ranged between 0% and 12%. The fact that there are farms achieving low mortality rates indicates that losses can be avoided when good management practices are in place.

Identifying the key factors that are specific to your farm will help you make the right decisions and drive performance.

In this webinar, Dr Michael Overton will explore the risk factors of calf pneumonia and how to reduce their impact on your farm, including:

• Calf development and growth targets
• The main factors affecting calf health and productivity
• Creating an environment where calves can thrive
• Using farm data to identify losses and make appropriate economic decisions

Who should attend?

Farmers who want to raise healthy and profitable calves by creating the right environment, as well using farm data to make management decisions.

This webinar is being run in association with Zoetis.

About the Speaker

Dr Michael Overton received his B.S. and D.V.M. from North Carolina State University and practiced veterinary medicine for eight years.  Following completion of a Dairy Production Medicine Residency and his Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine degree at UC Davis, he went on to work as a Dairy Production Medicine Specialist in Tulare, California.  Next, he served as Professor of Dairy Production Medicine and chief of service for the food animal program at the University of Georgia from 2006 to 2012.  In May 2012, Dr Overton joined Elanco Animal Health in a data analytics and consultancy role where his responsibilities included customised farm analytics, economic modelling, international speaking and mentoring, and contribution to the R & D efforts.  In March 2020, he joined Zoetis as Global Dairy Platform Lead within the Precision Livestock Farming where his responsibilities focus on the development of a global cloud-based analytics platform for the creation and delivery of data-based solutions and enhanced customer value. He has worked extensively in the areas of reproduction management, transition management, analysis of on-farm records, heifer management and economic decision-making.