AWP research on lameness featured in Hoard’s Dairyman
Recent results from benchmarking research on cow lameness and hock injuries were featured in this article in the current issue of Hoard’s Dairyman. Hoard’s is one of the most influential magazines serving the dairy industry.
Hock injuries in dairy cows
Lameness, mastitis and transition-cow diseases are widely recognized as serious animal welfare and production-limiting issues. Hock injuries should raise similar concerns, though they’ve received much less attention, say Dan Weary, University of British Columbia dairy scientist and cow behavior expert and fellow animal welfare expert Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk in Vancouver, Canada. Read more: http://www.agriview.com/news/dairy/hock-injuries-animal-welfare-concern-deep-bedded-maintained-stalls-best/article_33f91dd6-b356-11e2-820b-001a4bcf887a.html
Dairy crew gathers to wish Katy farewell
Katy Proudfoot is completing her PhD research and leaving the UBC Dairy Farm. Last week Katy gave a farewell seminar at the UBC Dairy Centre. Team members (photo below) gathered to wish her well. In the photo (starting at the left side of the front row): Rolnei Rua Daros, Cristiano Ramos, William Costa, Augusto Madureira, Eraldo Drago Filho, Kathrin Louise Proudfoot […]
AWP Students Split First Prize in Student Competition
For the first time ever students were able to give short, practical talks about their research at Western Canadian Dairy Seminar. These talks were judged by a panel of experts who decided to award the first place prize to both Gosia Zobel and Katy Proudfoot – two PhD students in the UBC Animal Welfare Program!
AWP Students Chosen to Present at Western Canadian Dairy Seminar
PhD students Katy Proudfoot and Gosia Zobel are two of only four students selected from across Canada to compete in the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar’s first ever graduate student oral competition. The aim of these talks is for students to present their research in a way producers will find applicable and meaningful to their daily […]
AWP review article identified as one 5 most highly downloaded papers in Dairy Science
One way to track how well our research is reaching a wide audience is the number of times papers are downloaded. The Journal of Dairy Science recently released figures for all downloads in 2012, and our paper entitled “The welfare of dairy cattle: Key concepts and the role of science” was listed as number 5 […]
Dairy calves benefit from access to forage early in life
Dairy calves are typically not provided forage in the first few months of life, in part because some farmers and scientists believe that this will slow intake of other solid feeds. New research from UBC’s Animal Welfare Program has now shown that access to forage early in life helps calves make the transition to the […]
Most highly cited paper within the Program for 2011
One way we can judge the impact of our research is when other scientists cite our papers in their own work. New research often takes several years to be noticed. This makes the high number of citations to Post-doctoral researcher Khan’s recent review on calf feeding practices especially impressive. This invited review, entitled “Effects of […]
PhD student, Gosia Zobel, starts project on the welfare of dairy goats
Much of the Animal Welfare Program’s work on dairy cattle has focused on how housing and management can be improved – now new work will begin addressing these issues for dairy goats! Although the dairy goat industry is thriving, almost no research has been done on goat welfare. Our new project, in collaboration with the […]
Benchmarking cow comfort on US dairy farms
Can the good example set by your peers help to motivate improved welfare on dairy farms? New work in the UBC Animal Welfare Program has been examining the use of benchmarking as a service for farmers and a vehicle for engagement on issues of cow comfort and lameness. A new paper, entitled “Benchmarking cow comfort on […]