Animal welfare case studies

Dairy farmers are serious about the welfare of their calves and cows.

Here are a few of their stories:

Animal welfare on farm

Ensuring their animals have the best possible welfare is integral to the way Western Australian dairy farmers Jacqui and Bob Biddulph go about their dairy businesses...

Small changes make milking fun

After attending a CowTime Shed Shake-up, Gippsland dairy farmer Stephen Ball is enjoying milking having made simple changes to the dairy and changing his attitiude...

Caring for calves

Caring for calves after birth

Max and Barbe Jelbart rear about 400 calves a year on their dairy farm near Leongatha in Gippsland, Victoria. Over the year they have developed systems to improve calf health, minimise scours and avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics...

Disbudding calves, not dehorning cows

These days dairy farmers are more likely to disbud calves rather than dehorn. Disbudding at 4-12 weeks is more humane and the animals recover more quickly...

Caring for cows

Switch trimming – not tail docking

Colac dairy farmer, Garry McNamara, stopped tail docking 11 years ago and trims the tail hair instead. He says switch trimming is a piece of cake...

Preventing lameness

“The lameness kit provides vets with a ‘workshop on a platter’. It contains the workshop materials and resources for farmers to help assess lame cows...