Getting the snip (Surgical spaying of beef cattle)
Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom Podcast. In today’s lesson we are going to be learning about Surgical spaying of beef cattle.
Long-term contraception of cattle can benefit the welfare and production of animals where females cannot be segregated from males and in other, limited, circumstances. In extensive pastoral conditions, contraception enables cull females to survive and achieve marketable body condition by preventing the stress of mismanaged pregnancy, calving and lactation.
To do this I’m going to be joined by Dr Dave Morrell. Dave is the founder and owner of Broome Cattle Vets, and has over 40 years’ experience as a small, large and exotic animal vet. Dave actively participated in the Tuberculosis eradication campaign and is an active member of the Australian Cattle Vets and Northern Australia Biosecurity Surveillance network.
In preparation for this episode, I used resources from the Australian Veterinary Association, Meat and Livestock Australia, and the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines, all of which are linked in the show notes below.
Resources:
Cattle Standards and Guidelines – Spaying – Discussion Paper
Welfare responses of female cattle subject to reproductive procedures in Northern Australia
Australian Veterinary Association
Rear Window – blog by Robert Johnstone
This podcast is brought you by Central Station and hosted by Steph Coombes, BSc Agriculture (Hons.), MSc Agricultural Communication & Education.
Find over 1200 stories from Outback Cattle Stations at www.centralstation.net.au.
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