Modern dairy cow feeding in practice: What does the vet need to know?

Feeding dairy cows is by no means just about calculating rations, but requires a holistic view of the animal and its environment. This means that the modern veterinary practices looking after a dairy farm are also responsible for the feeding success, i.e. the milk yield, animal welfare and animal health of the cow herd.
However, prospective veterinarians receive very little insight into the fine art of dairy cow nutrition during their studies, either due to time constraints or because animal nutrition only takes up a small part of veterinary training. The entire subject of animal nutrition is taught and learned in the agricultural studies of academic farmers.
This inevitably raises the question of the borderline areas of veterinary animal nutrition in the context of dairy cow feeding.
And this is where the Agrar- und Veterinär-Akademie (AVA), an advanced training organization for veterinarians and farmers, comes into play:
Founder and director of the Agrar- und Veterinär-Akademie, EG Hellwig, which was founded around 25 years ago, is an agricultural scientist and specialist vet who, among other things, worked in the feed industry for many years before setting up his own veterinary practice as a consultant and also a stock vet. The link between agriculture and livestock medicine is particularly close to his heart, as the many AVA training courses on offer show.
In a special AVA workshop for veterinarians on a large dairy farm in Bützow-Horst (Hof-Meiners Hobel GbR in the district of Rostock) on November 21, veterinarians who want to know more about feeding and its influence on animal health will be able to learn more under the expert guidance of Dipl.- Ing. agr.Ing. agr. Stefan Neumann, management consultant and managing director of Koesling and Anderson, discussed the nutrition of dairy cows and how possible feeding errors that have a negative impact on animal welfare and health can be recognized early enough. The aim here is for veterinarians to identify "problem areas" even before the signs of clinical symptoms appear, so that they can be remedied at an early stage.
The following question for the participating veterinarians is in the foreground: "How do I support and help the farmer with practical tips on feeding and thus health optimization".
In the AVA workshop, no checklists and no theoretical ballast are "chewed up", but the participants receive a practical insight into what they should know and notice in the barn in order to help the farmer with practical tips to keep his dairy herd healthy.
The animal doctors receive intensive and practical training on the assessment - and not calculation - of the most important figures in ration calculation, feed removal and feed presentation, controlling, including farm management, as well as the sensitive phases of feeding through to feed sampling, analysis and assessment of microbiology.
During the traditional tour of the farm by the livestock veterinarian group, led by expert Dipl.-Ing. agr. Stefan Neumann, with a special focus on feeding and fodder, what they have heard is implemented and "professionally digested" in the joint discussion.
"Nowadays, farmers expect a modern herd-care veterinarian to keep their herd of cows healthy. If he has to cure them first, it is already too late," says Academy Director Hellwig.
Further information on the program on 21 November 2024 and the other training courses in 2025 can be found on the AVA website at www.ava1.de , or by emailing info@ava1.de .
Tell your veterinarians about the special AVA workshop on November 21 in Bützow.

Agrar- und Veterinär- Akademie (AVA)
Birkenweg 7
Steinfurt 48565
Germany

http://www.ava1.de

Herr Ernst-G. Hellwig
01713172108
02551-834300
info@ava1.de

The AVA is a training association with the aim of providing training and further education and distributing information for the agricultural and veterinary sector. At the same time, the AVA is a forum for farmers and veterinarians that focuses on the challenges of producing healthy food in the coming decades.
The aim of the Agricultural and Veterinary Academy is to discuss the problems of modern, sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry. Together we want to find ways to work in an animal-friendly, practical and consumer-oriented manner. AVA training courses help save on medicines! Ernst-Günther Hellwig, founder and director of the AVA, Steinfurt, Burgsteinfurt
Ernst-Günther Hellwig.
Agricultural and Veterinary Academy (AVA) EG Hellwig
Birkenweg 7 - D 48565 Steinfurt-Burgsteinfurt
phone: +49-(0)2551- 7878 fax: +49-(0)2551-83 43 00
info@ava1.de www.ava1.de

This release was published on openPR.