A Preventive medicine program for dairy cattle in Southern Ontario

Abstract

The principles of the herd health programme at the Ontario Veterinary College are discussed with particular emphasis on the veterinarian-dairyman relationship. The importance of: selection of herds (checking health indices before allowing enrolment into the programme); procedures and contracts to avoid misunderstanding, records for identification and up-to-date reports, and cost benefit analysis are all stressed. Analysis of data provided conclusive evidence that return on investment improved significantly (95 to 502%) when the dairyman participated in the programme.