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The article presents questions and answers related to cattle breeding in Great Britain including the management of infected heifers, management of pre-calving heifers, and pregnancy rate of cattle.

Although antibiotic use in the dairy sector is relatively low when compared with other species such as pigs and poultry, dairy herds are likely to come under increasing scrutiny regarding the use of antimicrobials to prevent endemic diseases, particularly in the context of mastitis control. While the treatment of existing infections remains an important part of mastitis herd health, it is prudent to consider the use of antibiotics in mastitis control within the framework of the British Veterinary Association's recent guide to the responsible use of antimicrobial drugs in veterinary practice. Working with clients to avoid the need for antimicrobials using disease control programmes is the first of eight points in the guide and the most important; the recent roll-out of the national DairyCo Mastitis Control Plan has prompted renewed interest in the prevention and control of new intramammary infections and therefore minimising the use of antibiotics in mastitis control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: In the last 10 years, there has been much attention on the role that dry cow management plays in mastitis epidemiology in many dairy herds in the UK. This forum summarises recent peer-reviewed evidence regarding specific items which have been shown to be important in the risk of acquiring new intra-mammary infections across the dry period in an attempt to shed light on those interventions which are likely to impact on the amount of disease in the next lactation. Finally, a group of veterinary advisors that have been trained to deliver the national DairyCo Mastitis Control Plan () and have a particular interest in mastitis control are asked for their experiences on practical changes that can be made following identification of dry period origin infection patterns in herds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]