Researchers from the Royal Veterinary College have published a study which found that observing livestock during unloading rather than later in holding pens identified more welfare problems, offering veterinary surgeons a simple change to ante-mortem inspection…

An interesting survey from Freedom Food has shown how little the public knows about farm animals:

• 75% of people didn't know that a sheep can recognise 50 members of its flock
• 74% didn't know that farmed male turkeys cannot mate
• 73% didn…

British shoppers are not losing sleep over the quality of their meat, milk and eggs - at least as far as animal medicines are concerned. They know farmers and their vets do a good job, and trust them to use medicines responsibly, for the health of food…

A study by Janssen Animal Health has, according to the company, demonstrated that a leading herbal wormer had no demonstrable efficacy against common poultry worms¹.

The trial, done to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Standards, involved 48 chickens that…

A new study carried out by academics at the University of Bristol's Animal Welfare and Behaviour research group has revealed that chickens empathise. So, if you've wondered why the chicken crossed the road, it was probably to help a friend.

More…

The BBC reports that a new strain of MRSA has emerged in British cows and is thought to be infecting humans.

For more on this story, click here.

An amendment to the EU's draft budget for a €2 million pilot research project into homeopathy and phytotherapy for farm animals has been approved today by the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee.

BVA President Harvey Locke, said: 

New research published in Epidemiology and Infection (Cambridge University Press) reveals that direct contact between badgers and cattle is rare, suggesting that it may be rare for bovine tuberculosis (TB) to be passed on through the two species…

The BVA has expressed its concern that almost two-thirds of food companies have no information on their commitment to stunning animals before slaughter – with only 4% having a "universal commitment".

The findings were published in th…

A comprehensive review published open access online in the Veterinary Record today has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of homeopathy in food producing animals as a way to prevent or treat infectious diseases.

Homeopathy…

Defra has released new data showing that new outbreaks of bovine TB have fallen in the two areas that have now completed their licensed four-year badger culls.

In the Somerset cull area, TB incidence has fallen from 24% before culling started to 12%…

The British Veterinary Association has responded to a study by Downs et al assessing the effects from four years of badger culling in England on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle.

The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, investigated…

UK sales of antibiotics in food-producing animals have halved since 2014, according to a report published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. 

The UK-Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) annual report shows that while sales…

A team at Liverpool John Moores University has developed Early Evidence Kits to help with the collection of dog DNA from attacked livestock so that irresponsible dog owners can be held accountable. 

According to the NFU, last year farm animals worth an estimated…