Notice board

At this time of year, respiratory disease can be an issue on farms. Not only can it affect the biological functioning of the animal, but it also has a major impact on its quality of life, or the psychological experience of life. 

A team of SRUC researchers are currently involved in a project aimed at the development of an assessment tool specifically to assess the quality of life of calves with bovine respiratory disease (BRD). 

A quality-of-life tool would be a major advancement in detecting disease that will ultimately lead to better treatments, care, and outcomes for calves.  

A major challenge in developing a quality-of-life tool is deciding what indicators should be included.  

The team are conducting a short survey to gauge how valid and useful dairy and beef farmers, calf rearing units, consultants, vets and researchers think that specific indicators are in the assessment of quality of life.  

Responses to the survey will be anonymous. It closes on 25 January and can be found at:

https://forms.gle/HVgEdKz5PETwfZ7C6