Calving Management and Newborn Calf Care: An interactive Textbook for Cattle Medicine and Obstetrics

by João Simões , George Stilwell 
August 2021

This comprehensive textbook provides detailed information on calving management in dairy and beef cattle. Enriched with diverse learning opportunities, it conveys the fundamentals of reproductive anatomy and physiology, parturition, birth complications and various obstetrical manoeuvres, as well as dam and calf care. In order to promote best practices in this specialized subject, the book covers all significant points from conception to calving and the perinatal period. Clear chapter structures, a wealth of illustrations and videos, obstetrical case studies, and question-and-answer lists round out the reading experience, making the book a unique source of information on how to support mother cows and obtain viable offspring. In addition, readers can download the free Springer Nature Flashcards App and benefit from 77 digital study questions to test their knowledge.

Calving is a significant event in terms of providing care and nutrition for mother cows and calves. The reproductive health status in cattle farms is crucial to immediately initiate lactation and new conception. Assistance by technical personnel, dystocia and stillbirth occurrences can reach ca. 50%, 14% and 6% of parturitions, respectively. Hence, zootechnical and veterinary management of calving is of great importance for animal welfare.

This textbook makes a valuable contribution to teaching and everyday practice in cattle medicine and obstetrics. Veterinary students, residents, practitioners and technical personnel will discover it to be a rich learning and reference resource.