burren LIFE

May 01, 2008
Burren Vets Workshop Report

This short summary report is based on the proceedings of a workshop held on Thursday September 13th,2007 at the BurrenLIFE project offices in Carron, Co. Clare. The purpose of the workshop was to share practical information and experience on animal health and nutrition issues, with particular reference to the Burren and the work of the BurrenLIFE project.

Over the first three years of the project, a large amount of information relating to animal diet, health and condition on Burren winterages has been amassed by the project team. This workshop was an opportunity to share this information with local animal health practitioners and elicit their response
based on their hands-on practical experience in the Burren.

Addressing the meeting were Dr. Brendan Dunford, Dr. Sharon Parr and Dr. James Moran of the BurrenLIFE project. Dr Dunford presented an overview of the work of the BurrenLIFE project, while Dr. Moran and Dr. Parr outlined some of the preliminary data on the forage quality, feeding recommendations and animal health on BurrenLIFE monitor farms. This data included forage analyses (including mineral analyses) from Burren winterages, silage and hay; condition scoring of cattle outwintered in the Burren; blood testing; information from animal health questionnaires and the development and formulation of the BurrenLIFE concentrate ration. Copies of the presentations are available to download. Following the presentations, a question and answer session and a general discussion took place. The main themes explored were the implications of forage quality for animal health, general health issues on Burren farms (using evidence from vet call outs) and proposals for the next steps in developing a model of best practice for animal health and conservation farming in the Burren.

Those attending the workshop were veterinary surgeons practicing in the Burren region, officials from the District Veterinary office of the Dept. of Agriculture and Teagasc specialists. The questions and discussions form the basis of this report. The BurrenLIFE project team are extremely grateful to those that gave of their time to attend this workshop, and for the contributions made by those present on the
night.