the frequency of testing may vary. The
students visited one herd on monthly milk
testing and another one that tested every
three months. The milking system in place
on farm may provide additional data, but
students need to figure out how and where
to find the information they need, says
Duffield.
It really comes down to the five Ws—
who, what, when, where and why, says
Duffield. “First you need to assess what’s
the problem. The farmer has an idea what
the problem is and you need to figure it
out. Second, is it really a problem? Who has
it, when does it occur? When in the lactation and when in the calendar year is it happening? Where on the farm is it happening,
such as in the dry pen, the tiestall, with the
fresh cows? If you’ve answered the first four
questions, this is where your hypothesis
comes from, but why is it happening?”
Duffield has also introduced the concept
of developing a hypothesis for diagnoses to
his first-year veterinary health management
classes. He used an example everyone can
easily relate to by telling the students “I have
a car that won’t start.” The students quickly
answered by suggesting the car could be out
of gas, the batter