Completing a marathon is a significant challenge for most people, so imagine what it must be like to complete a couple of marathons every day for around 10 months. This is the challenge that the modern dairy cow has mastered, with a truly impressive metabolic response.

Dairy vet and herd manager Nial O'Boyle has for some time been fascinated by the metabolic capacity of the dairy cow, which led him to study mitochondria and the role they play for his PhD.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Nial has worked in many different countries across the world, with extensive experience managing large, high yielding herds in the US.

In this episode, we discuss:

• ​how a cow uses energy,
• ​the importance of providing feedback for engagement,
• ​changes in farm veterinary practice over the past 20 years.

This episode will not only appeal to farm veterinarians and dairy farmers, but anyone who wants to hear more about cows!

Links from the episode:

'Oleic acid abomasal infusion limits lipolysis and improves insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue from periparturient dairy cows', Journal of Dairy Science paper open access:

https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(23)00195-9/fulltext

Contact Nial on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nial-o-boyle-14a815130/

CattleEye https://cattleeye.com/