Hello from Nick Bell!

Hello, my name is Nick Bell and I am a veterinary surgeon and director of Herd Health Consultancy. I have international experience dealing with practical herd health and welfare improvement.

The beginning…

I grew up on a small livestock farm in Herefordshire, England. I have worked on cattle foot health for over 20 years, helping to develop a national foot health programme for dairy farmers.

For several years I worked as a first opinion practitioner and large animal practice director. After that I moved on to working within the welfare and behaviour group at Bristol University. Firstly, as a PhD student and then following on to a Research Fellow. Later, I moved to the Royal Veterinary College. Here I became a senior lecturer and director of production animal tracking rotations, based in the South of England.

Now…

Since 2006, I have been the founder and director of Herd Health Consultancy. In addition to this, I am an honorary associate professor at Nottingham University.

From my home in the South of England, which I share with my wife and two children, I work all over the UK and Internationally. Primarily dealing with practical herd health and welfare improvement, dairy herd foot health programmes, training and retailer schemes.

I am proud to sit on the committee running the Register of Mobility Scorers (RoMS), to be an instructor for RoMS, and chief auditor for the Cattle Hoofcare Standards Board. In addition to this, I am an instructor on the UK Level 4 course in professional foot trimming, as well as delivering training for the AHDB Healthy Feet Programme.

I enjoy using my experience in my work every day, supporting farmers to improve the health and welfare of their animals through improved skills, technical knowledge, and robust assessment.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or queries, look forward to hearing from you- Nick