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Drench onto winter crop

A paddock that is 100% crop, fence to fence, with no gullies or unworked knobs, will only host worms if there’s grass in the crop. Any rough areas provide a great environment for parasites to thrive. However, if the paddock has been ungrazed for many months, parasite levels may be lower. Though this isn’t always the case, as with grazing practices changing, many lambs are now being put onto crop earlier. ...

Protect your calves from Rotavirus

Scours is one of the leading reasons for sickness and death in calves in New Zealand, and Rotavirus is a very common cause. This highly contagious virus can infect calves from birth onwards, with symptoms normally seen around 1-4 weeks of age. The main sign is a watery, pale yellow diarrhoea. The virus can spread very quickly through calf sheds, leaving a trail of sick, infected calves.   Affected calves should be rapidly quarantined and tested to confirm if it’s Rotavirus or a ...

Lepto: Why vaccination is key

A whole range of livestock can be infected by Lepto, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and even horses. Wild animals such as rats and possums can also transmit the disease.The bacteria that causes the disease thrives in wet environments and is often spread via direct contact with urine or a contaminated water source. It can enter through cuts, but also through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth.The impact Lepto can have on farm is considerable – both on livestock and on human h...

Hoggets in winter

Hoggets can often struggle in the colder months, especially if they're pregnant. They should still be growing well to ensure they hit their full mature weight as early as possible. For this reason, your hoggets must be considered priority stock. Now is the time to assess and plan for things like feed quality, any changes in feed, parasite burdens, and trace element supplementation. The product Vitamin ADE (containing vitamins A, D, and E) is a good supplement option – it’s sometimes nic...

Heifers in winter

Preparing dairy youngstock for wintertime is crucial for maintaining good growth rates and overall health. Here’s a few things to consider when thinking about your plans for your heifers this wet season:...

Tech talk: Teat sealing

Heifers lose the natural keratin plugs in their teats when they come into milk before calving, making them susceptible to picking up bacteria through their open teat canals. When our teams teat seal a mob of heifers, we insert an internal teat sealant called Dryzen into their teats. This forms a physical barrier that will stay in place until it is stripped out after calving, providing better protection against bacteria.Our teat seal teams cover a large part of the South. We are running four...

Drench check FECs

At this time of year, with weather still warm and plenty of moisture around, conditions are ideal for parasite growth. We provide quick in-house faecal egg count (FEC) testing. Faecal samples can be dropped off to any VetSouth clinic to be analysed by our ParaSight machines in Winton, Gore and Tapanui.   Two of the main FECs we run are: Post-Drench Checks – a FEC given around ten days after use of an oral drench.Drench Interval Checks – a FEC given 28 days after the last ...

Working dog studies

Massey University is undertaking a research project called ‘Right Dog for the Job’.They will learn more about the DNA make-up of our New Zealand Huntaway and Heading dogs, with the objective being to develop breeding options to enhance the health and performance of working dogs.The researchers are collecting data such as physical measurements, working attributes, and DNA samples from a selection of working dogs. This will be used to produce their genotypes, to better understand which ge...

Let's talk about pet dental health

I've been a veterinarian for 35 years, and during that time, there have been many significant advancements in animal healthcare. Among these, the most notable is in the field of animal dentistry.When I graduated, we had little to no dental care training; consequently, oral diseases were often overlooked. Thankfully, those days are behind us. We now understand that dental disease causes discomfort and can affect vital organs and systems in the body. Advancements in dental facilities and technique...

Championing mares in the Southern Belle harness racing series

But while the sport is often dominated by male horses, the Southern Belle Speed Series shines a well-deserved spotlight on the females. Not only does it provide a platform to showcase their talent and prove they can compete at a high level, it also enhances their future breeding value. We sat down with our senior equine veterinarian, Brendon Bell, to talk about the prestigious series, its connection with VetSouth, and what it means for the region.  Brendon has been involved with t...

Building immunity in hoggets

Our hoggets are now around seven months old and building their immunity to parasites. The faster they do this, the quicker they’ll handle parasites and not require drenching. We need this to happen as quickly as possible.     Immunity develops when an animal is well fed and has all their important trace elements at adequate levels (Selenium, Vitamin B12, etc.). A high-protein diet will aid immunity development.   The trigger for any immunity is the presence of the p...

Working dogs in autumn

Flea numbers have been higher this summer. Check that your dogs and kennels are clear of fleas now, before they cause any further buildup of flea eggs and larvae in kennel floors and bedding. Incidences of sheep measles are low on Southland farms. This indicates good disease control measures by our southern farmers, but they need to be maintained for ongoing protection. So, ensure you continue to implement your worming programme during autumn. Lameness due to musculoskeletal injuries o...

Oh no, don’t say, “Cheese!”

Cheesy gland (also called caseous lymphadenitis or lympho) is a chronic disease in sheep and goats caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis....

Selenium levels in sheep

Over the past 2-3 years, our vets have been seeing many sheep selenium test results coming back as either low (less than 4) or marginal (between 4-10).    Low levels can result from a combination of less fertiliser and prill application, and in some seasons fast grass growth means less mineral uptake.   These tables show a summary of recent results:...

BVD in bulls

Transiently infected (TI) bulls will shed the BVD virus in their semen while they are infected, reducing the quality of the semen. All breeding bulls should have been vaccinated to prevent them from getting infected by any TI or PI (persistently infected) animals that they come into contact with. This is not always done unfortunately. Because of this, it is up to you to look into the background of your bulls.  When you are buying in or leasing bulls, it is important that you confi...

In-clinic mastitis testing options

The DairySmart Jupiter machine, which has been available since last year, uses traditional agar plates and an incubator. However, it uses modern AI to detect what bacteria species are present. The Mastatest machine, which has been around for a few years, can run up to four cartridges for clinical mastitis or eight samples of subclinical mastitis, in a 22-hour turnaround period. Here are the pros and cons of both: ...

Wearables vs. non-wearables repro results

As we come to the end of another busy scanning season, we’re often asked how reproduction results are trending and whether farms using wearable technologies (like collars or tags) are performing any better than those without.  Below is a brief overview of the results so far from our farms in the East (Gore, Tapanui, Clydevale and Balclutha areas). Note: This doesn’t include data from our Winton clients....

Meet the equine team: Ariana

Welcome to our Invercargill team's newest graduate vet, Ariana Miller!Ari has made the trip all the way from the North Island to join us down in Invercargill. Originating from Christchurch, she’s happy to be back in the scenic South Island. Despite growing up in urban areas, you could guarantee every possible weekend was spent with horses.She graduated as a mixed veterinarian from Massey University in 2024 and is looking forward to getting involved with all aspects of equine and small animal v...

20 years of Sunni Southland days

On the 15th of March it’s 20 years since I started working at VetSouth. These days working at the same place for that long is a milestone. I’m a definite hen’s tooth you might say.  I have had many hours to ponder life, driving around the countryside looking for pus in cow’s orifices, so I thought I’d pen a reflection of how I got to where I am today. From a little brown, half-Indian, half-Kiwi, Aussie city girl to now, almost a legitimate Southlander! It’s a bit of a read,...

Staff focus: Showing cattle

How many children were in your class at the event?   There were 12, all under 14 years old.  Did they all bring a heifer from home? Yes, most of them had heifers there to compete at the Gore A&P Show. We did provide some heifers as well, if needed.Do you know what backgrounds they came from?  They were from a mix of backgrounds. Some of the participants came from dairy farming families, but some came from more urban backgrounds. We’ve been helping them get involve...

Feeding senior working dogs

Senior working dogs benefit from special diets to support their aging bodies and ensure they have the energy for work and recovery.Ideally working dog diets should contain 25-30% carbohydrates, 25-35% fat and 30-35% protein. Dogs will metabolise carbohydrates as their initial energy source, then move to fat as demand continues or increases. Once these available energy sources have been used up, protein is utilised from muscle and other cells.Dogs that are consistently fed high-fat diets will con...

Salmonella impacts: A case study

A 550-cow dairy farm experienced a Salmonella outbreak in early May 2024. Over the course of the outbreak, they had five cows die and 12 cows abort. They treated 20 cows with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pain relief. During this period in late lactation, they also noted a 20% drop in milk in the vat. A rough estimation of how much this cost the farmer is outlined in the table below:...

Southern Salmonella update

This increase coincided with the wettest spring on record, and other factors such as changes in feed, waterlogged paddocks, cold weather, carrier cows and exceptional stress on cows (and farmers) all meaning some of these outbreaks were very severe. Interim data (see Figure 1 below) has shown there was almost 10x more cases of Salmonella in Southland in 2024 compared to the previous seven years! ...

Hind repro performance

Hinds on New Zealand deer farms normally reach puberty at around 16 months old. Hinds that have hit puberty by 16-months have a very good chance to conceive and calve at 24 months old.However, to be able to do this, R2 hinds have to be 70% of their adult body weight by their second autumn, regardless of their genetic composition. Failure to do so will delay puberty by at least a year.Keep in mind, if the average R2 hind weight across your herd is about 70% of their adult body weight, this ma...

Winning at weaning

Here are some tips for each stage:  Pre-weaning  Make high quality feed available early on to encourage calves to transition onto this while their mothers are still around. This will help rumen development and digestion of solid feed will be more efficient come weaning day. Additionally, if fed well early, skeletal and muscle development will be better, leading to an improved frame to build on later and fatten at the finishing stage.  Perform stressful procedures, such as disbuddi...