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Why humerus fractures are no laughing matter

The catastrophic fractures occur when bones become weakened by decreased bone mass and increased bone resorption. They are typically seen at two key times: in the seven days either side of calving, or during peak lactation.An estimated 4,500 heifers are affected in NZ each year, and outbreaks can affect up to 10% of a single farm’s herd!For a long time, copper deficiency was thought to be the main culprit. This was due to affected animals being found to have low levels and the important role c...

Twenty years of Swede Safari

Some 20 years ago, when I was a fresh-faced new-grad vet, Mark came to a few of us with the words: “I’ve got an idea you could help me with…”There have been times I’ve regretted saying “yes” to a Mark Bryan idea. This definitely wasn’t one of them. The concept was two-fold. Wintering and farming stock in Southland is very different from what most vet students experience in the North Island. Meanwhile, Southland is a long way from New Z...

Plan ahead for post-weaning growth

Now is a good time to think about weaning. I do realise that it's only September, but there are some things you can be thinking about now that will benefit post-weaning growth rates for your lambs. While you won’t be able to do this for all of them, you might be able to for some… In an ideal world, we would wean lambs onto pasture that has not had ewes lambing on it.  These pastures would have lower parasite challenge, and we know that is a big factor in achieving good lamb growth ...

Saving lambs with dextrose

Lambs born to well-fed ewes with a body condition score of 3 or more will have good reserves of brown fat. This provides readily available energy to fuel a newborn lamb before it absorbs milk.However, sometimes these energy reserves can run out before the lamb gets its first feed. Once this happens, the lamb becomes cold and weak, and its chances of survival drop quickly.One way to buy a little more time is to provide the lamb with an energy source&nb...

The effects of ewe wastage

I recently had a look at a study done on three large farms in the North Island, which showed 90% of hoggets left the flock from ewe wastage! That is, only 10% make it through to be cast for age.The study considered ewe wastage to be any ewe that left the flock (died, or culled) before the age of six. The ewes that were culled were mostly dry, had udder issues, or poor health etc.A big impact of this wastage is that more replacements are required, creating a younger flock that will have...

Meet the vet herd: Ruby

If you’re around the Clutha area, have you met our new large animal vet Ruby?She joined our South Otago team at the start of the year from Australia. With the launch of our new clinic in Milton in 2025, Ruby’s here to help us expand our production animal support further into Otago. Although based out of our Balclutha clinic, she travels to farms as far away as Mosgiel.Ruby grew up in a town called Broome, in the north of Western Australia (croc and Brahman cattle country). She was a self-pro...

Practical mineral solutions backed by evidence-based advice

Achieving optimal performance and health from your stock requires more than simply giving some minerals. Understanding what nutrients your animals need, how they should be delivered to be effective, and how they fit within your wider feeding programme is critical.Heartland Feeds is proud to partner with VetSouth, giving southern farmers access to feeds and minerals that meet their farm’s specific systems and nutritional needs, backed up by on-farm consulting and veterinary guidance.Whether you...

Nipping it in the bud

With calving season getting underway, it’s time to start thinking about one of the key jobs for your spring calendar: disbudding. While it may not be everyone’s favourite task, doing it early and doing it well makes all the difference for calf welfare and long-term management. Removing the buds while calves are between 2-6 weeks old means they won’t grow sharp horns as an adult, helping prevent injuries to herdmates and handlers. It’s much easier on the calf getting them done young and m...

Managing springtime stress

While we are a resilient bunch down south, it’s important to remember to look after yourself, as well as your cows, ewes and newborns. You can’t do it all, and you certainly can’t do it without sleep, support, or decent kai to keep your energy up!Whether you yourself struggle during this time, or your staff members are feeling it more than usual, it is important to carve out some time for self-care whenever possible. When you can feel burnout coming, do twice as much of the things tha...

Pre-lamb drench use

Times have changed, and we know our advice has also changed… we get that, but we are seeing farmers understand why this is the case, and it is leading to some great shifts in farm systems to favour the stock, not the parasites. One big change is less use of drench in adult stock – throughout the year and especially around the lambing period. We are seeing farmers feeding their stock better and having more condition on them, enabling them to better handle the parasite pressure that comes ...

“It just dropped dead!”

With activities such as disbudding and tailing around the corner and stock prices looking positive, it’s worth having a quick refresher on the topic....

Spotting sleepy sickness

This metabolic disorder, also known as pregnancy toxaemia, is most common in multiple-bearing ewes during the last few weeks of pregnancy, when their energy demands are at their highest. It can affect thinner ewes that aren’t getting enough feed, but it can also occur in well-conditioned ewes if they’re put under stress, such as prolonged bad weather, pre-lamb shearing or crutching, or illness that reduces feed intake. Early recognition is key. Watch for ewes that have separated from the mo...

Two decades of dedication

Georgette (also known fondly as ‘George’ or ‘G’) came to Southland from the Netherlands, after a stint in south Taranaki. She was looking at a few jobs down here, and I remember ringing her boss, Hoppy, in Hāwera (who I knew) and quietly asking him if she was worth employing. “Bloody hell, grab her as soon as you can,” he said, which was all I needed to hear – and the rest, as they say, is history.Hoppy was right. No sooner had George arrived in Winton than she got down to busines...

Ionophore toxicity risks for dogs

Ionophore coccidiostats are a class of compounds commonly used in livestock feeds, particularly calf rearing meals, to improve growth rates and prevent certain diseases such as coccidiosis. Dogs are particularly susceptible to ionophore toxicity because their bodies lack the special digestive systems and metabolic pathways that help ruminants break down and detoxify these compounds. As a result, even small amounts of ionophores can cause severe, and sometimes fatal, health effects in dogs, incl...

Learning from lamb losses – the value of post-mortems

Often, this is put down to the storm that inevitably comes through in the middle of lambing every year, but are there other areas where we have some more control over this wastage? By performing simple post-mortems on 10-20 lambs – collected across the lambing period (and stored appropriately) – that were either born dead or died soon after birth, you might find there are some levers you can pull to reduce this. In many cases, lamb deaths are multifactorial, but understanding the main driver...

Dental care, alpaca style

Not something our vets see every day; our South Otago team polished up a herd of alpaca’s dental health!Just like many other species, dentals are an important aspect of routine care for alpacas. They have continuously growing teeth that can develop sharp points or uneven wear over time. These dental abnormalities can make chewing uncomfortable and affect an alpaca's ability to eat properly and keep weight on. So, their teeth are not to be overlooked.Signs that an alpaca may have teeth issues i...

Trace elements ahead of calving

While most dairy farmers have a trace element supplementation routine, as we reset for another season it’s worth asking: are you supplementing the right trace elements at the right time?Trace element deficiencies can affect fertility, immunity, milk production, and overall performance and wellbeing. However, without testing, supplementation is a guessing game. Some herds may be being silently impacted by deficiencies, while others could be receiving minerals they don’t need (draining your wa...

From data to decisions: Using wearables to guide transition management

During the 2025-26 season, one of VetSouth’s Southland dairy farms used data derived from their wearables and the CowSmart service to monitor transition performance, cow recovery, and reproductive outcomes.Regular reviews of rumination, activity, and heat data enabled farmer and vet to work together to assess cow nutrition, evaluate transition performance, plan for mating, and monitor overall herd performance.A key focus for the farm was rumination recovery following calving. Trends in ruminat...

Give your calves a great start

Good care in the first few months sets calves up for strong growth, disease resistance, and long term performance.Give them the best start at birth by ensuring each calf gets a minimum of 10% of their body weight in high quality (>22% on a Brix refractometer) gold colostrum – ideally within the first two to six hours of life.Take good care of navels to prevent infection, including spraying them with iodine and keeping pens clean and bedding fresh and dry. It’s also important to ma...

Hill country tech

Kaizen – a Japanese philosphy focusing on continuous improvement – and a desire for efficiency is driving sheep and beef farmers Nick and Alexis Wadworth to embrace technology on their farm in the Hokonui Hills. Having first got a drone back in 2018 to help reduce labour during lambing, the couple have since upgraded their model to one with a zoom camera and are about to head into their first spring using Halter collars on their Hereford breeding cows. ...

Repro results round-up

The highlight of these events was sharing the strong reproductive results achieved by our farms this season.The average 3-week in-calf rate across all VetSouth farms was 50%, against an industry target of 53% (which is what the best herds in New Zealand are expected to achieve)....

The case of a locked leg

I was recently on-farm for a routine visit, when the farmer mentioned that he had an odd lame cow that hadn’t yet responded to any treatment.When we looked at her, she was dramatically lame, with a back leg that swung to the side wildly as she walked. The lameness seemed so serious, it nearly caused the farmer to euthanise her rather than getting a veterinary exam – but luckily I was already coming out to the farm for another job.On physical examination, I found that the kneecap was locked ...

Are summer crops reducing worm burdens?

We’ve seen plenty of lamb fattening crops planted across Southland this season, often driven by the need for ‘cleaner’ feed with lower parasite contamination, increased feed value and a desire for better lamb yields. For some farms, they’ve also been used to help lift ewe performance. Below are three sets of 10 individual faecal egg count (FEC) results. They are from lambs that have been grazing crop (kale and clo...

Pre-lambing management strategies

Lots of you will be scanning soon, which is an ideal time to check on your ewes’ condition and trace element status, and make a plan for spreading them out later in the season. Some of the main opportunities at this time include: ...

All bark, sore bite!

These hard-working animals will often appear ‘normal’ despite having advanced disease processes.Working dogs are at risk of damage to the teeth, whether it be from working with livestock, vehicle accidents, or just wear and tear from gnawing bones and other chewing behaviours. Some of the most common injuries we see are excessive wear of the teeth from chewing, and ‘slab fractures’, where part of a large part of the back tooth breaks away.A tooth root abscess can form when the sensitive ...