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Top 'teaser' tips

It is that time of year to start thinking about teasers and ewe synchronising prior to mating.Teasers (vasectomised rams) are used to stimulate earlier cycling in ewes, or synchronise ewes that are already cycling. They can be particularly useful for ewe hoggets in their first year of mating who do not actively seek out rams.Here are some key considerations for managing your teasers pre-mating 2023:Teasers should have their surgical procedure 6 weeks before use to ensure adequate healing times a...

Scanning the herd

It’s that time of year again…time to think about pregnancy scanning your beef cows, and the benefits of getting us in for this are huge!These include:Age scanning cows into pregnancy groupsDetection of twinsDetection of abortions/fertility concernsAnalysis of bull performanceMore information for culling decisionsAbility to sell in-calf cattleMore control over the feed budget.Lets not forget the top quality conversation we can bring to the call out!We have a team of skilled pregnancy scanners...

Chicken care 101

Recent regulatory changes banning battery cages for layer hens in NZ mean supermarkets are now only accepting cage-free eggs. This is a great win for our feathered friends, who now have the room they need to be happy and productive, but it has left our egg shelves a little bare! In a bid to ensure we have eggs to go with our bacon, there has been a dramatic rise in Kiwis taking matters into their own hands and buying chooks.TradeMe reported a whopping 190% increase in searches for chickens ...

Are self-shedding sheep the answer to your prayers?

The reality of increased shearing costs and a continued poor return for crossbred wool has led to more interest in self-shedding breeds such as the Wiltshires and Aussie Whites.The introduction of self-shedding stock decreases the labour requirements around shearing, crutching, dagging and the associated yarding. But, do the benefits of transitioning your flock outweigh the costs?With little data on transitioning flocks and the resultant production outcome, Professor Steve Morris from Massey Uni...

Reducing Yersiniosis in weaner deer

The yersinia bacteria (Yersinia Psuedotuberculosis) are widespread on soil, water and pasture. Carrier animals, such as deer, birds, rabbits, pigs, cattle or sheep, shed the bacteria in their faeces. Deer then become infected by eating or drinking contaminated material. Stress is a major factor in making fawns vulnerable to yersiniosis around the time of weaning. Some of the main stresses include:WeaningCold, wet, windy weatherUnderfeeding, or a sudden change of feedTransportationA heavy in...

A new “top dog” for VetSouth

We are excited to announce the appointment of Ian Hunter to the role of General Manager at VetSouth. Hailing from the North of England, Yorkshireman Ian has spent the last couple of decades  managing and leading operational teams and businesses in a variety of industries across NZ. This has included GM roles at Toycomm Auto Recyclers, Canterbury Aluminium Ltd,  B&D Doors NZ Ltd, and Lion Nathan. He was also GM of Operations at Kiwicare Corporation Ltd; headed up Veritide and C...

Chocolate – the sweet but deadly treat

Chocolate is delicious - to both humans and dogs. Unfortunately, dogs are much slower to metabolise theobromine, one of the chemical components in chocolate, making even a small amount potentially toxic for them. While at the time it might seem funny that Fido the golden lab has had a good nosh on the block of chocolate left on the table, within a few hours, we might not be laughing so much. ...

Meet the farm distribution team

Simply text us your order and get your VetSouth products delivered direct to your farm.Roaming across Southland and Otago, our Farm Distribution team is out on the road helping all our farmers get the products they need, without having to leave the farm. Simply text us your order before 9am on your delivery day and we will pack it up and drop it off to you. Our busy team services the East, West, North and South, heading to a different location each day to enable us to deliver to all our clients ...

WelFarm: A vet's perspective

Find out more about this popular programme and what real-time impact it can have on-farm.Many of our clients have already signed up to WelFarm, but recently we have been receiving more enquiries about the programme and what real-time impact it can have on-farm. WelFarm is an NZ web-based assurance programme designed to help dairy farmers better understand key animal health markers and how they impact on the optimisation of on-farm production performance. Our rural Large Animal Veterinarians...

Reducing antimicrobial use at a local level

Mark Bryan looks into how VetSouth is performing and what changes farmers are implementing to reduce their antimicrobial usage.Antimicrobial use (AMU) is the term given to describe the use of antibiotics and antimicrobials. You may have noticed a strong movement over recent years to reduce AMU in both humans and animals. This is because antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a huge risk to our continued use of antimicrobials; and the more we use, the greater the risk. Of real concern for us is that a...

Tackling lice in your flock

Earlier this year, some of our vets attended the 2022 New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) conference in Hamilton. One of the topics was louse control and below is a brief summary of some of the key points covered in controlling lice in sheep. Shearing removes 50-90% of lice from your sheep. While extending your shearing interval might make sense with the current wool prices, it is worth being prepared for an increase in the number of lice on your sheep.You will have to do some thorough mus...

Scanning for success

For our team at VetSouth, scanning time is an exciting and rewarding part of the dairy farming calendar, but also one of the most physically demanding seasons. With the twisting, turning and having to concentrate on many numbers - typically all while the platform is spinning and your team is milking - it’s quite the task. We have physio sessions and bootcamp prior to scanning to ensure our bodies can keep up! As well as physical preparation, we invest in the best technology to ensure our ...

Cow technology and scanning

Cow sensors are running 24/7 and are continuously collecting data from the individual cow’s behaviour. Over mating, the programmes behind these sensors will calculate the perfect timing for insemination, making heat detection simple. Once a cow is inseminated or mated and is not coming back to heat after, the technology assumes this cow has held on to her pregnancy and is now in-calf. This is quite a big assumption to make. In the majority of cases, these cows are probably in calf, but there a...

Calf drenching do’s and don’ts

Worming is an essential stage of weaning to control the exposure of calves to several roundworm species, as well as lungworm commonly found on our pastures. Cooperia, which live in the small intestines, and Ostertagia, which live in the abomasum, are the two most common roundworm species affecting our youngstock here in NZ. The larvae live in the lower 2.5cm of grass and top 1cm of the soil, requiring warm, wet conditions to survive. Calf growth rates can be limited by up to 30%, if burdens...

Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test results

Our Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) results for 2022 showed that drenches were not working effectively in over a third of cases.  Almost half of the single-acting drench tests showed resistance or suspicious results, compared with 33% in the double-acting group and 11% of the triple-acting/novel drenches. All the more reason to check your flock this season to ensure your drenches are doing the job. ...

Weathering the… drought?

At our most recent sheep, beef and deer in-house training day we were lucky enough to have a representative from Environment Southland come and speak to us about climate change. Specifically, about what to expect in our neck of the woods. I cannot pretend to be an expert in this field, but there were some interesting key points that I was able to note from this talk. The main impacts of climate change expected in Southland are: Warmer wintersDecreased frost frequencyLonger growing seasonPossible...

Are your boys up to the job?

With the year moving so quickly it will be no time at all before you will find our sheep vets crouched down behind your ram team getting their yearly testicular fix! I promise the reason we insist on performing this annual ritual is not for our own perverse enjoyment (although for most of us it is a favourite time of year), but to ensure your mating season runs smoothly, with no nasty surprises at scanning time. Some of the most common issues we find that can cause issues with your rams’ ferti...

SheepIQ does lambing

Well, it’s been an interesting few months since our last update. We have collected the data from scanning and lambing from our very own VetSouth trial flock of two-tooths....

Breeding for better working dogs

Some of the key goals when breeding working dogs are increasing the number of good working dogs available and improving their welfare. Selection criteria can identify ideal candidates for enhancing performance, with improvements in their breeding, training and care. There can be significant time lost with training young dogs that are often not deemed proven until 1-2 years of age. When deciding which dogs to train, you must take into account their temperament, natural behaviours, genetic factors...

Combatting Campy with annual boosters

Many of our farmers are already vaccinating for Campylobacter in a bid to prevent abortion storms at lambing time. But, how many of you are topping up your flocks? With over half of M/A ewes shown to still be naïve to the bacteria, it may be time to rethink your vaccination plan to cover all of your flock (rather than just maiden ewes) and to introduce a third shot, or even an annual booster....

Are self-shedding sheep the answer to your prayers?

The reality of increased shearing costs and a continued poor return for crossbred wool has led to more interest in self-shedding breeds such as the Wiltshires and Aussie Whites. The introduction of self-shedding stock decreases the labour requirements around shearing, crutching, dagging and the associated yarding. But, do the benefits of transitioning your flock outweigh the costs? With little data on transitioning flocks and the resultant production outcome, Professor Steve Morris from Massey U...

Parasite management planning

We have created a practical planning tool to help you keep those pesky parasites at bay.Controlling parasites is an important part of your flock’s annual health management and is also key to ensuring optimal production. Below is a list of things to prioritise and avoid in relation to parasite management when planning your farming activities. Staying on the ‘prioritise’ list will boost your production and help protect the effectiveness of drenches so ...

Refrigerator for vaccines: Protecting your investment

Large animal vaccines are often stored on-farm, in a refrigerator, prior to use, but the storage conditions during this period are barely talked about.  When I am delivering to farms, I often drop off to the specified fridges and notice the temperature is less than ideal. Would it keep the beer cold? If not, it's time to buy a new fridge.  Don’t bring the old unreliable fridge down to the shed from the house. A brand new fridge/freezer (for your slicker pads/ice packs) can start...

Waisake's weight loss journey

Waisake is a 3 year old big Labrador that never looked “overweight”, but over time, he started to change. His owner Hallie tells us about his weight loss journey over the past few months. Things that he once did with such ease became a bit more of a struggle. He was sleeping a lot more, and was no longer so keen on walks, or able to sustain his energy for his usual distance. He had just lost his inner bounce and spark. When he could no longer jump up on the back of the ute, I realised t...

More kilos at the gate: Animal health for heavier lambs

Now that we are at this stage of the season, let's focus on keeping them alive, and growing them well. We see more lamb deaths from clostridial diseases than from anything else during the weaning and growth season.  Vaccinations are very effective at preventing these deaths and there are many options that provide a broader range of protection if you feel the 5in1 is not sufficient.  Timing is important and can be manipulated according to your risks. If you see any CLA/Ch...