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Cervidae Oral: The new deer drench

Exciting news! Cervidae Oral, the new triple active drench for deer will be available from the 1st September 2021. With a 28 day withholding period, we now have a practical drench product for the venison industry. Although this long awaited drench is sure to decrease worm burdens and increase growth rates, we need to work together to ensure we reduce the risk of ostertagia resistance and therefore the effectiveness of the drench. Historic widespread use of single active mectin drench products, ...

Yersiniavax – is it still relevant after nearly 30 years on the market?

Yersinia is still the leading cause of death in fawns during autumn and winter. Yersinia bacteria are widespread and survive well in soil, water, and pasture. Carrier animals also shed these in faeces. Weaner deer are most at risk, and usually becoming infected at 4 - 8 months of age by eating or drinking faecally contaminated material. Disease is primarily related to age, stress, and exposure to bacteria. Important stressors include weaning, poor nutrition, sudden change in feed, mixing of deer...

Working dog pre-season checklist

So while we understand you are busy with spring on the farm, it's worthwhile making sure you have a plan for your working dogs' health this coming season. Your main workers benefit from a solid strategy covering parasites, vaccinations and nutrition. Attend to any current or pre-existing health condition now - eg lameness, osteoarthritis, skin disease, skin and mammary gland tumours, ear infections, broken or abscessed teeth. Review the status of the internal parasite control programme your dog...

3-week submission rates: 2020/21 stats

Do this quick calculation: Number of cows in your herd x 0.9 / 21 days = Target Number of Cows per Day. If you are not getting as many cows up per day as you should then call your KeyVet to discuss. It is challenging to achieve a 6 week in-calf rate target of 78% if you do not get enough cows up in the first 3 weeks. The average Submission rate for 304 dairy farms in our area was 79%. Below shows data from the 2020/21 season:...

Up or down?

The weather has treated us well this winter with higher temperatures and lower rainfall. So with more feed around and a better calving environment surely we should be seeing fewer down cows right? Unfortunately, on some farms, we are seeing the opposite effect! We’re hearing of more cows that are struggling to get up, despite magnesium and other mineral supplementation. The daily requirements of magnesium does not change, however, in a normal winter/early spring, we tend to have high rainfall...

Covid-19: What does Level 4 mean for vet clinics?

As you will be aware, the Covid-19 Alert Level has been raised to 4. Veterinary services are classified as an essential service, as previous, we will be partially restricted in how we operate. It is a legal requirement for both employee and customer to wear a face mask at business or service. Please take time to read the information below....

Pet preventative testing

When you take your pet to the veterinarian, whether it’s for a wellness check-up, or to diagnose or treat an issue, your veterinarian may suggest certain tests or procedures to ensure your pet is in optimal health. This type of testing is called Preventative Testing. Preventative testing helps to establish a baseline for your pet, which can be compared to future tests for changes. It also helps you catch issues earlier, before they become full-blown problems or even emergencies, helping your p...

Anti-inflammatory drugs

Our cattle are very good at hiding pain. Historically, as a herbivore on the grass plains, it was important to hide their injuries and pain from potential predators. In todays farming systems, this historic stoic behaviour has made it very difficult to identify these sick and injured individuals as they hide it so much better than we do, especially compared to someone with male flu!...

Canine Distemper in the south

A recent case in Southland diagnosed a puppy with the life-threatening disease – Canine Distemper. This disease was considered to have potentially been eradicated in New Zealand, due to diligence in vaccinating young dogs. Canine Distemper is a traumatic and life-threatening disease for our canines, which is transmitted from animal to animal (particularly mustelids such as stoats and ferrets). More importantly, it is completely preventable through vaccination. ...

Assisted calvings: 2020 stats

With spring on our doorstep, we are looking back at last season’s assisted calvings. Last spring VetSouth Winton assisted around 560 calvings. For 422 of these, we recorded information for further analysis and for 186 of these calved cows we had enough information (pregnancy scan results with access to Minda through Infovet) to be able to follow up on the outcome. On presentation: 18% of the calves were alive51% were fresh dead21% were dead and smelly10% were rotten and falling apart...

Batman returns?

When Vet Sunni's Yak went down with non-responsive Milk Fever-like signs, what was the diagnosis? Most people who know me know I like to acquire animals. One of my most beloved acquisitions is my Yak cross, Batman. He was conceived from a trial carried out by LIC 15 years ago where they were looking at ways to reduce the number of inductions. By using Yak semen, cows could calve up to 3 weeks early. It sounded great in theory however with conception rates at 30% it wasn’t a feasible option. I ...

Farmer Testimonial: Calpro Bolus

Sharn Roskam, a local dairy farmer in Southland caught up with her KeyVet Femke to discuss the benefits of using Calpro Bolus over the calving period....

How are your calves performing?

The 2020 calving season saw 17 farms enrolled on the WelCalf program across the East and West. Calving started with a hiss and a roar, with plenty of calves on the ground in late July. This was well before most people’s planned start of calving, but thankfully the weather in August was mostly kind which has hopefully given calves a good start. The WelCalf team were kept busy; visiting each enrolled farm twice (once in early August and again in early September) and collecting blood samples from...

Tech Talk: Calving shed 101

Senior Vet Tech Tiarna has a handy checklist for getting your calving sheds ready. We all know this time creeps around quicker and quicker each year and although we feel like the cows have only just been dried off it’s time to start thinking about those calf sheds and how to make them the most comfortable and hygienic for your future replacements....

Tech Talk: Disbudding and blood testing

Calving season is a busy time of year for both farmers and vets. Alongside calving, comes calf disbudding too and luckily we have a large team of technicians to assist the vets during this busy time. Our standard disbudding involves: Sedating the calf with Xylazine (general anesthetic),Using local nerve blocks (local anesthetic) and an antibiotic spray on the site after. We also offer more pain relief options for recovery such as Tri-Solfen and Metacam. We can disbud calves between 2-6 weeks of...

Dealing with Canine Cough

Vaccination is key for canine cough, and easy if you sign-up for our Working Dog Run this winter. Let's talk about whooping cough. It is not pleasant for anyone involved – those infected as well as those kept up at night by the infected individual. Whooping cough is caused by a strain of bacteria in the Bordetella family. Bordetella is also the most common bacterial cause of canine cough, although the infective strain for humans and dogs is different so there is no cross infection. Canine coug...

How to get ewes ready for lambing?

Many of these things are, at this stage, just requiring some thought and planning. So here is a list of things to ponder while you are shifting breaks, or keeping warm in the tractor feeding out: Scanning – are you booked in? Have you factored in a family trip away during the school holidays? Or if you don’t have school kids, planning your trip DURING the school term!Scanning provides a brilliant opportunity to Condition Score your ewes. Finding and drafting out any bony ewes at this time wi...

How to prevent weak lambs?

In the last few years, most farmers have experienced some turbulent weather during the lambing season – for many it was extreme! The 2020 snowstorm that hit our farm right in the middle of lambing was horrendous. But the stock were amazing. We saw ewes sensibly seeking shelter, ewes desperately showing us their mothering ability, lambs doing their best to bleat in the hope that mum would hear and even a few lucky ewe/lamb families tucked up warmly in a snow cave just needing a hand to get out ...

M. Bovis and beef herds

Beef and drystock herds are now entering into the M. bovis surveillance programme. This also includes grazing dairy heifers. The good news is that this new programme of work has been contracted to vet clinics around the country. This means that we can combine any surveillance testing with any other routine work such as scanning, trace element testing or even general cattle work. This programme is currently voluntary, but it’s a great opportunity to get in and get your stock tested for free and...

MPI tailing regulation changes

From 9 May 2021, new rules for tail-docking sheep come into effect. Another lambing season is fast approaching and so it’s time to make sure you are up to date with tailing regulation changes! Here is a quick summary of what you need to know, but for more details please refer to the MPI Guide to the Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations...

Scabby mouth

We normally see cases in late spring, but recently we saw a case in autumn. A timely reminder as to why vaccinating and prevention is the best approach. Scabby mouth (also known as contagious eczema, pustular dermatitis, orf etc.), is a viral disease affecting sheep, humans and dogs. Late spring, early summer is when we most commonly see the disease in sheep but this case was in mid-April. It lives in the environment or on incoming animals and can cause disease in those that haven’t had conta...

What to do with orphan lambs?

What's cuter than lambs playing in grassy paddocks and their little tails (or lack of) wiggling when they have a drink from mum? It's a great sight, but what about when mum can’t do a good job? How do we take over?...

Rural mental health: A vet's perspective

Vet Dan shares with us his story and the importance of "checking in" with your rural colleagues. As a production animal vet, we come across many different and challenging situations in our jobs every day. It is an incredibly unique role where we are invited onto farms many times throughout the year and build up long standing and often very close/intimate relationships with our clients. By far and away, these relationships are the best part of being a vet for me. Learning what your ambitions and ...

Broodmare vaccinations

Following the conclusion of the breeding season, it’s now time to make sure that your mare is appropriately protected during her pregnancy. There are three main vaccinations that we are concerned about during pregnancy....

Can we fix horses with broken legs?

Horse owners often ask ‘how is it some horses with broken legs can be fixed and some can't’. This is an interesting question as even though we are in the 21st century; surgical repair for major leg fractures is still very difficult. There still remains a large number of fractures that are not easily repaired. In many instances; a fracture, even if repaired can mean the end of an athletic career and this is often a reason owners elect not to attempt to repair. Horses usually break bones when ...