Anyika Scotland was recently involved in the Hawke’s Bay Farming for Resilience pilot project to help Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmers navigate challenging weather and economic conditions. The project is producing monthly reports from February through to July 2024, providing evidence-based local information, insights and analysis across three common farm types (summer dry…
Heifer teat sealing is one of the most effective interventions we can perform to improve animal welfare on farms across New Zealand. Heifer mastitis before or after calving, or during the first lactation, significantly affects udder health and lifetime milk yield. Heifers have been shown to have a higher risk of clinical mastitis…
Another year of feed which we can hopefully convert to lambs in the belly. We know for many of you there is still a lot of work to do. We hope you are all managing and we are only a phone call away if we can help. Let us start helping by locking in your…
Any flystrike is bad news for sheep and devastating for production. With tupping fast approaching in one of the wettest summers in memory, it’s timely to consider the options for treating sheep against external parasites. Prevention of flystrike is always preferable to treatment. Vet Services sheep technicians offer jetting off the conveyor, a craigco…
It’s that time of year again! Time for us to come out and scan your cattle with our BCF ultrasound scanners. Pregnancy scanning has many advantages when understanding your herd’s reproduction performance and planning ahead for the season. The earliest times for accurate testing following bull withdrawal is 49 days, this is especially important for…
Farmers should target worm control in cattle at young animals and use oral drenches as long as they can. Article by Sara Sutherland, Vet Services Wairarapa. Sheep and cattle systems have some subtle differences with respect to drenches and drenching. For example, worm species are (mostly) different, the availability of pour-on drenches for cattle, the…
It’s that time of year when we get phone calls about coughing lambs and ways, we can help to treat animals at the time. Unfortunately, pneumonia in lambs is very difficult to treat once symptoms have occurred, so the best treatment is prevention! Pneumonia in young sheep can be caused by a number of different…
Too hot to handle Crops are an integral part of many systems, supplying supplementary feed when pasture covers get tight during autumn and winter. Unfortunately, nothing in life is ever that simple with many of the popular choices for crop being higher risk for nitrate accumulation, placing us between a rock and a hard place…
Weaning is one of the most stressful event a calf will go through, which is why it can be the period when we see many disease related issues as the associated stress leads to immune compromise. Young cattle at weaning may also be going from a situation of being regularly observed to a less intensive…
Regional average spore counts are around the 25,000 mark, with hotspots across the region, indicating the risk is not over yet. One of the sites on Ocean Beach Road is still 115,000. Best advice is to monitor the spore counts on your pastures to assess risk more accurately. Hastings Results Waipukurau Results Further…
Alpacas are very susceptible to the toxic effects of facial eczema spores and high risk periods occur during the summer and autumn. The spores, produced by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum, are broken down in the digestive tract releasing the sporidesmin toxin. The toxin is absorbed into the circulation and reaches the liver where it is…
With the change of season and cooler nights fast approaching it’s time to consider how you will keep your working team warm this winter. Why it is important to keep your team warm over winter? In recent years there has been a real push to improve kennel conditions and to provide bedding and jackets…
