Keep up to date with all our latest news, articles of interest, and case studies from the veterinary world around Hawke’s Bay.
Wolf teeth are technically known as the first premolar teeth in horses. They usually erupt into the mouth at between five and twelve months of age, but do not continue to grow or erupt into the mouth as do the rest of the cheek teeth. It has been estimated that approximately seventy percent of horses…
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Sheep Performance Vaccines reduce the risk from deadly sheep diseases across most New Zealand farms. These Vaccinations need to be timed around the date you plan to introduce the ram to your flock. Please fill in the order form below so that we can schedule vaccinations for your farm. Name* First Last Farm Name Email*…
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There are three stages to calving: Stage 1 (should take around 6 hours): The fluid sac around the calf is visualised and bursts, the cow may have her tail up, be restless and isolate herself, may mother other calves, cervix gradually dilates Stage 2 (should take about 1 hour): Delivery of the calf. Stage 3…
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VSHB are involved in some large artificial breeding programmes such as the release of breed such as Finnish Landrace, the Texel, the Awassi and the East Friesian and work closely with individual New Zealand breeders with AI/ET programmes for advancement of superior genetics. In the last 12 months (despite Covid-19) we successfully Implanted…
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Having a good safe working facility on farm has lots of benefits – to you, your animals, and your service providers. Yards that are fit for purpose are a pleasure to work in and reduce the risk of injury to all users (animal and human alike). The following are some common things that make…
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Your livestock are at risk from clostridial disease at key times throughout the year. This means full, annual protection is vital to protect them against death. Clostridial diseases are caused by a group of bacteria that have the ability to form resistant spores. Spores can concentrate in areas of high usage e.g. around yards, sheds…
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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…
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Monitor drenches used on farm annually by completing a faecal egg count check at 10 days after drenching. Do this for each different drench family that you use during the season. Try to complete as early in the season as possible. Quarantine drench: On arrival at the farm, drench all stock with a…
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Growing young stock to their full potential involves many factors. The main focus should be great nutrition with all animal health considerations including trace minerals, vaccinations and parasite control covered. Even with all of that considered, aside from poor nutrition, parasites can often be the most growth limiting factor of young stock on pastoral farms…
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By Helen Taylor- Veterinarian, Vet Services Hawke’s Bay. Rearing orphan lambs can be an enjoyable and rewarding job for a whole spectrum of people – from a lifestyler with a couple of pets lambs to the owner of a highly productive stud flock fostering triplet lambs of high genetic merit. Pet lambs are also easy…
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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…
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