This time of the year we may get called out to graziers and farmers’ run off blocks to look at poorly doing youngstock. In some cases we might find “interesting” disease cases but in many cases we see underlying issues caused by one or a combination of the following:
- Poor drenching intervals and/or “wrong” product use for age/stage of animal.
- Animals arriving underweight at grazier (weaning too young/too light).
- Animals not being fed enough leading to weight loss and low growth rates.
- No mineral supplementation plan etc.
A lot of the above mentioned points can be avoided by a few very simple steps:
Weigh your youngstock and follow a drench and mineral supplementation plan.
Weighing starts around weaning time, otherwise how will you know if your calves have reached their target weaning weights (even an “experienced eye” is still deceivingly inaccurate…)? And if you send your calves off to a grazier, make sure they are weighed on arrival at the grazier so progress can be monitored better.
VetSouth has teamed up with Grant Heatherington from “Weigh it Up”. Grant offers a very comprehensive youngstock weighing service Southland and Otago wide. He can work with graziers and owners to work out the best weighing scheme and link this in with a comprehensive DrenchPlus youngstock plan.
A DrenchPlus plan covers more than just a drenching programme. It also links in trace element supplementation and/or vaccines and gives 5% discount if all drenches are purchased through VetSouth.
For big jobs, or cases where a farmer requires a veterinary trained representative to vaccinate youngstock, a VetSouth vet technician will come out with Grant to assist with the job. This takes all the hassle out of youngstock rearing and provides an objective measure of the growth rates of your animals, and peace of mind that they received their required treatments along the way.
So contact your local KeyVet if you would like to have a DrenchPlus plan developed for your youngstock and/ or are interested in youngstock weighing. Or contact Grant directly on 027 2361310 if you are interested in the Weigh it Up service.
- Georgette Wounda
