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Managing Johne's disease

Johne's disease is a commonly accepted and costly problem in Southland, causing large losses from drops in production and premature culling.The disease is caused by a bacteria (mycobacterium paratuburculosis) that targets and damages the gut lining, leading to the 2 main signs of Johne's: Watery ‘hose-pipe’ diarrhoea. Progressive weight loss.What makes Johne's so unique (and frustrating to identify/treat) is the long period between infection and clinical signs....

Do you know how to recognise Equine Cushing’s syndrome (PPID)?

PPID is the most common endocrine disorder in horses and ponies, with as many as one in seven over the age of 15 affected. It can occasionally be seen in younger horses as well. As such, it is something that many horse owners have heard about or will know of a horse or pony that has suffered from it. However, without first-hand experience of this condition, recognising clinical signs can be difficult and they can sometimes be put down to the horse 'just getting old'.  ...

Senior horses: Optimising their health and happiness

They help us chase our dreams, provide us with stress relief, teach our children responsibility and willingly offer to work for us. In return, all they ask is that we care for them, keep them fed, sheltered, healthy and happy. As they get older, their health needs change, so once your beloved equine enters his mid-late teens, you may need to start thinking about how their bodies are changing. For example, they may:  lose muscle condition, through no longer being in work or age-rel...

Regular grooming helps keep your dog in tip-top shape!

No matter the weather, our furry friends love to get outside, have some fun and make an absolute mess of themselves (and the garden)!  As a responsible pet owner, our matted and unruly-haired companions need our help to manage their coats. Well maintained coats provide numerous benefits for our animals’ health, comfort and overall wellbeing.  Clipping is required for several breeds of dogs for many reasons: Temperature control Dogs with thick or long coats may str...

A vet tech's take on teat sealing

Teat sealing preparations begin well before the season starts.There are so many moving parts to make teat sealing a success and we are so lucky to have such a well-oiled machine. From vets consulting with clients; retail and inventory staff ensuring the correct stock is ordered and delivered; the operations team triple-checking trucks and trailers for any maintenance that needs completed; HR hiring new staff and ensuring we all have the correct PPE (personal protective equipment) and traini...

Be wary of weeds!

At the start of January, I went out to a farm to look at two down cows who were found recumbent in the paddock during morning milking. On examination, they presented with classic milk fever signs: S-bend in the neck, increased but quiet heart rate, dried faeces and a reduced rectal temperature of 36.5°C. The cows were given metabolic bags containing calcium borogluconate into the vein and under the skin, and responded shortly after....

Tips for transporting cull cows

Unfortunately, there comes that day when you need to send your cull cows to the works. Just getting these animals out of the paddock and putting them straight onto the truck isn't enough and can cause health and animal welfare issues. This isn't something you want for girls that have served you well for years (and you probably don’t want to pay any fines either)!Despite everyone's efforts to ensure animals don’t have to wait too long at the works, cows can end up waiting in lairage for ...

Catching cancer eye early

We see a lot of cancer eye (otherwise known as squamous cell carcinoma). As the name suggests, it's a cancer of the eye, which can affect the eyelids, eyeball or 'third eyelid' (the eyelid that slides across the eye) and it is as bad as it sounds....

Are cow wearables benefitting our repro season?

With the rising popularity of wearable technologies in dairy herds, it is opening a wealth of data for analysis that can be of benefit to both the farms using it and non-users.In particular, collars/tags record when a cow experiences a heat, enabling us to track how well the herd is cycling in the lead up to mating. This year, I tried to look at the reproductive performance of some of our technology-using farms that gave us access to their data and compared this back to their cycling rates ...

The changing face of the East retail team

You might have noticed a few new faces in the East clinics in recent months, along with some folk behind the desks that you may have previously seen out on-farm, or in other clinics. In a bid to make the most of our staff’s skills and provide you with the best service and product knowledge possible, we have shuffled things around a bit....

Beef cattle WOF

Our beefies have had a lot to do this season to manage our pasture quality! As we work towards weaning time, there are a few things to plan for to keep them in tip-top shape....

Preparing two-tooths for mating

Unless you are mating your hoggets, your two-tooths carry your newest genetics and you want to make the most of them. Here is a wee checklist for preparing them for mating to make sure they perform well:Condition/weight. They need to be well-grown before they go to the ram. Your two-tooths should be fully grown by mating and weigh the same as your Body Condition Score (BCS) 3 M/A ewes. If they aren't there, it is important to put a plan in place now to achieve this.Nutrition. Pasture c...

The Golden Rules of parasite management

You will be hearing a lot about parasite management at the moment and we are certainly talking to more people every week about managing parasites on their farms. The conversation is moving away from drenching as the answer, to consideringhow can we drench less?how can we maintain production with less drenching?what manipulations can I make to my system to make my stock more robust?how do I manage fodder crops to get the most out of them?However, we still are drenching and there are some rea...

A working dog pup’s first year

So, you’ve just got a new working dog pup? We know that most of you are very experienced and successful with the demanding training process and bringing out the genetic and natural working potential of the pup.As a review exercise, consider these husbandry and healthcare essentials to give your pup the best chance of developing to its full potential as a productive working dog on the farm:...

OviGOLD: Revamping our sheep farmer partnership programme

With lamb (and cull ewe) prices disappointingly low this season, keeping your animals as healthy, fertile and productive as possible is more important than ever.After discussion with our clients, we have optimised our OviGOLD partnership programme for sheep farmers to ensure we are focusing on what is most important to you....

VetSouth in Samoa

At the end of 2023, one of Winton’s Small Animal Vets, Liz Flatt, made the journey to Samoa to donate an X-Ray machine and 21kg worth of luggage, consisting of medicines and donatable pet items, to the Animal Protection Society Samoa (APS) - a not-for-profit animal health and welfare organisation providing veterinary services, primarily for dogs and cats. The donations were a combined effort from staff and teams across our VetSouth clinics, with the Winton clinic providing the APS with it...

Deer: Minimising stress at weaning time

Weaning is an important time in the deer farming calendar and getting it right can ensure you achieve the best growth and conception rates for the following year.As with most aspects of deer farming, weaning is another thing that is not set in stone. Most deer farmers will have their own ways and reasoning behind weaning, but, the management aspects around this time are so important to ensure this group stays as healthy as possible.Ideally, running the hinds and fawns through the shed a few time...

Age scanning your beef herd

It's beef scanning time again and worth considering age scanning your herd. Knowing accurate calving dates enables you to make informed decisions around wintering and grazing management. ...

Summer fattening crops: A farmer’s take

With summer brassicas gaining popularity among Southland farmers looking to boost their lambs along, we thought it would be worthwhile getting a farmer's take on them......

It's Toxo Time!

Summer is upon us and, while it would be nice to forget about lambing for a while, now is the time to start planning ahead for the next one!As you are no doubt aware, toxoplasmosis and campylobacter are widespread and can have a significant impact on your lamb drop.In fact, toxo is said to be present on 100% of farms in NZ*, so vaccination is key!...

Meet the vet flock: Caitlyn

Hi, I’m Caitlyn, a mixed animal vet based around Winton and Invercargill. I have been with VetSouth for nearly 2 years now, after graduating over the ditch in North Queensland at James Cook University in 2021.I took the leap and moved to NZ without having visited before and, after the initial climate shock, sunny and snowy Southland has grown on me!...

Tail scoring study underway

In 2021, we helped develop and lead a four year nationwide study to investigate the prevalence of tail damage in NZ herds. Our vets and techs have been tail scoring for a number of years now through the Welfarm programme, but, to date, there has been no research done around tail damage in New Zealand herds.There are a number of different aspects to this trial and we are still completing tail scores now to finish the project....

Spring case: uterine torsion

While summer is now upon us and the focus has shifted to repro and scanning, it can be useful to look back on the season's just been and take on any learnings. James Benstead, a mixed animal vet based out of the Winton clinic, reflects on a spring calving case he was called out to involving a second-calver with a uterine torsion:At 5am one spring morning, I received a call from a farmer reporting his cow was struggling to calve and "felt weird inside".Arriving on-farm at 6am, I found a...

Scanning versus cow wearables

We are seeing more farmers adopt rumination technologies (such as AllFlex or Halter collars, or CowManager tags) in their herds, with many positive benefits for the cows and farm staff. These technologies tell the user when their cow is on heat and give an optimum window for mating. Following this, they can then start to calculate the likelihood of a cow being pregnant based on her pattern of heat behaviour. The longer a cow does not show heat behaviour (a drop in rumination with a peak in ...

WelFarm: Proactive beats reactive

Regular dentist check ups can hurt your back pocket at the time, but can prevent a much bigger bill and a lot more pain down the track. Proactively monitoring herd health and welfare can offer the same protection and, with rising costs, public perception pressures and competitive markets, more farmers are seeing the value in it.WelFarm is a web-based programme that has been built around the principle of measuring and managing. It was built by vets who identified some key areas of herd ...