Keep up to date with all our latest news, articles of interest, and case studies from the veterinary world around Hawke’s Bay, Dannevirke, and the Wairarapa.
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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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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Facial Eczema Pasture Spore Counting Facial eczema is a disease caused by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum; which produces a toxin (sporidesmin) resulting in liver damage and photosensitivity. It grows on dead plant material at the base of the sward and thrives in warm, humid conditions. A good way to determine the risk level of your…
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Vet Services are proud to support Future Beef NZ. The 17th annual Future Beef Hoof and Hook Competition was held in Dannevirke this May. The weekend competition is designed to immerse the 8-24 yr old competitors into the beef industry. Competitors are split off into their age and experience level based groups for a mix…
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Feeding Stock this Winter – What Stock This season has been extremely challenging for all farmers in the Hawke’s Bay, the prolonged dry spell and lack of Autumn growth, difficulty in finding supplementary feed, delays in killing space, and cancellation of sales have all had a massive impact. The feed requirements of livestock are well…
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Hi everyone, The hot weather we have seen recently have caused facial eczema spore counts to start rising. The samples collected this week has shown counts are rising to moderate levels across the region, therefore it is important to ensure you are underway with preventative measures. After several weeks of moderately elevated spore counts there is a real risk of accumulative subclinical liver damage occuring in your stock along with…
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Week ending 3 February This weeks monitor counts showing most sites have dropped with the rain but Kumeroa remains high. It is important to remember counts can be highly variable between properties and even paddocks so please bring in a grass sample for testing prior to grazing previously problematic areas of your property. Attached is…
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Low levels <30,000 spores/gram High levels 35,000 – 95,000 spores/gram Long term exposure to high levels can results in facial eczema symptoms. Dangerous Levels 100,000 spores/gram If you’re putting the ram out in the next few weeks, consider treating rams and ewes with zinc capsules to protect sheep in case spore counts rise during…
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