News, Articles & Resources
Here you'll keep up to-date with the latest news and events in the dairy Veterinarian scene, plus find various articles and resources to grow your knowledge.
Collar Protocol
With the rise in popularity of cow health monitoring devices, we have put together a protocol for assessing animals that trigger and animal health alert with the Allflex collars system.
Vaccinating to prevent calf scours
Rotavirus is the most commonly diagnosed cause of calf scours in New Zealand. Outbreaks of scours can cause a huge amount of stress at a busy
Acidosis
Now that cows are dried off as we enter
winter, we turn our attention to how best we can manage them on winter crop to
reduce the risk of any health issues. Thinking of fodder beet specifically the main
issue we can run into is
acidosis, especially as cows are transitioned onto crop.
Leptospirosis
LeptospirosisLeptospirosis is a common and important infectious disease in New Zealand. Infected animals can pass it on to humans through their urine or any urine
Youngstock Focus: New Drench Products
Well most of you are done with the first 3 weeks of mating, which seems for most to have gone exceptionally well this year! If you have not quite reached 90% of you herd submitted now is the time to weigh up the options you have to get cows mated ASAP. Please give us a call if you would like to talk it through.
Calves are now at various stages of weaning. Dairy NZ have some good resources on when to wean: the take homes for me are weigh your calves and measure how much they are eating (no guesswork!). Remember we have technicians, weigh platforms and wand on standby to give you a hand!
Calf Series: The Law, Pain Management and Recommended Best Practice
As of 1st October 2019, the law changed around calf disbudding and dehorning.
It is now, according to regulation 57 and 58 of the Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations 2018, a legal requirement that any cattle beast of any age undergoing disbudding or dehorning must be under the influence of appropriately placed and effective local anaesthetic (as a minimum) pain relief.
Calf Series: Hygiene
Hopefully you have all had some time to recharge the batteries before the mayhem of calving …here are some common tips to aim for when collecting calves and getting them to their calf pens this calving period:
BVD and what it means to dairy farmers
Bovine viral diarrhoea occurs throughout NZ and the impact is a huge costs: studies show approx.. $140/cow/year for an infected herd. The biggest cost to farmers relates to early pregnancy losses.
Calf Series: Colostrum
Now is the time to organise your rotavirus vaccine. It must be remembered this is PART of the process of great calf rearing management. The vaccine works by increasing the amount of antibodies in the cow’s colostrum to rotavirus, coronavirus and E-coli.
Nitrate toxicity
As we are now well into dry-off season, many cows will have begun transition onto winter crops. If these crops are brassicas (kale, swedes, triticale) we have to be thinking about nitrate poising and ways to reduce the risk of this occurring.
Nitrate Toxicity Treatment Protocol
• Call the Vet! Affected cows urgently require specific treatment
• Move all cows that can walk quickly and quietly off crop
Mastitis Post Dry Off Treatment Protocol
Review: dry off process – check cows are fully shut down prior to dry off; correct dry cow administration and post dry off management.
Most Popular Stories
Collar Protocol
With the rise in popularity of cow health monitoring devices, we have put together a protocol for assessing animals that trigger and animal health alert with the Allflex collars system.
Vaccinating to prevent calf scours
Rotavirus is the most commonly diagnosed cause of calf scours in New Zealand. Outbreaks of scours can cause a huge amount of stress at a busy
Acidosis
Now that cows are dried off as we enter
winter, we turn our attention to how best we can manage them on winter crop to
reduce the risk of any health issues. Thinking of fodder beet specifically the main
issue we can run into is
acidosis, especially as cows are transitioned onto crop.
Leptospirosis
LeptospirosisLeptospirosis is a common and important infectious disease in New Zealand. Infected animals can pass it on to humans through their urine or any urine
