News & Advice

High-quality nutrition is essential for maintaining hind condition, maximising milk production and supporting fawn growth through summer. Because peak lactation occurs after pasture quality has begun to decline, particularly in drier regions, careful feed management is critical to achieving target weaning weights and supporting next season’s reproductive performance. One of the problems with managing hinds […]

Going into a dry spell, it is essential to make early decisions. Matching feed supply and demand in advance through feed budgeting is critical. Knowing what feed you have on hand, on a megajoules of metabolisable energy (MJME) basis, means you need to know the weight and energy content of the available forage types. These […]

On most New Zealand sheep farms there are “normal” pregnancy losses of around 1-2% from scanning to birth; any pre-lambing losses higher than this are abnormal and should be investigated to identify the cause of abortion. In any one year, up to 5% of the farms in New Zealand can experience an “abortion storm” with […]

Plan well ahead (1-2 years) with Vetlife so that your NAIT number qualifies on animal health requirements. The live exporting of both dairy and beef cattle to destinations such as China continues. Part of the strict legal requirements is for the exporting farm (NAIT number-based) to have suitable animals, based on the health status of […]

When it comes to pasture parasite contamination, we usually think of lush pastures, with moist conditions that allow worms to thrive. But unfortunately, drought conditions present a significant risk, especially after rain. It is well known that intestinal parasite eggs require moisture in order to hatch and develop into infective larvae. The larvae tend to […]

Deep-chested dogs are most at risk. Minutes matter, so learn the signs before it happens.

With only 15% – 20% of pets insured in New Zealand (NZ), it is part of our duty of care within veterinary teams to encourage our clients to consider their options (Money Hub, 2025). Companion Animals New Zealand recently reported that an estimated 63% of households share their home with a companion animal. There are […]

Do your pets get scared when they hear fireworks? While holidays like Guy Fawkes Night and New Year’s Eve are perfect for celebrations with family, friends, BBQs, bonfires, and fireworks, they can cause anxiety for both pets and pet owners alike. It’s not unusual for dogs, cats and even livestock to become extremely frightened by […]

  Around April/May, we begin seeing working dogs ‘slow up’. Common causes for early retirement of working dogs are cited as “slowing down, getting old, unable to jump on the back of the truck anymore…”. These behaviours of “slowing down” can be a sign of your dog being in pain and discomfort. Dogs with chronic […]

From Christmas through the autumn – does a bit of green on the rear end mean anything? Every year we support some clients dealing with scouring calves through the 0-3 month period. However, calves that scour from Christmas onwards through the autumn are often ignored, invariably on the basis that “this is normal, the grass is […]

  Meeting target live weights of heifers, from weaning through to their first lactation, can mean more milk in the vat. Research conducted by Rhiannon Handcock from Massey University in 2019 is represented in the graph below. The blue line on the left shows how much milk heifers produce in their first lactation in relation […]

Numnuts® is a handheld device that applies a rubber ring and delivers a measured dose of local anaesthetic at the same time, providing immediate pain relief during lamb tail docking and castration. If you’re looking to improve animal welfare outcomes while maintaining marking efficiency, Numnuts offers a practical and commercially scalable solution. Lamb marking is […]