News & Advice

The old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ rings very true when it comes to scabby mouth. Scabby mouth (or orf, contagious pustular dermatitis, contagious ecthyma) is a highly contagious poxvirus affecting sheep and goats, and it is also transmissible to humans and dogs. The virus can survive in the environment for over a year […]

A critical component of cattle production is fertility as it is a driver of production cost and return on investment. Female fertility receives a large amount of attention, and it is enhanced by many different programmes, interventions and genetic selection. However, improving bull fertility is often largely ignored, despite it playing an important role in […]

Theileria orientalis is a parasite which lives in the red blood cells of affected cattle after they have been bitten by a tick carrying the disease. It affects both beef and dairy cattle, and it can affect cattle of any age. Fortunately, there is no human health risk associated with the disease. Theileria has historically […]

Facial eczema (FE) is caused by a fungus called Pithomyces chartarum that resides at the base of pasture in the dead litter. Moderate levels of moisture, warmth and sunlight trigger this fungus to produce spores, and when these spores are ingested, a toxin called sporidesmin is released and absorbed into the bloodstream. Due to the […]

The biggest risk period for metabolic disorders in sheep is around lambing time. Problems often arise when body condition score targets haven’t been met and the nutritional needs of the ewe are not adequately met during pregnancy and early lactation. Below is a breakdown of the 3 main metabolic disorders in sheep that we see: […]

Clostridial bacteria are widespread in the environment, both in the soil and water, and they commonly cause acute disease often followed by sudden death.   In cattle the main clostridial diseases we see are:   Tetanus  Blackleg  Malignant oedema  Black disease  Redwater  Sudden death syndrome (C. sordellii)  Diagnosis of clostridial disease can be tricky. This is generally […]

We are heading into a dry-looking March as I write this but, with a bit of luck, much-needed rain will have fallen by the time you read this latest copy of the Vetlife Rural Newsletter. Sooner or later it is going to rain, and there are a few health conditions that are worth considering when […]

Monitoring trace elements in your livestock through liver biopsies and blood sampling, is the best way to assess your herd’s status, giving you critical information to help tailor your supplementation programmes. Some of the key trace elements worth monitoring in the autumn are copper and selenium.  Copper: Copper is required for the function of enzymes […]

As calf weaning approaches, we judge the performance of our beef cow herds by deciding ‘how good’ this year’s weaners look. Are they a nice even line of calves, or are there a number of tail-end stragglers that will have to play catch-up?  Weaning good-sized calves depends on a lot of factors, including genetics, cow […]

What is knockout drenching? It is the substitution of one routine lamb drench for a high-efficacious novel drench product (usually either “Startect®” or “Zolvix™ Plus”).  Why use knockout drench? We would do it to remove any resistant parasites which have survived routine drenching. Thus we can prevent them from causing an autumn peak involving resistant […]

“Buyer beware” is a generic statement that is often used when it comes to purchasing anything. It is also a statement often bandied around (almost with a chuckle) when it comes to purchasing cattle, in particular heifers or female cattle, on the open market.  As a part-time farmer with a small-time cattle finishing operation, who […]

While I am sure everyone is fast awaiting summer’s arrival and hoping for some consistent grass-growing weather, we must not lose sight of those issues that arrive with the improved climate.   Flystrike will soon begin to rear its ugly head and, as ever, prevention is far better than cure. Maggots cause extensive damage leading […]