News & Advice

Centre for Dairy Excellence It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself: I am Mark Youngs, Principal Consultant for the Centre for Dairy Excellence Ltd. As of the 1 April 2021, TSG Consultants partnered with Vetlife, starting a new agricultural consultancy service called the Centre for Dairy Excellence. We think that this is one of […]

Mastitis is a problem that no farm can avoid, however, by lowering rates and increasing response, the treatments are all steps in the right direction. A number of different pathogens are responsible for being the causal agents in mastitis cases, and understanding what we are dealing with can help tailor a treatment plan which is […]

It has been almost 4 years since Mycoplasma bovis was first detected in New Zealand. Not long after its diagnosis, New Zealand embarked on an ambitious eradication strategy. That in itself has caused a great deal of trauma for many farmers who have seen their herds destroyed upon detection of the disease. Here we are, […]

Leptospirosis, or Lepto, can affect a wide variety of livestock including deer. There are three predominant strains or serovars of Leptospira bacteria that can affect deer: Leptospira Hardjo-bovis is the most common one, causing mild infections and sub-clinical disease. It does have the potential to cause significant production-limiting effects through reduced growth rates in weaner […]

Many sheep, beef and deer farmers will be reviewing their annual scripts at this time of year, so why not use this process to your advantage rather than treating it as a pain in the proverbial? Often this is your one chance to sit down with your Vetlife vet and revise your animal health plan […]

BVD is a viral disease that causes profound suffering for both individual cattle and cattle at a herd level. BVD is commonly found in New Zealand dairy and beef herds. BVD must be assumed to be present and causing stock losses unless proven otherwise. Many NZ cattle farmers do not recognise BVD disease symptoms, so […]

Dental disease is an all too common problem in our pets and can have a real impact on their health and wellbeing. Up to 70% of cats and 80% of dogs show some sign of dental disease by the age of two! An initial buildup of tartar causes painful inflammation of the gums, known as […]

Improving your lambing percentage is one of the keys to attaining higher sheep farm productivity and profit.  A successful mating period boils down to three essential elements: maximising the number of ewes mated in their first cycle minimising the number of ewes not mated maximising the twinning rate The trace element status of ewes in […]

It is the time of the year when we start to think about preparing for drying off the cows, and, in particular, what Dry Cow Therapy decisions need to be made this season. To make sure your cows are set up for a great milk quality season, there needs to be a meaningful discussion around […]

Planning for transitioning stock onto winter feed crops is of great importance in both preventing animal health issues and achieving intakes for maximum production. The goal, when transitioning stock onto a crop, is to give the rumen environment time to adjust to the new feed and prevent the development of problems such as acidosis on […]

Clostridial diseases are diseases caused by bacteria that are able to form resistant spores. These spores are resistant to extremes in temperature and can survive in soil for many years, with some clostridial bacteria also existing within the normal intestinal flora of healthy stock. Under the right conditions, such as when a spore is present […]

We have all heard the disaster stories of farms having up to 30%, and higher in some cases, of their heifers becoming acutely lame in a forelimb, resulting in them having to be euthanised. Often these are well- grown healthy heifers just walking around in the paddock. A “gunshot” noise can be heard, and the […]