A wide range of farm services are available for your herd:
Pregnancy testing: Ultrasound
This is carried out by rectal palpation and ultrasound from 6-8 weeks after conception. It is usually carried out about 3 months after taking the bull out of the herd. Suitable handling facilities including a crush are essential. Pregnancy testing is an essential tool for maximising the profitability of your herd. Firstly it allows early identification of barren "passenger" cows which can be separated immediately for fattening up or for sale, rather than allowing them to graze out valuable pastures until the end of the calving season when the market may be depressed. Fertility is also an inherited trait so identifying and removing the empty cows from a herd instead of allowing them to calve every 2-3 seasons means that you are selecting for more fertile heifers.
Dairy Fertility:
As well as pregnancy testing, the inter-calving interval can be reduced by regular farm visits which include examination of the reproductive tract to identify non-cycling cows (ovarian cysts, endometritis, anoestrus etc). Where necessary these conditions can be treated to ensure that the cow returns to service as soon as possible after calving.
Routine surgery:
A wide range of surgical procedures are carried out, including castration, dehorning, hoof trimming, lamenesses, treatment of wounds, abscesses, eye injuries and eye cancers.
Calving problems:
Wrongly positioned or oversized calves are a great cause of losses. When these are not able to be delivered quickly, the calf and sometimes the mother may be lost. Early intervention by a veterinary surgeon, sometimes with the aid of an epidural anaesthetic or a caesarean operation, gives you a better chance of obtaining a live calf and cow in these situations.
Mastitis control:
While mastitis can usually be successfully treated with antibiotics, sometimes other measures are helpful. Included are laboratory culture of milk samples from untreated animals to identify the causative bacteria and optiomise treatment with the most suitable antibiotics.
Calf diarrhoea and Pneumonia:
Again these can often be treated successfully with antibiotics but persistent problems are worth investigating (usually with blood ar faecal testing) to identify the causes. Often a cost-effective vaccination program will be available after identifying the cause to reduce losses. More severe cases, particularly in valuable animals will benefit from a day or two of hospitalisation on a drip.
Lameness:
This is a big welfare issue and source of losses for the farm (reduced fertility, loss of condition, sometimes resulting in culling on farm if the lameness prevents transport). Early intervention and foot trimming is usually cost effective. Good handling facilities are essential!
Bull testing:
A thorough examination of your bull's reproductive tract and semen well before the breeding season helps to prevent unexpected poor pregnancy rates.
If you require any other services please give us a call to discuss them.