Health Plans
Herd Health Plans (HHP) are a vital part of modern farming. Farms have a requirement to have a written herd or flock health plan in place for farm assurance schemes and milk producer contracts. A plan on the shelf in the farm office opened once a year is not the way to get the best use of your HHP! A good plan that is up and running will genuinely prevent disease and improve the efficiency and profitability of your unit.
Meetings
We regularly hold client meetings. We strive to make these more than “death by powerpoint”, and our Christmas quiz is always a fun sociable evening.
Lambing Course
For the last few years we have run a lambing course in early spring. This is to provide both the theory and a practical session on all aspects of lambing, and the care of ewes and lambs at this vital time. The meeting is aimed at both young farmers and people who are perhaps lambing for the first time. Children over the age of 10 are welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
Red Tractor Farm Assurance
All farms are required to have a veterinary health and performance review before each Red Tractor inspection. Our vets are used to filling these forms in, and will tell you what they need to see in order to give you the required paperwork.
Sheep Club
One of our vets, Rachel, has a particular interest and further qualifications in sheep health and production. She runs a flock health club, where farms pay a small monthly fee and are invited to regular meetings, receive a monthly newsletter, and have an annual health plan review included. Other perks include a free annual visit, discounted worm egg counts and personalised advice.
Reproductive and Breeding Services
A major part of our work on cattle farms is spent on fertility management. We encourage regular routine fertility visits for our dairy farm clients – at a frequency and time to suit each individual farm. We use up-to-date ultrasound scanners to give us the best pictures of the uterus and ovaries of each animal, and are able to quickly and cost-effectively monitor and treat fertility issues in a herd.
We are currently trialling a subscription system which includes regular visits to help our farms optimise beef cattle fertility.
Bull and Tup Semen Testing
The practice has electroejaculators for both bulls and tups. These are used to obtain a semen sample which is then examined under a microscope to assess the semen. It is routinely used prior to breeding season and also in the investigation of poor conception rates. We usually perform tup semen testing at the practice and bull testing on farm.
Tup and Bull Vasectomy
Performing a vasectomy operation creates a “teaser” tup or bull that can then be used to assist synchronising oestrous periods or to create a more compact breeding season. As with semen testing, tups are usually operated on at the surgery.
