Back to Blog

September/October- the season of sick cows

As calving calms down, production ramps up and cows start cycling. The lush grass and unpredictable weather breed the perfect conditions for cows to succumb to various conditions. If you have a cow who has rapidly become unwell, some of the things we may find include Mastitis (especially black mastitis),  Badly infected uteruses, Gut issues/twisted stomachs - such as left displaced abomasum (LDA), right displaced abomasum (RDA), or mesenteric twists, Acidosis, also ...

Worm your way out of thin animals

Parasitism is a major cause of production loss in livestock. Based on current information, many New Zealand farmers are using anthelmintics in a manner which will result in drench-resistant worms and drench failure. Once present on a farm, worm resistance to anthelmintics is permanent. Therefore, selective drench use and herd management is key to delaying the presence of drench resistant parasites.  Every farm is unique, so effective worm management may differ for each farm. Compl...

Pre-mating prep: Get your herd service-ready!

With most farms over halfway through calving, there’s more time to slow down and think about mating, which usually happens at the end of September or early October for most spring dairy herds. We want to make sure that as many cows get into calf again this season, so preparing them for mating is vital, especially for the new batch of heifers. Here are some tips to prepare your herd before planned start of mating (PSM): BCS – We want our mixed-age cows to be at least a 4.0 BCS ...

Is your cat a Fat Cat? Avoiding feline obesity.

A trend of increasing numbers of obese cats has been seen worldwide, and New Zealand is no exception, with one in four cats here classified as overweight or obese.  This extra weight has an impact on our feline friends’ health and quality of life. Many health concerns are linked to obesity, for instance arthritis and diabetes. It is common for owners not to recognise when their pet is overweight, or the health implications of being “cuddly.” This is backed up by research tha...

Mastatest and HiSCC in early lactation

Reducing mastitis in the colostrum herd is key to preventing future mastitis cases in the milking herd. Wash teats, if they are dirty, with a low-pressure hose. Teat spray colostrum cows before and after milking to kill bugs, improve teat condition, and assist milk let down. Strip quarters to check for mastitis at every milking.  Agrihealth recommends: Rapid Mastitis Test (RMT) each cow at the eighth milking after calving (10th milking for heifers); If any quarter is RMT posi...

Thoughts from the sideline: Dealing with an international vet shortage

Internationally, veterinary practices are struggling to attract and retain quality veterinarians, and New Zealand is no exception. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of young people wanting to be vets, but tertiary funding streams are bottlenecking supply. Thankfully, a number of new vet schools are popping up in places such as the USA and the UK, but the supply volume is unlikely to correct industry shortages in the next 5-10 years.  New Zealand has a high dependency on inte...

Calf vaccine regime – Lepto 4-Way

Calving will be well underway now. The best time to book calves in for disbudding is between 2-6 weeks of age. For some farmers, there will be some big changes to the calf vaccine protocol with the new Lepto 4-Way vaccine. Your KeyVet should have discussed this with you at your RVM consult. Here is a refresher of the vaccine programme we recommend for calves: From 2 weeks of age: Covexin 10 (clostridia protection), often given at time of disbudding.   From 6 weeks of age: Covexin 1...

Is pet insurance worthwhile?

We were recently asked about the value of pet insurance, so here are a few thoughts. As we all know, having a pet in the family is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and a privilege that comes with great responsibility. They give us unconditional love and loyalty, and in their time we all wish for them to receive proper care. Pet owning families hope that a serious accident or illness will never happen to their pet, but it often does. Pet insurance is a proven method to allow pet owners to be ...

Spring with calves: Diarrhoea

Each season, we see outbreaks of scours in calf sheds. In some cases, the setup of the shed exacerbates the problem, with inadequate systems in place to separate sick mobs from healthy ones. Some calves may also not have access to water, which prevents the dehydrated calves from being able to self-medicate.  With cases of down calves and scouring, we will collect samples to confirm the cause, which is often rotavirus or Crytosporidium. Once we have identified the root of the problem, w...

Magnesium – Why you should supplement

Magnesium (Mg) is important for nerve, muscle and immune function in the body. A deficiency can be seen in cows with sudden aggression, staggering, recumbency and even death. Magnesium is also required for the production of hormones that assist in the absorption of calcium from the gut and mobilisation of calcium from storage in the bones. This is important when calcium is in such high demand from a lactating cow directly after calving, which correlates to when cows are at the highest risk ...

Calf Care 101

Spring calving is just around the corner, which means the sound of mooing calves will soon be filling the air. These calves are the future of our farms, so making sure they have the best start in life is important to ensure the longevity of our dairy herds.   There are two concepts to remember when caring for your calves:  Maximising defence  Minimising challenge...

Puppy nutrition

Our animals rely on us for their health and wellbeing. Getting nutrition right for a new puppy is essential for growth and ensuring they get the best start possible for a long and healthy life.  Puppies grow rapidly, hence why they need an adequate and sufficient diet to support their bodies during this phase. It’s important to remember that the food puppies can eat is not the same as what you would give to adult dogs (or humans). As they grow, play and learn, puppies need ...

Arthritis in cats and dogs

Osteoarthritis - also known as Degenerative Joint Disease - is a chronic, progressive, minimally inflammatory disorder of joints that leads to damage in the joint structure. It affects one in five adult dogs and is even more common among older dogs. Cats can also develop arthritis as they get older, with around 90% of cats over 10 years old suffering with it in at least one joint.Many cases go undiagnosed because owners interpret the subtle changes in their pet to "slowing down" or "getting...

Keeping our pets warm in winter

As it's starting to cool down, we want to look at our pets to ensure they have everything they need to be warm and comfortable over winter. Just as we are grabbing warm jackets and beanies before braving the outdoors, our pets may need some special care too....

Cow wearable tech update

The last five years have been good for cow wearables, with the number of farmers using the tech jumping from 3% in 2018 to 16% in 2023 - a growth rate of 50% per year. If this kept up, all dairy farms would have wearables within the next five years. But there's a factor that may put the brakes on - running out of drafting gates! The main idea behind wearables is that they notify you when something needs to be done with an animal - heat detection being the major use case. The issue is that s...

Calving First Aid Kit

Everyone has a first aid kit ready to go in their cupboard, and the same should be said for having an easily accessible “calving kit” ready before calving. It can be on the quad, at the calf pens or at the shed, whatever is easiest. We are more than happy to put together a box of supplies for you if time is short.  Cows Disinfectant Lube  Calving pulleys or jack Calving chains Halter  Metabolic bags Oxytocin Metacam or KetoMAX ...

Getting ready for calving checklist

Spring calving is just around the corner! As the season approaches, it is crucial to prepare your cows for a successful and healthy birth. Here are some tips to help: Evaluate your grazing management. Ensure your grazing management is adequate for the calving season. Set up a calving paddock in a dry, well-drained area close to the shed. Monitor your cow's body condition. It is important to monitor your cow's body condition during the calving season. Ideally, they should have a Body Co...

Bloat Oil vs Rumenox®

We have seen a few cases of bloat this autumn. Many dairy farmers still use traditional bloat oils as standard practice to keep on top of it. If used correctly, they can be relatively effective at reducing bloat, but they do have their limitations.  Bloat oils are short-lived in the rumen and are reliant on cows drinking regularly to keep the rumen topped up 24 hours a day. The problem with this is that on wet days (and we’ve had many of them recently), cows drink very little. &...

Managing the transition cow

Farmers are increasingly spending more time and money on preventative animal health measures and treatments rather than the more traditional reactive approach to disease on-farm.  One of the season's most sensitive times is the transition period, which includes the 3-week period before calving and 3 weeks after. If managed well, a host of animal health issues can be mitigated, but, if inadequately managed, it can lead to several animal health issues which can significantly impact anima...

Nitrate toxicity

We are already seeing an increase in nitrate toxicity in farms around Morrinsville with the recent overcast, wet weather, resulting in sudden death of livestock without warning. Toxicity occurs when plants accumulate nitrates, which, when consumed, then overwhelm cattle’s rumen bacteria. Excess levels of nitrate are converted into nitrite in the rumen, which then leaks into the bloodstream and binds to haemoglobin, making it unable to transport oxygen. The cow essentially suffocates to de...

Cancer eye – it pays to check!

When you’re working at the back-end of a cow every day, it’s easy to miss what’s going on at the front-end. However, it should be good stockmanship and practice to look, periodically, for signs of cancer eye.  As the name suggests, cancer eye (otherwise known as squamous cell carcinoma) is a cancer of the eye, which can affect the eyelids, eyeball or 'third eyelid' (the eyelid that slides across the eye) and it is as bad as it sounds! ...

Seal the deal!

With the winter period fast approaching for our spring herds, drying off the cows becomes a big part of every farmer’s calendar. Dry-off involves placing either antibiotics, teat sealant, or both, into each of the cow’s teats in a sterile manner.  Teat sealing heifers, often considered a preventive measure, involves the application of a protective barrier to the teats of our first-time calvers. Teatseal is typically a flexible sealant which forms a physical barrier against pathogen...

Broken legs in heifers

Over the past few seasons, we have still seen cases of well grown heifers with broken legs. These usually occur with no source of trauma, and heifers are often just found in the paddock severely lame.  Broken legs are often seen early in their first lactation, where calcium is mobilised from bone for lactation demand straight after calving, causing a transient osteoporosis. Most animals can cope with this, but if there has been underlying weakness from nutritional inadequacy when they ...

Remind me why Multimin is great for my farm?

Multimin is an easily absorbed mineral injection of copper, selenium, zinc and manganese. It is used prior to periods of stress to boost your cows’ immune system, with some impressive results from trials in New Zealand:  At a dose of 1ml/50kg at birth, the use of Multimin in calves was found to reduce calf deaths by about 50%. The trial looked at 900 calves and found a reduction in scours in calves between 3 - 35 days old, from 10.6% in control calves to 4.9% in injected calves. This, a...

Keep your furry friend smiling

Nothing warms your heart more than your happy, smiling dog welcoming you home at the end of the day. Just like us, to keep that happy smile, cats and dogs rely on healthy teeth and gums for their overall health and wellbeing.The build-up of dental plaque (a sticky film of bacteria that constantly forms on the teeth) can lead to oral health issues in your pet, such as gingivitis, periodontal disease and tooth loss....