Browse our blog posts for useful information:
17th June 2022
Investigating Poor Fertility in Beef Herds
We have previously discussed beef benchmarking (January 2021) but what do you do when things aren’t going to plan?
1st April 2022
Worm Control in Cattle
A recent assessment of the economic burden of major gastrointestinal parasites in cattle and sheep, estimated an annual cost for the 18 participating countries of €1.8 billion.
11th March 2022
Bumblefoot
The recent wet and stormy weather combined with the current Avian Flu restrictions in place for all poultry (likely to last until at least April) mean we are seeing cases of Bumblefoot on the rise.
24th February 2022
EVG Sheep Team
Early lamb losses and reducing antibiotic use
Lamb losses can have a huge impact on welfare, production and farmer morale.
28th January 2022
EVG Dairy Team
Strategies for rearing calves at low temperatures
Body temperature regulation in calves develops with the age.
7th January 2022
EVG Smallholders Team
Dealing with Dystocia
This article aims to give you advice on stage 2 of parturition; delivery of the foetus.
26th November 2021
EVG Dairy Team
Ketosis
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
1st October 2021
EVG Sheep Team
Lameness in Sheep
Lameness is a huge problem in the UK sheep industry.
3rd September 2021
EVG Dairy Herd Team
BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea)
BVD is a virus that causes reproductive and immunosuppressive problems within both beef and dairy herds.
23 July 2021
EVG Sheep Team
Haemonchus
Haemonchus is most commonly seen in the UK from late spring until autumn.
09 July 2021
EVG Beef Team
Lameness in Beef Cattle
Despite causing significant production losses and welfare concerns the incidence of lameness is often underestimated in beef herds.
25 June 2021
Endell Vets Dairy Team
Focussing on Calf Diarrhoea
Calf diarrhoea continues to be a commonly discussed and managed issue affecting both beef and dairy enterprises on a regular basis.
11 June 2021
Endell Vets Smallholder Team
To Disbud or Not to Disbud?
Disbudding is one of the most common surgical procedures carried out in goats. Disbudding is considered a mutilation under the law of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but is recognised as a procedure that can be carried out for non- therapeutic reasons.
28 May 2021
Endell Vets Flock Health Club
Thin ewes
With most of your lambs weaned, depending when you lambed, now might be the time to start taking a closer look at your ewes who have worked hard for you over the last few months
14 May 2021
Endell Vets Beef Team
Synchronisation protocols for the beef herd
Synchronisation is the use of veterinary prescribed drugs to manipulate the female reproductive cycle to enable ovulation to occur at a known set time period.
30 April 2021
Endell Vets Dairy Team
Annual Antimicrobial Usage Update
A recent report outlined the results from the first set of targets set out in 2015 by RUMA. The main targets for the dairy sector involved reducing intramammary lactating doses, intramammary dry cow doses and injectable HP-CIAs, as well as increasing teat sealant use.
24 April 2021
EVG Smallholders Club
FLUKE 101
Identifying a case of fluke can be tricky, veterinary advice should be sought if you are concerned as diagnosing fluke will require an understanding of your animals’ management, the signs they are showing, along with any testing, such as blood sampling and fluke egg counts.
15 April 2021
EVG Flock Health Club
Colostrum
“A strong, healthy lamb, up and sucking within 15 minutes of birth has a 90–95% chance of still being alive 90 days later.”
01 April 2021
EVG Beef Team
Foot and Mouth 20 Years on
The first case of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak was identified in Essex on 19th February with a second diagnosed 300 miles away in Northumberland only four days later.
05 January 2021
EVG Beef Team
Beef Benchmarking in Practice
The aim of beef benchmarking is to improve our methods of measuring, monitoring and improving performance in beef suckler herds.
23 October 2020
EVG Beef Team
AI in your Beef Herd
When we discuss artificial insemination (AI) it is almost invariably in the context of the dairy industry. However, there are many benefits for commercial and pedigree suckler herds that adopt an AI breeding programme.
04 November 2020
EVG Smalholders
Foot Health in your Flock
One of the biggest causes of poor welfare in a flock is lameness, whether it’s due to the presence of infection or unfavourable ground conditions. Historically, it was thought that routine sheep foot trimming helped to reduce lameness levels; we now know that it often causes higher levels of lameness due to over trimming, delayed wound healing, poor weight bearing and the spread of infection from the equipment used.
11 September 2020
EVG Dairy Team
Fly Control
In this article we will discuss the importance of fly control in increasing productivity and reducing the incidence of diseases such as New Forest Eye, as well as the different options for treatment. Although aimed at our dairy clients, fly control is an important issue for all of our farms, and so much of this information will cross over!
14 August 2020
EVG Beef Team
Biosecurity and Disease Prevention
Strict biosecurity measures are imperative in poultry producers, heavily extended in pigs, less common in dairies and often forgotten in beef herds. This blog post will discuss some of the measures that a holding can adopt in order to prevent the risk of introducing a new disease to the herd or decrease the spread within a group of animals.
03 August 2020
EVG Sheep Team
Preparing for Tupping
Make sure your ewes AND rams are fit for purpose at the start of your breeding season. Ram MOTs should be done ten weeks prior to tupping (to ensure you have enough time to get a replacement or treat any underlying problems). It takes about seven weeks for sperm to mature (after a problem has been treated). A thorough physical examination can identify 90% of problems that can cause infertility/poor performance.
17 July 2020
EVG Smallholder Team
Diversification
We have the pleasure of working with many clients that have already included some form of diversification in their farm structure. These range from small scale yarn production, through meat boxes and milk vending machines, to tourist attractions and farm shops – with many other innovative ideas in-between!
3 July 2020
EVG Smallholder Team
The Healthy Alpaca
There are now over 40,000 alpacas in the UK, with some of them being lucky enough to reside within our client base! With that in mind we have produced this article to give you a quick overview on keeping alpacas and how to ensure they remain healthy.
19 June 2020
EVG Beef Team
Dwarf Calves
A recent report by the SRUC suggests that a higher than typical number of ‘dwarf calves’ have been born this spring. Our vets have seen several cases of this condition, known as ‘Congenital Chondrodystrophy and Joint Laxity’ on their rounds in the last few months.
5 June 2020
EVG Dairy Team
Lungworm in Cattle
Lungworm, husk or parasitic bronchitis in cattle is the result of infection with the nematode parasite, Dictyocaulus viviparous. Disease is most commonly seen in cattle during their first grazing season on grass, and as a result animals at greatest risk are youngstock or adult animals that have never been turned out.
8 May 2020
EVG Sheep Team
Sheep Worm Control
The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group is an industry-led group that recognises resistance to the products used to control parasites is one of the biggest challenges to the future health and profitability of the UK sheep industry.
1 May 2020
EVG Beef Team
Cattle Parasite Control
The main culprits are Ostertagia ostertagii and Cooperia oncophora. These worms cause thickening of gastrointestinal walls which reduces nutrient absorption and leads to poor digestion. Obvious clinical signs (Table 1) tend to only be seen in young calves in their first grazing season.
24 April 2020
EVG Dairy Team
Making Good Grass Silage
One of the most important times of the year, silage making, is just around the corner. In this blog post Jim provides a quick refresher on what we’re trying to achieve and what the chemistry is of the most.
17 April 2020
EVG Smallholders Team
Chicken Husbandry for the Smallholder
Over the past decade pet birds have grown hugely in popularity; in 2020 domestic fowl can be found in over 3% of households, with more people owning chickens than horses! However, adopting fowl is often easy and cheap, but it’s important to understand what’s involved in providing poultry with everything they need to be happy and healthy before taking on these feathered friends.
13 March 2020
EVG Sheep
Early lamb growth and Production
A subject which is focused on every year, but each year still doesn’t become any less important! With the changing weather and seasons, especially after the warm wet winter we have had, parasite control can be an unpredictable problem on many sheep farms.
28 February 2020
EVG Beef Team
Safe Handling for TB Testing
Year after year, serious injuries occur on farms while handling cattle. Often these incidents are a consequence of using ineffective methods or inadequate equipment. We must be aware that work with cattle is always associated with a risk of injury from crushing, kicking, butting or goring. Therefore, when moving cattle, great care must be taken and we must never underestimate the strength, speed, or behaviour of any animal – regardless of their size.
14 February 2020
EVG Dairy Team
Antimicrobial Usage Update
Antimicrobial usage (AMU) within food producing animals has been under public scrutiny in recent years, with pressure to reduce general usage as well as the use of Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HP-CIAs) coming from milk buyers and assurance companies. This article aims to highlight the good that has already been done and also areas to look at in order to further reduce usage on farm.
31 January 2020
EVG Vets Team
What to expect when you’re expecting
In this blog we will cover normal parturition, when to intervene, when to call the vet and how to care for your new-borns.
17 January 2020
EVG Sheep
Are your ewes fit for lambing?
Lambing is all about preparation, whether it’s ensuring ewes are in good body condition scores (BCS), utilising vaccines or managing your singles, twins and triplets appropriately. Good management over the whole year is vital for the success of spring, ensuring ewes are best prepared for lambing so all your hard work pays off.
27 December 2019
EVG Beef Team
Cattle Injection Sites
Despite being the most common intramuscular injection site in cattle, it has been shown that there are significant risks associated with injecting cattle in the rump using what were previously thought to be safe techniques. Damage can be caused to the sciatic nerve either directly by the needle or indirectly by injection site lesions (ISLs). This can be avoided by using the injection site suggested above and using good injection technique. Injecting into the muscles of the neck is an alternative and is recommended provided it can be performed safely.
02 December 2019
EVG Dairy Team
Comparison of Heat Detection Methods in Dairy Cows
Improved heat detection is one of the largest contributing factors in generating an increased number of pregnancies in a herd. By better detecting heats, the hope is that we can create those pregnancies earlier in lactation. In turn, this will mean we can reduce the average days in milk (DIM) of the herd, improving feed conversion efficiency and increasing milk yield - all with the same cows, in the same system.
25 July 2018
EVG Dairy Team
Make Sure Your Calves Have Enough Colostrum
Ensuring your calves are getting adequate colostrum cannot be stressed enough.
17 July 2018
EVG Vets Team
ECSRHM Scientific Meeting and AGM
As well as providing first class care for your animals, EVG vets have international reputations.
25 June 2018
EVG Sheep
Ram Pre-Tupping Testing
Do you trust your clinical skills to detect subtle changes linked to reduced fertility in your rams pre-tupping? Yet, you are certainly aware of the catastrophic consequences of using sub-fertile rams.
12 March 2018
EVG Sheep
Sheep Lameness
Sheep lameness can cause severe problems in many flocks and understandably remains an area of concern for many shepherds and smallholders. The change in weather towards milder winters and wetter summers means the prevalence of lameness has increased. In the past few years there has been growing evidence that lameness should be managed by methods that contradict the traditional approaches which can lead to confusion so we hope that this article can help clarify the approaches to treatment and prevention.