Scarsdale Vets Farm Brochure for Smallholdings

Transcription

1 Scarsdale Vets Farm Brochure for Smallholdings

2 Welcome to Scarsdale Vets 1) Welcome to Scarsdale Veterinary Group 2) The Scarsdale Farm Veterinary Team 3) The Nottingham Connection 4) Beef Herd Health 5) Foot Trimming Service 6) Our Sheep Expertise 7) Keeping Camelids 8) Keeping Goats 9) Keeping Pigs 10) The Backyard Flock 11) Scarsdale Drug Pricing

3 Welcome to Scarsdale Veterinary Group Farm Practice Our aim is to offer you and your animals the very best in veterinary care. Covering a large portion of the Midlands, we have an excellent team of specialist farm vets. We have a vibrant mixture of the old and new with the 3 senior farm partners having close to 60 years farm experience between them and a team of young newer graduates bringing the latest ideas and techniques from the colleges. We are also an Associate practice for Nottingham Veterinary School giving access to one of the most prestigious farm groups in the UK for second opinions and problem solving. The practice covers a wide area of the Midlands with farm clients in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Birmingham. We offer the traditional veterinary 24 hour emergency cover for calvings, lambings and ill animals in addition to herd/flock health plans and advisory visits for any aspect of routine farm animal management. We commonly hold farmer meetings and run workshops on a variety of topics such as our very popular lambing courses, lameness courses and herdsman certificates. All farm procedures are backed up by our on-site laboratory (one of the largest laboratories attached to a private practice in the UK). The laboratory can offer same day results resulting in more accurate treatment and prognosis for individual animals in addition to providing results to complement the farm consultancy work. We can visit your animals and examine them in familiar surroundings or you can bring them to the practice where we have a team of dedicated nurses to assist. For procedures requiring hospitalisation e.g. surgical procedures and administration of intravenous fluids we have a fully equipped hospital and experienced surgical nurses. Surgical procedures commonly carried out in the hospital include: Hernia correction Your animals health Castration could not be in Eye surgery better hands! Lump/bump removal.

4 The Scarsdale Farm Veterinary Team is made up of a number of highly experienced professionals Chris Parker (aka Sid) qualified from Edinburgh in 1982 and joined the Derby practice of Taylor Thompstone and Partners the same year. This practice eventually became Scarsdale Veterinary Group. Chris enjoys all aspects of farm veterinary practice but is particularly interested in the individual animal cases, bovine surgery and all aspects of fertility control. Sandy Jamieson qualified in 1987 from the Dick Vet in Edinburgh before joining a local Derby mixed practice. This practice amalgamated with the then Taylor Thompstone and partners and hence Sandy ended up as a joint senior partner in the Scarsdale Veterinary Group. Sandy also has an active role in the equine side of the practice. Rose Jackson qualified from Bristol in 2004 and soon joined Scarsdale's farm team. She was awarded the Diploma in Bovine Reproduction from the University of Liverpool, her main interests include dairy cattle fertility, suckler fertility management and bull testing. Rose's other interests include famer training and student teaching. She became an Associate Partner in Carolyn Baguley graduated from Cambridge Vet School in 2005, and then lived in London for two years, working in small animal practice. In 2007 she moved to New Zealand with her husband to pursue her real interest farm vetting. Carolyn returned to the UK in July 2010 and started at Scarsdale in August. Emily Robinson graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in July 2010 and began her first job as a member of the farm team at Scarsdale Veterinary Group in September. As Emily spent a lot of time at the practice when she was a student, we know that she has been taught to work at our practice standards. Chantal Bryant graduated from Edinburgh in 2006 and then spent 6 years in mixed practice but has always preferred the farm side. She enjoys watching and playing rugby and has a lurcher called Tinkerbell who is very pleased to have moved to Derbyshire because of all the good walking spots.

5 Hector Santo-Tomas qualified in Zaragoza in 2007 an d worked in dairy practice in Cuba for a few months. He then returned to Spain and worked mainly with sheep and goats. Hector moved to the UK in October 2011 and has wide experience in post-mortem inspection. In Hector s spare time, he enjoys playing rugby and training his Collie as a sheep dog. Oli Maxwell is our Nottingham resident. Oli has been working for a farm animal practice in Cheshire for the last four years. He is particularly interested in lameness and when he isn t working, he likes nothing more than to zoom off into the hills on his motorbike wearing his full leathers! Andrew Henderson graduated from the University of Bristol in 2007 and has worked in a farm animal practice based in Gloucestershire and South Wales for the last 6 years. He gained a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice in October 2013 and began a Residency in Dairy Herd Health and Production at the University of Nottingham in December Fay Pooley graduated from the University of Nottingham Vet School in July 2013 and joined Scarsdale Vets as an Intern in August She has now joined the Scarsdale Farm staff on a permanent basis. Fay enjoys playing netball, horse riding and generally being outdoors. Liz Cresswell joined us in August 2014 from Nottingham University as our new farm intern. She went to study for a zoology degree then decided that she wanted to become a vet and started at Nottingham Vet School in While at Nottingham she threw herself into everything farmrelated, including setting up the student farm vet society. Yolanda Rodriguez (better known as Yoli) joins us a TB tester. Yoli qualified from the University of Zaragoza in Spain in Her first job was as a goat vet, and she also worked in food safety before coming to the UK to join us at Scarsdale Vets. She is enjoying exploring the Peak District on foot with her two dogs, and is a keen swimmer.

6 The Nottingham Connection Lecturer in Large Animal Internal Medicine and Critical Care: Dr Gayle Hallowell MA VetMB PhD CertVA DipACVMIM DipACVECC FHEA MRCVS The high value single animal has always been a problem in veterinary practice with a large number of cat & dog specialists available but few single farm animal specialists. However the practice is lucky to have Gayle Hallowell working at the practice 2 days per fortnight. Gayle has amongst numerous other qualifications, the American Specialist qualification in large animal internal medicine. Using Ultrasound and other imaging equipment Gayle is able to produce answers to the most baffling cases. Associate Professor of Farm Animal Production Medicine: Dr Jon Huxley BVetMed DCHP Dip ECBHM Phd MRCVS Jon works from the practice one day per fortnight but is almost always available to help with difficult cases or herd problems. Jon is a world recognised lameness expert and as part of his work for the practice he carries out lameness consultancy visits to farms enlisted on the Scarsdale Healthy Hoof Programme. Amongst Jon s other interests are building design and calf health and rearing problems. Much of this high quality and specialist work can be carried out on a free or reduced-charge basis as a contribution to student teaching.

7 Beef Herd Health The ultimate aim of a profitable beef enterprise is to produce one calf per cow per year with minimum cost input. The Scarsdale farm vet team are committed to working together with the farmer to achieve this goal. No matter how small your herd is we can advise you on the best strategy to suit you. Our work on beef farms ranges from maximising calf health and growth rates through preventative medicine to emergency caesarean sections. We offer comprehensive Herd Health Planning to suit all sizes of herd. Each Plan is unique to the farm in question; there is no one cap fits all. It is all about measuring, managing and monitoring, and reacting quickly if any part of the plan begins to go off target. Subsidised blood sampling can be carried out to assess the disease pattern on your farm including BVD, IBR and Leptospirosis. Advice regarding biosecurity and vaccination is included in your health plan. Infectious diseases are not restricted to larger herds and control strategies are just as important in smaller herds Another important aspect of herd management is ensuring that your bull is able to get your cows in calf. One in four bulls in the UK has sub-normal fertility; reasons for this include small scrotal circumference, poor semen quality (motility or morphology) and poor serving ability. The Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BBSE) performed 4-6 weeks prior to the service period allows a proactive approach to screening out sub-fertile bulls. Electro-ejaculation (EEJ) is now the standard method of semen collection used by specially trained veterinary surgeons in the UK including Rose Jackson. The procedure is relatively quick (about 60 minutes) and safe providing an appropriate crush is available. The majority of the semen evaluation is carried out on farm giving you a quick idea as to the ability of your bull. The remainder is done in our own lab giving you a quick turn-around of results.

8 Foot Trimming In addition to our vets we also have a specialised foot trimmer. Alex Burrows trained at Embryonics in Cheshire with Pieter Kloosterman, an expert in cattle foot trimming and care of cattle. Alex is trained to Dutch Diploma Category 2 in Foot Trimming. Alex joined Scarsdale Farm and Equine Unit early in He uses a modern hydraulic crush so all he needs is somewhere level to set up and access to a power source. Alex is able to come out for routine trimming or to see individual lame cows. If any are found to require veterinary treatment Alex is able to liaise directly with us so that appropriate treatment can be provided. Alex works Monday to Wednesday 8.30 until 5.00 Prices: All 4 feet VAT 3 feet VAT 2 feet VAT 1 foot VAT More than 6 cows: Mileage per mile (return mileage) 6 Cows or less: Mileage per mile (return mileage) set up charge Blocks and bandages are charged as required.

9 Keeping Camelids Many of our vets have had extensive experience in camelid medicine and surgery and are able to offer advice on all aspects of camelid care from the individual sick animal to routine flock treatment. More complicated cases can be referred to Gayle Hallowell from Nottingham University who has a wealth of experience with camelids. Worming Camelids are not well adapted to intensive grazing and temperate climates, and to the parasite burden that this incurs. They are more susceptible to parasitic disease than sheep and this must be taken into account when co-grazing the two species. Frequency of worming and product to use depends on several factors including location, stocking density and cleanliness of pasture. Worm egg counts can be done to ascess parasite burdens and based on these we can develop a worming program suitable for your flock. TB in Camelids Camelids can contract and spread several cattle diseases including BVDV (bovine viral diarrhoea virus), Johne s and TB. Camelids are not subject to routine TB testing in England at the moment so the extent of TB infection is unknown. The test we use in cattle is less reliable in camelids but there is a blood test available. Biosecurity is of upmost importance in control of the disease as with cattle. Vaccination We advise that all camelids are routinely vaccinated against clostridial diseases which include tetanus. This comprises a primary course followed by six monthly boosters. Routine surgical procedures Castration is the most common routine surgical procedure we carry out. We advise that this is done at around 18months of age. This can be carried out either in the hospital or at home depending on your facilities.

10 Our Sheep Expertise All the farm team are involved in 100% farm animal work so there is a great deal of sheep experience in the practice. Chris Parker (one of the senior partners) has lectured to the local sheep society for the last years. The practice also runs sheep smallholder weekends and practical lambing-courses throughout the year. Having the large in-house laboratory available means that faecal samples can be rapidly analysed for worms, fluke and coccidia. Flock advisory work including control of flock problems, lameness, abortion, ill-thrift in lambs etc These visits usually entail the sampling of several ewes to try to ascertain a flock picture of the diseases circulating. Such sampling visits can then form the basis of a flock health plan. Unusual cases may be referred onto Gayle Hallowell for extra attention and more detailed diagnosis. Sheep with lambing difficulties may require a caesarean section which if carried out at an early stage has a good prognosis for both ewe and lamb. Flock Health Plans These plans can cover all aspects of sheep husbandry including breeding, lameness, nutrition, worming and vaccination and will be designed to increase production, improve welfare and be cost effective. Our close association with Nottingham University and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) allows us to also offer specialist advice and post-mortem examination.

11 Our Sheep Expertise Ewe Blood Sampling Schemes This subsidised scheme has been set up to allow us to investigate disappointing lambing percentages. It involves taking blood samples from 6-8 barren / aborted ewes shortly after lambing and allows us to test for the two major causes of abortion in sheep; Chlamydophila abortus (the cause of enzootic abortion in sheep) and Toxoplasma. Selected mineral levels can be measured at the same time if required. With these results we can advise you on appropriate vaccination schemes and control measures with the aim of preventing similar losses the following year. The abortion test results should always be discussed in detail with the veterinary surgeon as there are human health implications to some infections while other blood results may indicate a historic infection rather than present status. Peers Davies MA VetMB MRCVS Peers is the Clinical Lecturer in Sheep Health and Production at Nottingham Vet School, he is working on a range of research projects connected to health, welfare and productivity in sheep a European specialist diploma in sheep health management and a PhD in mastitis. His principal interest is in flock data analysis and production limiting diseases in sheep flocks, their impact on efficiency and cost of production.

12 Keeping Goats Goats come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have different requirements and problems to other animals commonly kept. At Scarsdale we can offer advice on all aspects of goat husbandry from preventative vaccination and worming strategies to routine surgical procedures and care of individual sick animals. Assistant partner Rose Jackson has a particular interest in this area and is on the committee for the Goat Veterinary Society. Worming Worming regimes will vary depending on the number of animals being kept and the cleanliness of the pasture. At Scarsdale we advise doing quarterly worm egg counts which can be done in our lab to provide a fast turnaround time. We can then design a worming regime based on the results. Routine surgery Disbudding is a surgical procedure and should be carried out by a vet. Goats have thin skulls and a low local anaesthetic toxicity level making this procedure more complicated than in calves. Other common surgical procedures carried out include castration and eye surgery. These procedures may be carried out either in our hospital or at home depending on your requirements and facilities. Lameness Goats should have their feet regularly checked and trimmed. We can provide advice on how best to do this if required. Vaccination We advised that all goats are routinely vaccinated against clostridial diseases which include tetanus. This comprises a primary course followed by six monthly boosters.

13 Keeping Pigs Pigs are farm animals and so are subject to the same disease controls and regulations. As specialised farm vets we are able to offer advice on all aspects of pig keeping from nutrition to worming protocols to infectious disease control. Worming Worming regimes will vary depending on the number of animals being kept and the cleanliness of the pasture. At Scarsdale we advise quarterly worm egg counts which can be done in our lab to provide a fast turnaround time. We can then design a worming regime based on the results. Vaccination There are various vaccines on the market for all sorts of pig diseases. The one we most commonly vaccinate for is Erysipelis. This is a bacteria that lives in the soil so does not require contact with other pigs to be contracted. There are multiple vaccine regimes available, we are always happy to discuss these with you to determine the best regime for your animals. Routine surgery Castration is commonly carried out at 7-10 days. Doing it at this early stage greatly reduces the risks involved and makes it a much simpler procedure. Although we can castrate older animals we prefer to do this at the hospital where we have monitoring equipment and special available. Zoonoses and notifiable diseases Pigs are susceptible to a large number of zoonoses (diseases which can also affect people) and notifiable diseases (diseases which are notifiable to the ministry if suspected). Zoonoses: Anthrax Chlamydia E.coli Salmonella Brucellosis Notifiable diseases: Swine Fever Aujesky s disease Anthrax These diseases do not respect status or size of herd all pigs are at risk.

14 The Backyard flock Chickens can be an excellent smallholding addition if cared for correctly. You may need to check that you are legally allowed to keep chickens if you don t live in the countryside and wish to keep chickens in your backyard you may be subject to city ordinances. We can offer advice on all aspects of poultry care from flock health plans to the individual sick chicken. Common health problems such as worms and mites can be prevented with the right treatment Other common health problems for which we are able to offer advice include egg bound chickens, impacted crops and pneumonia. A healthy chicken should have a comb which is red, plump and glossy and her keel should be well padded with flesh either side. Her vent should be nice and clean, her crop should fill up when she eats and slowly deflate afterwards (if it stays firm it may be impacted). Most importantly she should be active, eating, drinking well, preening and scratching. Like any other animal they require the correct environment to live in with sturdy, well designed shelter to escape the elements as well as to provide protection from potential predators. Locking them up at night is a good way of preventing your brood being taken by a fox! Always provide plenty of pellet food and clean water. Supplement with kitchen titbits: left over pasta, boiled vegetables and potato peelings. You should not feed anything too fatty or any meat. Also no beans or onions as it can make the eggs taste funny. They will enjoy a handful of corn in the morning and it will help to keep them warm during the winter nights. Like with many other animals poultry can carry dangerous bugs which can also be passed onto humans. It is always advised to observe good hygiene practices when handling any animal, and especially washing your hands after handling them. The main zoonoses (organisms that can be passed to humans) are: E.coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Chlamydia (especially ducks) and Avian TB.

15 Scarsdale Drug Pricing At the Scarsdale Farm practice, we realise that farm drug prices are a major expense for most of our farm and small holder clients. We therefore try to make our drug prices as competitive as possible. We compare the top 10 selling farm products with various internet sites on a regular basis to give you our best possible deal. In order to benefit from these competitive prices drugs must be paid for at the time of collection. If they are not paid for at the time they will be subject to a surcharge. Internet prices No chilled delivery fees for vaccines 99% of common tubes and antibiotics available off the shelf Vaccines available within 24 hours Collect at any of 4 different surgeries depending on what is nearest for you If we can t get it there on time, we will deliver it for you XL Vets have acquired the use of a warehouse facility in Cheshire. This has enabled us to purchase various wormer and fly repellent products in bulk. We are therefore confident that we can offer you a competitive quote for all your auxiliary products.

16 Scarsdale Veterinary Group Farm and Equine Unit Markeaton Lane Derby DE22 4NH