Cross Counties Farm Vets

17/03/2025

🐑🐑 2025 SCHMALLENBERG AND BLUETONGUE SURVEY - RELAUNCH 🐑🐑

This study is a repeat of a survey ran at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Science and Medicine during the initial outbreak of Schmallenberg virus in Europe in 2012/13 and again during the outbreaks in 2017 and 2023.

This is to gain an idea of the impact of the virus and the scale of the outbreak this year to add to our knowledge of the cyclical pattern of Schmallenberg virus. As both Schmallenberg Virus and Bluetongue virus are spread by the same midges and may cause the same types of lamb and calf deformities, some questions about Bluetongue have been added. There are also a small number of questions around general lambing practices and antibiotic use at lambing time at the end that are optional, but are useful information to gauge what other problems you are seeing at lambing time.

https://forms.office.com/e/Wa4fdRaHrw

13/03/2025

No, you’re not seeing double! 🤩

Our Vets have been very busy this week, helping bring new life into the world 🐄🐑

We would love to see your best lambing/calving/kidding pictures, so share them below!

Here's one taken by vet Sky after helping to deliver twins at the weekend 🐮

10/03/2025

Avian Influenza 🐔

Cases of Avian Influenza (AI) are continuing to be confirmed, with the most recent outbreaks in Hereford, Cheshire and Yorkshire. The AIPZ housing measures have been extended to cover Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire in addition to the East Riding of Yorkshire, City of Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Shropshire, York and North Yorkshire.


While housing is currently not compulsory in this area, there are steps you can take to help protect your flock. The following link contains advised on how to prevent AI and stop it spreading. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bird-flu-avian-influenza-how-to-prevent-it-and-stop-it-spreading -bird-houses-and-sheds


Please be vigilant for the signs of Avian Influenza and if you have any suspicions, please call APHA on 03000 200 301.

For up-to-date information, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england

06/03/2025

The calves from this morning’s knockdown disbuds, it was the little grey heifer who escaped sedation as she was polled!

05/03/2025

📣 Animal Health and Welfare Review UPDATE 📣

🐄 You can now apply for the Animal Health and Welfare Review for more than one species. That means if you’ve already had your review for dairy, you can now apply for your beef and sheep (and vice versa!)

🐑 Additionally, if it’s been over a year since your first review, you can apply for your second. There’s up to 3 reviews and 3 follow-ups per species available for the duration of the scheme.

💰 A recap on the funding:

· £684 for a pig review

· £436 for a sheep review

· £522 for a beef cattle review

· £372 for a dairy cattle review

🪙 In addition to this, for the optional follow-up:

· £215 for cattle with no BVD

· £837 for beef cattle where BVD is present in the herd

· £1,714 for dairy cattle where BVD is present in the herd

· £639 for sheep

· £923 for pigs

📄 Remember you have 6 months to complete the review from registering. Therefore, please speak to your vet before registering to ensure the timing works for your testing – this saves duplication! https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/funding-to-improve-animal-health-and-welfare-guidance-for-farmers-and-vets

03/03/2025

A roundup from the TB Knowledge Exchange Day held last year. Give it a watch and see which CCFV vet features!

This is "TB knowedge Exchange day 2024" by VetPartners on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

28/02/2025

Jessica recently attended a meeting held at Binley's Bridge Farm, hosted by the Vickers family. The meeting included a collection of business owners and people supporting the farming industry, meeting with the Conservative MP (shadow minister for education) Neil O'Brian to discuss the wider impact of the changes in inheritance tax for farmers. Mr O'Brian is keen to increase exposure to the voices of the farming community.

They discussed the known impacts of the new laws and methods to expose a greater understanding of food origin, welfare standards and security to the UK population to allow the farming sector to be better valued in society.

28/02/2025

Should I Vaccinate my Livestock against Bluetongue? 💉

Bluetongue entered the UK in August 2024. It is spread by midges, the activity of which is significantly reduced during very cold weather. The disease is very likely to over winter in the UK from 2024 into 2025, and will therefore reappear earlier than August. The choice facing vets and farmers to control this disease is whether to vaccinate or not and when. The potential impact of disease, in terms of animal welfare and losses, must be weighed against the cost of labour and buying the vaccine.

Vaccination of cattle may have some benefit for cattle themselves, but the clinical impact of BTV3 in cattle is much reduced compared with sheep. The likely greater impact of vaccinating cattle, could be reducing the circulating levels of virus, to protect sheep. Although this is not yet proven.

Of the sheep with clinical signs in the UK in 2024, it is estimated that the case mortality rate was 70%, similar to that seen elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, mortality (whole flock) in vaccinated flocks was 1-2% compared with 25-30% in unvaccinated flocks.

Scenarios in which you may want to think seriously about vaccinating:

🐂 If you have multiple species of ruminant or camelid
🐄 If you have high value, valuable breeding animals, rare breeds or pedigrees.
🐑 If you have animals in the higher risk, coastal area of south/east England
🐏 If there were cases of BTV3 nearby in 2024
🐐 If there are a lot of ruminants in your area
🦙 If you plan to move stock from other parts of the country onto your farm or back from shows

Please speak to us for more information and we can help you make a decision.

27/02/2025

The benefits of a purpose built handling system, helping to ensure the test is as safe and efficient as possible!

27/02/2025

Trouble with twin lamb disease? New drench available! 🐑

🐑 With lambing well underway, do you have SELEKT Re-EWE-venate in your kit?
✔️More glycerol and propylene glycol than other drenches, for rapid and sustained energy replenishment to help ewes recover from twin-lamb disease.
✔️ Calcium propionate and potassium for reduction in the risk of hypocalcaemia and hypokalaemia.
✔️Biotin and vitamin B12 to support the rumen flora.

Contact your Vet to find out more today!

27/02/2025

24/02/2025

We now have in stock Selekt System's new Re-EWE-venate drench, ready for the busy lambing season ahead!

Contact 01455 710935 to get yours now 🐑

🐑 With lambing well underway, do you have SELEKT Re-EWE-venate in your kit?
✔️More glycerol and propylene glycol than other drenches, for rapid and sustained energy replenishment to help ewes recover from twin-lamb disease.
✔️ Calcium propionate and potassium for reduction in the risk of hypocalcaemia and hypokalaemia.
✔️Biotin and vitamin B12 to support the rumen flora.

Contact your Vet to find out more today!

24/02/2025

We are now stocking NoBACZ Navel - watch the video below for more information! 🐑

21/02/2025

🌡 Do you own a thermometer?

A thermometer is an extremely useful and inexpensive piece of equipment for livestock keepers. Re**al temperature is a useful indicator for determining health and can be an early warning sign of disease. Early detection and identification of sick animals can help to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, reduce treatment cost by improving response to treatment and minimise losses. Being able to assess an animal’s temperature can help in determining the need for treatment and veterinary intervention as well as monitoring response to treatment.

To obtain an accurate re**al temperature the tip of the thermometer should be held directly against the re**al wall, otherwise you may get a falsely low result or take the temperature of the faeces.

The normal parameters:
🐑 Ewes: 38.4-39.5°C, Lambs: 38.5-40°C
🐄 Cattle: 38.0-39.1°C
🐖 Pigs: 38.5-39°C
🐐 Goats: 39.0-39.5°C
🦙 Alpaca: 38.0-38.9°C

20/02/2025

More money for charity! 🥳

Through VetPartners charity match scheme, both RABI and brainstrust have received an extra donation of £366 each. This brings the total donated to each charity from our Christmas quiz to £1962. We look forward to the same success next year and couldn't do this without our wonderful clients!

19/02/2025

Reducing antibiotics 🐑

Overall antibiotic use is relatively low within the sheep sector but…

There is a very high usage around lambing time, particularly in preventative ways around neonatal lambs. Six years ago, SRUC Veterinary Services reviewed the antibiotic sensitivity results for E.coli from lambs less than 4 weeks of age. Incredibly, over half of the cases showed resistance to a common antibiotic used at lambing.

If we can try and be more selective with our antibiotic use, we are not only saving money but reducing resistance to the antibiotics that we use! Additionally, due to the Red Tractor updates, prophylactic use of antibiotics is now restricted, increasing the importance of preventative protocols.

If you want advice and tips on how to best manage antibiotic use at lambing, please speak to your vet for an individualised plan taking into account flock health and history.

18/02/2025

📌Bluetongue Update

Restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of bluetongue have been eased. Due to the drop in temperature and reduced midge activity, the UK's Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed the UK is now in the seasonally vector low period for bluetongue virus. This came into effect from 12 noon on the 21st of January. The government has confirmed that the RZ currently in place across affected regions along the east and south coast of England will remain.

You no longer require:
• post-movement testing for animals moved out of the zone - provided they have a valid negative pre-movement test result
• vector control including the use of insecticide
• animals originating from the restricted zone to be slaughtered at a designated slaughterhouse

You must still:
• have a licence to move animals or germinal product out of a restricted zone
• arrange for a pre-movement test via UK Farmcare for all animals moving out of the restricted zone unless they are moving direct to slaughter or via a dedicated slaughter market
• comply with any post-movement testing requirements set out in your licence or restriction notice if you moved animals out of the restricted zone on or before 20 January 2025
• apply for a licence to freeze germinal products within the restricted zone

However, there has been a confirmed case identified in Kent on the 7th of February 2025 following active surveillance, both BTV-3 an BTV-12 were found. This highlights the importance of remaining vigilant and reporting any suspicion of disease. As we enter spring, we anticipate cases of bluetongue to increase alongside increased midge activity, whilst we can’t predict the disease spread and severity, we encourage you to consider vaccination ahead of this higher risk period, particularly for your sheep. Based on information from the outbreaks experienced on the continent and on affected UK farms, of the sheep that develop clinical signs up to 70% of these do not survive. Vaccination has been shown in Germany to reduce the number of animals dying from disease; however it will not stop them developing disease. Please call the practice to discuss vaccinations options further.