NCVC Sheep & Beef

29/10/2026

FECRT - how they work
A Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) is still the gold standard, the best test we have available to help work out which drenches are working on your farm.

If you already know you have significant resistance, there may be no point in repeating this test to confirm what you already know. You may be better off spending your money getting good advice on how to evolve your farm system to be less reliant on drench, and potentially more productive, or spending it on monitoring.

However, a FECRT is still a great way to get a clear snapshot of where you are at, especially if you:

Have never done one and don’t know your drench resistance status at all.
Previously had a good status, and you want to check that all is still well,
If you’ve made significant changes to your farm system and you want to see if your status has changed.
We generally aim to do FECRTs between December and May, so now is a good time to talk to your vet and start planning to ensure we can get all the information you require.

To start a FECRT we require some wormy lambs (number depends on how many drench groups we are testing). Sometimes getting lambs wormy is the hardest part of the process, but we have tips and tricks we can discuss during planning.

Once we have wormy lambs, two farm visits will be required:

At the first visit, we allocate animals into different drench groups, accurately weigh and drench individual animals, and record and collect faecal samples for FEC’s and larval cultures.
At visit two, we collect faecal samples again for FEC’s and larval culture.
This information is valuable and will help with decision-making about which drenches can be used on your property. But it’s also an opportunity to start conversations about parasite management and what we can do to keep drenching working for as long as possible.

28/10/2026

All excitement on our end as we prepare for the move into the beautiful new clinic in Cheviot. Monday is the day, and here's the plan to keep service available.

27/10/2026

21/10/2026

🐑 Pre-lamb season wrap-up! 🐑

A huge thank you to all our clients for another busy pre-lamb season! It’s been great getting out and about, catching up with everyone.
We really appreciate your continued support.
If you need a hand with any drenching or tipping ewes, please don’t hesitate to give us a yell — we’re always happy to help!

02/10/2026

This time last week ... We transformed the Omihi Hall, arranged for the talented Bi***es Box to perform and local legend Bloom Catering to feed us, and invited all our awesome Pre-Lamb bundle clients to join us in celebrating the season! What a turnout and what a night. Thanks so much to all who joined - you all made it an incredible night. Love from the NCVC Sheep and Beef team.

23/09/2026

NCVC Top Tip!
Multine Vs Ultravac – they both cover the main 5 clostridial diseases and can come with B12 +/- selenium, but remember:
• Multine = 2ml dose for sheep
• Ultravac = 1ml dose for sheep
Only the plain version of Ultravac and the Multine plain and B12 versions are licensed for cattle, and the dose rates are:
• Multine = 2ml for cattle UNDER 4 months, and 4mls for cattle OVER 4 months
• Ultravac = 2ml for cattle
Animals need 2 injections 4-6 weeks apart to be fully protected.

21/09/2026

BVD is a common cause of reproductive failure in both beef and dairy herds.
Heifer mating is coming up, and it’s a great time to check that you are not introducing any BVD carrier animals, also known as Persistently Infected (PI) animals, into the herd as heifer replacements.
We can do this through a simple screening test that measures BVD antibody levels. If there has been, or is, a PI animal in the tested mob, we would expect a large number of cattle to have recovered from infection and have high antibody levels against the virus. If antibody levels are high, we may need additional individual animal tests to make sure there are no PI’s in the mob. This testing is best done before the first BVD vaccination.
There is also some good news: we can do this testing very cheaply through the M.bovis testing scheme. MPI will cover visit fees, blood collection, and mileage, and you only pay the additional lab fees for BVD testing!
Please call your NCVC vet to discuss which tests and timing are best for you and your heifers

17/09/2026

Needle sizes are important when administering injections to your animals. The guidelines are as follows:
• Young lambs at tailing for under-the-skin injections = 1/4 inch 18 gauge needle
• Adult sheep for under skin injections = 3/8 inch 18 gauge needle
• Adult ewes in the muscle injections = 1/2 inch 18 gauge needle
Exceptions apply when using long-acting iodine injections (Depodine and Flexidine), which may need a larger-gauge needle (bigger hole) since they go into the muscle = 1/2 inch 16 gauge needle.

11/09/2026

A team of staff from across our clinics entered the Kaikoura Whale Run last weekend and, as running enthusiasts, were pleased with their results in their respective age groups.
Left to right: Zena (Sheep & Beef Animal Health Rep) - 21 km Run; Robert (Amberley Clinic Coordinator) - 12 km Run; Nicky (Culverden Clinic Coordinator) - 12 km Run; and not in photos: Andrew, NCVC's General Manager, who did the 5km run.
Great stuff team, we are proud of you all!!

08/09/2026

Are you having to administer pain relief at tailing?

If so, you should have already had a discussion with your vet about what product you are going to use this season – local anaesthesia or meloxicam.
There have been reported cases of adverse events in lambs given meloxicam at tailing. Adverse events reported to date have primarily involved underweight or compromised lambs, often with overestimated age and standardised dosing (e.g. all lambs receiving a 0.5mL dose). In these cases, concurrent dehydration or existing illness likely contributed to poor outcomes.
Therefore, it is important to weigh some lambs before you start to get an idea of the range of weights and what dose rates are suitable. A recent study found weights ranged across farms from 4.5kg to 28kg at tailing, so a standardised dose rate may not be suitable. If you do have some very small lambs, they may need to get a smaller dose. Don’t just assume they are all 10kg and dose all with 0.5mls.
You could start by picking up and tailing/treating the smaller lambs first at a lower dose rate. Then pick out the bigger lambs in the pen, and increase the dose rate for them next.
Remember the dose rate is 1ml per 20kg of live weight!
Overdosing lambs can lead to kidney damage and death of the lamb.
Lambs who are dehydrated – so separated from mum for a while during tailing/mustering are at higher risk of kidney damage associated with meloxicam.
To ensure lambs are mothering up within a few hours after tailing, leave them in a smaller paddock/area after tailing to sort themselves out before letting them go back to a bigger area. Lambs who take longer to mother up don’t get a drink of milk and therefore can become dehydrated – this can lead to an increased risk of kidney damage and death after a treatment with meloxicam.
Monitoring lambs for 5-7 days after tailing is extremely important to ensure no adverse events occur. Any unusual number of deaths MUST be reported immediately to a vet.