Custom Livestock Solutions LLC

04/25/2025

Saturday, April 26, is 🌎 World Veterinary Day. This year’s theme? “Animal Health Takes a Team”, and boy, do we know it! We wouldn’t be the large animal veterinary team you trust, were it not for …

🤠 Dr. Tyson Strickland, DVM: Our founder and fearless leader, future star of our dancing TikTok channel
🩺 Dr. Faith Chamlee, DVM: Our newest vet, jumps at the chance to teach kiddos about the industry
🐄 Dr. Amy Goggans, DVM: Our cattle reproduction specialist, missed the smell of dairy cows while she was on maternity leave
🐴 Dr. Caitlin Quinn, DVM: Our equine specialist, maintains a cooler of curated snacks in the vet truck at all times
🖤 Cheyenne Clark, vet assistant: Full-time human mom, part-time chicken mom (also Hereford mom, horse mom, dog mom …)
🤍 Melissa Hegwood, office manager: Has a Ph.D. in herding veterinarians
🖤 Lexi Johnson, vet assistant: Will 100% cuddle a baby goat, no questions asked
🤍 Destiny Roberts, vet assistant: Big fan of banana milkshakes after a long, hot workday

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/23/2025

POV: You head to Mr. Gary Minyard’s farm to check cows in his pasture, and he sends you back to the CLS office with gorgeous flowers from his greenhouse! 🌸🌷💐🌹🌻

Dr. Goggans and vet assistant Cheyenne have both gotten multiple plants from Mr. Minyard through the years. We love supporting our farmers who trust us with their veterinary care, so as much as we’d like to keep his greenhouses a secret 😆 … this selection was too gorgeous to keep to ourselves! Y’all can go shop to your green thumb’s content at 1131 Sandy Cross Road in Royston, just off Highway 51. He’s open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the springtime!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/22/2025

This sounds like such an epic FFA meeting! 🐰 The CLS team is glad we were able to help make it happen!

04/22/2025

We love supporting our local youth in agriculture!

Thank you to Custom Livestock Solutions LLC for their donation of a large animal services gift certificate for the silent auction!

04/21/2025

✅ Dr. Strickland got to give our new Repro-Scan ultrasound a maiden voyage a couple weeks back, checking on the success rate of some AI’ing we did previously. According to Dr. Goggans, usually artificial insemination results on conventional semen are between 60 and 80 percent, and sexed semen is closer to 50 to 70 percent success rates. As with just about everything in farming, there are a multitude of factors that can affect conception rates using AI, including maternal age.

“Heifers usually take better, and that’s just because they are young and don’t have a young calf on them. First-calf heifers or cows with their first calf are usually the hardest, due to them still partially growing, raising a calf and trying to breed back all at the same time.”

Dr. Goggans says too that if a female’s first successful pregnancy is through AI, it doesn’t necessarily mean the cow won’t breed well using another method the next season. Those results depend more on if she experienced dystocia and how she’s handling post-calving.

“If they are skinny and being pulled down by a big calf, and not being fed well, then they may not breed back. If they are managed well, then they are more likely to do better with AI or even just bull breeding,” Dr. Goggans says. “Good management always makes for better conception rates! But each farm is different and requires different things.”

The CLS vet team is ready to work with you on finding the right breeding method(s) for your farm and cattle. Give us a call to learn more!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/18/2025

Y’all know how sometimes circumstances don’t turn out quite like you hoped, but there’s still some good tucked in there anyway? 🖤 This is a case like that.

Earlier this month, Dr. Quinn was called out to a 🐐 goat farm to assist a pregnant doe. Unfortunately, her kid passed away in utero, so Dr. Quinn was able to perform a surgical procedure to remove its remains. But the story doesn’t end there. This farm had a couple of bottle babies from a different doe — and they latched right on to their adopted mama! 🥰

It may not have been the outcome everyone hoped for at the start of the appointment, but given those aforementioned circumstances, it was a best-case scenario in some ways.

📸 Thanks to David Echols for getting the photo of Dr. Quinn at work!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/18/2025

👀 Seeing this photo of Dr. Chamlee prepping vaccines got us thinking!

Y’all have probably heard our sister clinic’s team, Comer Veterinary Hospital, remind you about annual dog and cat rabies vaccinations (which in Georgia are required by law!). But did you know that you can get livestock vaccinated against the deadly virus, too?

Pastured livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep may be more susceptible to rabies than livestock that lives primarily in a barn setting, because they run more risk of exposure to wild animals. 🐴 For horses, the rabies vaccine is one of a core series that Dr. Quinn recommends each spring!

There is no cure for rabies, which causes a range of neurological symptoms, altered behavior, and difficulty breathing or swallowing. The disease is fatal, and vaccinations are the best prevention method. Since many cases of rabies are seen in spring and summer months, now is the time to schedule an appointment to get your animals protected!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/15/2025

Earlier this month, we shared some insight from Dr. Chamlee about bull ✂️ castration, and we thought we’d expand on the topic. This slide deck isn’t an end-all, be-all by any means, but it provides general guidelines from American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). We hope it gives some insight into which castration method your farm’s veterinarian might want to use for your animals based on species, age, and other factors! Livestock that are treated more as pets than as production animals, for example, may be able to be castrated at an older age. Have questions, or want to schedule a CLS vet to come out to castrate your livestock? Give our office a call!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/10/2025

Dr. Goggans has been back on the job for *checks notes* about 3️⃣ days and already has some cool cases coming her way! This before and after spotlights Dr. Goggans’ 🪡 suture skills after a new show calf patient cut her eye area.

We’re not sure how she got the injury, but after mild sedation and some stitches, the cut is closed nicely and Dr. Goggans has high hopes it’ll heal well. The calf did great during the procedure! Y’all stay tuned for more progress photos during her upcoming recheck appointments.

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/07/2025

We hear it so often in every walk of life that “the kids are our future”, but rarely does this ring so true as it does in agriculture. It’s no secret that the age of farmers continues to increase, as do land and input prices, while the alleged ease of getting into a livestock business simultaneously decreases. 😔 Fewer kids seem to want to go back home to the farm, and for a variety of factors, sometimes there’s not much farm for them to come back to even if they did!

Though we may not be able to lower the cost of feed or acreage, the Custom Livestock Solutions team is committed to supporting and engaging youth in agriculture. We are proud sponsors of multiple 🍀 4-H and 💙💛 FFA chapters, various organizations in UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, and livestock shows statewide. We also do our best to make frequent appearances at ag days and junior field days around the state and our immediate north Georgia community. Here are a few recent snapshots of events we’ve been able to support: the Georgia FFA Association Blue & Gold Gala, the Georgia Junior Livestock Foundation Georgia Junior National Livestock Show, and Madison County’s Fifth Grade Ag Day!

We hope being part of and increasing our participation in these outreach opportunities does far more than simply bring “brand awareness” to CLS — we want to do our part to make sure agriculture remains a vital, vivid part of America’s future, not just American history. Would you like CLS to be part of an upcoming event for youth in your area? Feel free to reach out directly to our marketing director at [email protected] and let’s chat!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/04/2025

‼️ Head’s up: This post contains photos from a veterinary procedure that may be considered graphic by some. Maybe skip the scroll if you’re squeamish! ‼️

It’s ✂️ castration day for these guys! There are a couple different ways your CLS veterinarian may choose to castrate bulls in your herd — stay tuned next week for an infographic y’all can save that details each method. For this farm, Dr. Chamlee went with a physical castration, where the bottom third of the calves’ scrotums are removed and each testicle taken out individually.

The decision to castrate bull calves and raise steers is individual to each herd. Typically, steers are preferred because they grow to produce higher quality beef at harvest compared to their intact bull counterparts. There are also considerations based on temperament (because testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior, steers are easier to raise and work with) and farm goals. Farms that prioritize raising bulls for genetics and breeding stock may look at different factors than farms that feed out steers to feed fellow Americans, and both of them weigh options other than cow-calf producers who aim to sell to a backgrounder.

Regardless of the reasons why a farmer castrates, and the castration method used by their CLS vet, it’s recommended to castrate bulls at less than 6 months of age! This helps minimize pain during the procedure as well as the potential for chronic pain and complications later on.

“We administer 🪰 fly spray to most castrations during the warmer months and encourage farmers to do the same,” Dr. Chamlee says. “Because it is an open wound, we also like calves to be tetanus vaccinated. Most castrations do well being left open to drain, but the fields are not necessarily a sterile environment, so infection is a rare but possible complication.”

She recommends farmers keep an eye on newly castrated steers to watch for bleeding or such signs of infection.
“A good rule of thumb is, if you can count the drops, it is not concerning. However, a waterfall or steady stream is something to call the vet about. Any swelling of the area or pus is also important to alert a vet to.”

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

04/03/2025

Thursday morning rural Georgia DOT report from Dr. Quinn: “The traffic in these parts is rough.” 😜

03/31/2025

Equine owners, it’s your annual reminder that spring vaccine season has arrived! There are a few core shots the CLS team recommends you get for your horses, donkeys, and mules:

1️⃣ Eastern Equine Encephalitis
2️⃣ Western Equine Encephalitis
3️⃣ West Nile Virus
4️⃣ Tetanus
5️⃣ Rabies

Both forms of equine encephalitis, as well as West Nile, are 🦟 mosquito-borne diseases. These three deadly viruses lead to swelling of the brain and spinal tissue in equines and humans. Because of their primary spread through Georgians’ favorite little bloodsucker, which starts flying in droves around this time of year, getting vaccinated against these diseases in spring is key to prevention!

Prevention is also the 🔑 key to protecting your animals (not just horses!) from rabies. There’s no treatment for rabies, so it is always fatal. With abundant wildlife like we have in Georgia, it’s imperative for any animals that could potentially come into contact with wild animals, or are frequently handled by humans, to get vaccinated against rabies.

💉 We recommend twice-yearly tetanus vaccines, too. Tetanus is a potentially fatal nerve disease caused by bacteria found in soil, and all animals are susceptible to developing it after sustaining an open wound or having surgery. Once symptoms start to show up, it’s difficult to treat tetanus in a timely manner — so again, prevention is key! In addition to the two times a year tetanus recommendation, your equine might require a booster throughout the year if they undergo surgery or injure themselves.

In need of annual vaccines for 2025, or ready to get your equines on a regular vaccine protocol as CLS patients? Give us a call to schedule!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

03/28/2025

Somebody put on the Backstreet Boys, because guess who’s back — alright! 😉🤩

Dr. Goggans will return full-time from maternity leave the week of April 7, 2025. Baby Lee has already begun his training as her vet assistant, and recently helped perform his first bull BSE at Barnett Angus Ranches! Special thanks to Mr. Chris at Barnett for his assistance entertaining our youngest CLS herd member so Dr. Goggans could collect semen samples.

If you’re ready to get back on Dr. Goggans’ spring calendar, go ahead and give our office a call. We ✨ may ✨ already have a waiting list of appointment requests for her, so don’t delay, especially if your herd health needs are time-sensitive.

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

03/26/2025

“Skinny cow” 🐄 may make great branding for a low-calorie dessert company, but on the farm, “skinny cow” can mean your females may struggle to breed properly! Ideally, cattle should get a body condition score, or BCS, once to twice a year. Inspired by a recent UGA Beef Team webinar on this topic, we got Dr. Goggans to weigh in on how BCS can affect pregnancy rates — and what to do with your females if they’re not quite hitting the mark. Scroll through to read this Q&A!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

03/25/2025

It’s a VERY special day here at Custom Livestock Solutions — the 🎂 first birthday 🎂 of CLS’ equine services!

One year ago today, Dr. Quinn came on board for good, and we can’t imagine our large animal veterinary clinic without her. 🥹 She brings years of expertise, a spunky spirit, and honesty to every farm visit. Her empathy and desire to not only care for animals in the moment, but also teach their owners post-appointment aftercare and management strategies, is unmatched. Thanks to her skillset, we’ve not only expanded CLS’ reach to new stables and horse owners, but we’ve been able to provide a one-stop-shop for many farmers who have multiple species of livestock on their land!

Right now, our equine veterinary and management services include …
🐴 Annual wellness visits
🐎 Vaccines and bloodwork
🐴 Oral exams and dental floats
🐎 Husbandry consultations
🐴 Endocrine disease care
🐎 Equine spinal manipulation (commonly referred to as equine “chiro”)
🐴 Colic case management
🐎 Routine surgical procedures
🐴 Urgent and emergency care (to clients local to Madison County, at this time)

We’re also excited to share some 👀 sneak peek news that this list, and our veterinary “herd”, will be growing a little in the next couple of months. Stay tuned for more on that, and an official introduction coming soon! To our equine clients, we are so grateful you put your trust in us to provide care and consultation for your animals. Thank you for continuing to recommend us to fellow “horse people”. Dr. Quinn and our growing veterinary team look forward to keeping your horses healthy and thriving for many years to come!

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.

03/22/2025

Y’all join us in sending birthday wishes to our very own Dr. Quinn today! 🎂 The staff at our sister clinic, Comer Veterinary Hospital, surprised her with a celebration.

03/21/2025

Thanks to Mr. Davis for inviting CLS to speak to Commerce High School FFA students this week! 💙💛 Dr. Quinn, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine student Logan, vet assistant Lexi, and our trusty companion Nellie the goat 🐐 visited the veterinary science class to answer questions about vet school and what life is like day-to-day in our jobs. The kids were REALLY interested in some of Dr. Quinn’s unusual cases and patient stories!

We appreciated the opportunity, especially during , to be able to introduce students to this possible career path, and the many related opportunities in veterinary support staff, on the farm, and even in specialty facilities like zoos. Georgia faces a large animal vet shortage, and with agriculture as our state’s top industry, it continues to be important to ensure Georgia livestock has more than adequate care to continue to provide food for your plates.

Custom Livestock Solutions is Georgia’s proven source for premiere herd health and management services. Our vets serve large animal herds, show barns and stables in the 🍑 Peach State and nearby neighbors in South Carolina. Visit us in Comer Monday through Thursday from 9 to 5, or Fridays 9 to 1, or call 706-783-8128 to learn more.