Westpoint Farm Vets

28/06/2025

Be sure to keep on top of fly protection, as flies can spread disease from animal-animal incredibly quickly. Give us a call to discuss holistic fly management for all livestock systems.

26/06/2025

Remember, your bull represents 50% of your breeding herd in some cases. His performance is vital for a smooth, productive and tight calving period. Get in touch now to give yourself the best chance of success!

24/06/2025

Don't forget that your vet's support is essential for a successful parasite management plan. We can perform and analyse faecal egg counts to advise on the most cost effective and welfare friendly approach to parasites of the gut of various livestock species.

18/06/2025

Bluetongue control measures in England from 13 June until 11:59pm on 30 June 2025

The current pre-movement testing exemptions when moving animals from the restricted zone to England have been extended until 11:59pm on 30 June 2025.

This means you still do not need to test non-breeding animals over 60 days old before moving them from the restricted zone to an unrestricted area of England.

However, you must apply for a specific licence to move animals out of the restricted zone.

For user friendly updates on the BTV situation, please refer to

Ruminant Health and Welfare (RH&W) bluetongue hub - keep up to date with the latest developments and updates on this disease

12/06/2025

We are happily providing support to our farmers who have been applying for this year's Farming Equipment & Technology Fund.

Grants range from £1,000 to £25,000 (% of cost varies by item).

There are three themes available: Productivity, Slurry Management and Animal Health and Welfare.

Applications will be scored and each theme has rules for scoring.

Application window 29th May - 10th July

You can find out more information here: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/07/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-2025-guidance-now-available/

10/06/2025

One of the best parts of the job is seeing a healthy, happy patient that really needed our help! Here is Tiff with Nettie the cow who delivered a healthy heifer calf after a swift caesarean.

23/05/2025

Are you shearing your camelids soon? Be sure to consider these points for a smooth and stress free day, and to ensure optimum health and welfare of your herd.

21/05/2025

It is (unfortunately) very much that time again. Please make sure you have adequate fly protection for your livestock.

20/05/2025

Understanding Atypical BSE: What You Need to Know

Recently, a case of Atypical BSE was detected. Here's a quick breakdown of what that means:

Atypical vs. Classical BSE: Unlike the classical BSE outbreak of the 80s/90s (linked to contaminated feed), Atypical BSE occurs rarely and spontaneously, mainly in older cattle. It does NOT spread between animals.

Detection & Origin: This case was found in an animal showing clinical signs, humanely culled, and tested as part of robust surveillance.

Risk & Concern: Atypical cases are very rare (e.g., UK has only 4 in 10 years). There's no evidence of a high risk for more cases, and the UK's BSE risk status remains 'controlled.' Beef exports are unaffected.

Human Health: There is no risk to the public from this case - it did not enter the food chain, and even in food producing animals that are unaffected food safety standards ensure removal of higher risk materials from all cattle.

Handling & Prevention: Affected animals are humanely culled and tested, never entering the food chain. Vigilance for clinical signs and strict feed controls (preventing mammalian protein in ruminant feed) are key prevention methods for classical BSE.

19/05/2025

Don't forget to take advantage of discounted toxoplasmosis vaccines at the moment. Protect your flock from one of the top causes of abortion in sheep.

16/05/2025

With this incredibly dry spring, you may be considering feed supplementation. Take care to transition animals slowly to prevent disruption to their gut microbiome!

08/05/2025

We’ve already had a glimpse of summer warmth and that’s prompted a lot of farms to start thinking about fly control. Every year there’s lots of options so we’ve done a quick run through for you. Give us a shout in the practice if you want more information.

26/04/2025

🌏 Happy World Veterinary Day! 🌏

Today we celebrate the incredible dedication, compassion, skills, knowledge and tireless commitment of veterinarians 365 days of the year 24 hours of the day!

To every vet and veterinary team member - the work you do and the effort and care that is put into your work does not go unnoticed! So this is a big thank you to every single member of the team! 🐄🐖🐑🦙

11/04/2025

From the 31st March, Phase three of the National Johne’s Management Plan (NJMP) was introduce. The changes are not huge, and focus is still on risk management and implementation of an appropriate control strategy. The main changes are:

•An Average Test Value (ATV) must be generated for each herd
•A 60 cow random screen is now required to generate an ATV (previously 30)
•A target of 5.5 ATV has been brought in with the aim to achieve this by 2030

Your vet will be able to discuss this with your further and update you on the changes, so if in doubt, please give the practice a call on 01306 628208. 🐄

04/03/2025

Have you applied for the animal health and welfare pathway?

Livestock farmers can now apply for funding for both the animal health and welfare review and the endemic disease follow-up for more than one species. Please phone our team at Ashford on 01306 628208 to book in your visit or to discuss further information with our vets! 🐄

19/11/2024

Standing shoulder to shoulder with the farmers at the rally in London today. Fantastic atmosphere and real community spirit. Here's to being heard not herd! Also there in spirit and solidarity from the practice! 🐏🚜💪🪧🐄

12/11/2024

The next NSA field day is in Kent on Wednesday 20th Novemeber. “Making the most of grazed forage in your sheep system". Email [email protected] to register.

25/09/2024

Come and find us at the East Kent Ploughing Match Association for a tea, cake and catch up!
This year it’s being held at Great Bossington Farm, CT3 3LN. Our team are on top form as you can see! 😁

20/09/2024

Come and find us at the Weald of Kent Ploughing Match tomorrow. Find us at stand number 40, between the main ring and farmers market for a cake, refreshments and to browse our Farm Supplies shop! See you there!

12/09/2024

🎉SOUTH EAST REGION FIELD DAYS ARE BACK🎉

Join NSA South East Region for their two field days:
📅Wednesday 18th September 2024 at Blacketts Farm by kind permission of GH Dean & Co Ltd
📅Thursday 7th November 2024 at Hyde Farm by kind permission of Randall Farms Ltd

Following the success of the inaugural Field Days held across the South East Region in 2022, this years focus will be on the use of forage/cover crops.

To register for these events or find out more, follow the link below⤵
https://nationalsheep.org.uk/events/forthcoming-events/

NSA South East Region would also like to thank the events sponsors Virgin Money, MSD , British Wool, Bimeda, Elanco and Rappa

25/03/2024

Jo worked at Kent Wool Growers before joining our team in 2017, and has been instrumental in setting up our farming supplies shop. When she’s not working, she enjoys hiking with her canine sidekick Flyn and (staying true to her kiwi origins) following rugby.

11/03/2024

Our this week is one of our senior vets Kathy Hume, Originally from Ireland, Kathy graduated from the Nottingham Vet School in 2011. She enjoys all aspects of her role, but has a particular interest in proactive health planning and mastitis control. She is also an AHDB dairy mastitis control plan user, and loves being outdoors and taking photos of the Kent countryside with her two cocker spaniels! Kathy works extremely hard and we really appreciate everything she does for Westpoint!

08/03/2024

Happy International Women’s Day💃 Today we celebrate the incredible women that work hard every day, from our Vets, our admin staff, TB testers, Vet Techs and not to forget our farmers! Without these amazing women, our practice would not be the same.
So this is a big appreciation to all of the women at Westpoint!