Farm Post Mortems Ltd.

Farm Post Mortems Ltd. Farm Post Mortems Ltd. offers a comprehensive veterinary post mortem service for farm livestock and aims to improve stock efficiency and productivity.

If you’ve got livestock, you’ve got deadstock. This is an inevitable fact of farming. Animals which die can tell you an awful lot about the rest of the herd. If you know the reason why an animal has died, you can usually prevent other animals from dying from the same diseases. It is very likely that you can also improve the productivity of other animals in the herd or flock which will fatten quick

er or give more milk if you can control the diseases they are exposed to. One of the best ways of finding out about these diseases is to adopt a pro-active approach to dead stock and turn the negative event of losing an animal into a positive one by making sure you don’t lose any more. This is the reason Farm Post Mortems exists. It aims to offer an accessible, affordable service which allows you to make the most out of your fallen stock at minimal inconvenience. This will improve your bottom line both by preventing further losses and by preventing diseases that are not even suspected but which may reduce an animal’s productivity but not kill it. The company is working along with EBLEX to investigate causes of death in English beef and sheep stock, in the hope of improving herd and flock productivity by identifying common causes of disease and treating early, so halting losses and improving efficiency.

Every time a post mortem is done you will receive a report detailing the diagnosis and any other findings as well as suggested actions that can be taken to treat the problem. This report will be sent to both farmer and vet within 24 hours of the post mortem. All post mortems are carried out by a specialist vet at a purpose built facility at J Warren ABP in Hamsterley, County Durham. Post mortem can be requested at the same time as carcase collection, minimising any inconvenience. 

Farm Post Mortems aims to improve the productivity of your stock by the early identification of disease, so increasing your efficiency and ultimately your profits. Farm Post Mortems is run by Ben Strugnell BVM&S Cert PM MRCVS, an independent vet specialising in farm animal pathology. Post mortems are carried out in a lab facility on site at J Warrens ABP to minimise any inconvenience to you in getting the carcase examined. Ben qualified from the vet school at Edinburgh University in 2002 and worked in mixed practice in North Yorkshire for five years, specialising in farm animals. He then went on to work for the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in Thirsk, where he developed his skills in pathology and his belief that an accurate post mortem can diagnose the majority of diseases in farm animals and can prevent unnecessary losses and improve productivity on farm. He subsequently set up Farm Post Mortems to offer a comprehensive gross post mortem services and to give vets and farmers a cost-effective way of diagnosing disease and increasing livestock efficiency, so improving your profit margin.

Great session across in Cumbria.
16/01/2025

Great session across in Cumbria.

Come and join us on Tuesday 3rd December to watch Ben Strugnell from Farm Post Mortems Ltd. perform a post mortem. Ben will discuss the common causes of death in sheep. Last chance to book your place, have you called Paul yet?

Great trip across to Ireland last week!
23/10/2024

Great trip across to Ireland last week!

Last week, XLVets Skillnet hosted two Farm Post Mortems events, offering valuable training to farm animal vets who are interested in learning how to perform a competent post mortem examination. On Thursday, Module 11 of the 2023/24 XLVets Veterinary Graduate Programme "Post-Mortem Techniques and Disease Investigation," took place, followed by a second Farm Post Mortems event on Friday aimed at farm animal vets of all experience levels.

Both sessions were led by Ben Strugnell of Farm Post Mortems Ltd. who provided vets with practical skills for performing post-mortem examinations on cattle and sheep. Participants learned how to recognise gross post-mortem findings associated with common causes of death, as well as the necessary sampling techniques to confirm suspected diagnoses. An important aspect of the training was the focus on disease pathogenesis, helping attendees better understand the underlying processes of various diseases.

These two events are kindly supported by Boehringer Ingelheim.

Be extra vigilant on your rounds after storm Ashley- it might have dislodged poisonous items and stock might be hungry t...
22/10/2024

Be extra vigilant on your rounds after storm Ashley- it might have dislodged poisonous items and stock might be hungry this time of year 😬

18/09/2024

Remember to test those thin ewes at sorting for the Tup. If they have Johnes they will not get better!

08/09/2024

FLUKE ALERT! The first fluke case of the year was seen today. Flukes estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. Treated 2 weeks ago with triclabendazole so resistance possible. BLOOD SAMPLES in lambs, or sentinel Hoggs amongst ewes, is the most sensitive test at this time of the year. This agrees with recent reports of acute fluke from Devon by APHA

Take a look and see if the team at UTASS can help you - the deadline is fast approaching!https://www.facebook.com/share/...
26/06/2024

Take a look and see if the team at UTASS can help you - the deadline is fast approaching!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DPNSPMU7ZnyLJeVq/

It's your last chance to take advantage of funding from DEFRA to get personalised support for you and your farm business!
We're already working with 140 farming families and it's now you're last opportunity to sign up before the funding ends.

The first meeting for this last round is on Tuesday 2nd July, we'll have details of the NEW and Updated SFI and CS options, plus guest speaker Sam Stables.
It's the ideal opportunity to make sure both you and your business's health are tip-top!

You can sign up to be part of the programme at : https://www.royalcountrysidefund.org.uk/how-we-help/family-farm-businesses/defra-future-farming/


We have another fabulous Livestock Pathology CPD day happening in Hamsterley, Co Durham on 7th March. This is a full da...
30/01/2024

We have another fabulous Livestock Pathology CPD day happening in Hamsterley, Co Durham on 7th March. This is a full day but practical, followed by lots of images of common lesions and how to investigate them if appropriate.

Consider it your last chance for a practical pathological tune-up before the spring madness.

Contact Ben on 07899 950372 or [email protected] to book your place. See you there and share away!

Don’t miss out!Are you wanting to know more about farm animal pathology, common diagnoses and samples to take for accura...
04/01/2024

Don’t miss out!

Are you wanting to know more about farm animal pathology, common diagnoses and samples to take for accurate investigation?
Get your place booked on our CPD day on 17th January and come along for this fascinating day. Contact Ben in 07899950372 or [email protected] to get your place booked.

This was a 6 day old dairy calf which died suddenly. On Pm its left ventricle was very small. The aorta and pulmonary ar...
14/12/2023

This was a 6 day old dairy calf which died suddenly. On Pm its left ventricle was very small. The aorta and pulmonary artery both exited from the right ventricle (DORV- Double Outlet Right Ventricle). There was a PDA, which was the only way blood could exit the left ventricle, which consequently had a small chamber and hypertrophied walls. There was no VSD (which might have helped!). Credit to Surrey Pathology Service for the clever bits.

This has been a week for shipping fever - fulminating bacterial broncho- and pleuro-pneumonia usually caused by Mannheim...
08/12/2023

This has been a week for shipping fever - fulminating bacterial broncho- and pleuro-pneumonia usually caused by Mannheimia haemolytica and/or Histophilus somni. The red/ purple/ black lobular marbling with interlobular oedema and fibrin reflect vascular injury (caused by vast amounts of endotoxin) and is distinctive grossly. Usually there is a predisposing factor but this might just be bad weather. Dairy cows, weaned stirks and recently moved suckler cows decided to die of it this week

Deaths due to OPA in sheep are usually higher in winter, probably because of secondary pneumonic pasteurellosis. Homogen...
06/12/2023

Deaths due to OPA in sheep are usually higher in winter, probably because of secondary pneumonic pasteurellosis. Homogeneous white consolidated lung is pretty distinctive.

We have seen three cases of subacute fluke in the last 10 days. Reports say seroprevalence has been quite low this year ...
29/11/2023

We have seen three cases of subacute fluke in the last 10 days. Reports say seroprevalence has been quite low this year so far in lambs, but a late spike is possible, especially if sheep have been treated too early. Blood testing lambs is probably still the best test at present.

Come along for a CPD day and see how useful PMs can be in aiding diagnosis and management.
04/08/2022

Come along for a CPD day and see how useful PMs can be in aiding diagnosis and management.

Address

Hamsterley House
Bishop Auckland
DL133QF

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 9pm
Tuesday 8am - 9pm
Wednesday 8am - 9pm
Thursday 8am - 9pm
Friday 8am - 9pm
Saturday 8am - 9pm
Sunday 8am - 9pm

Telephone

+441388488814

Website

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Videos

Remember to test those thin ewes at sorting for the tup. If they have Johnes, they will not get better!
Remember to test those thin ewes at sorting for the tup. If they have Johnes, they will not get better!

Remember to test those thin ewes at sorting for the Tup. If they have Johnes they will not get better!

FLUKE ALERT! The first fluke case of the year was seen today. Flukes estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. Treated 2 weeks ago with triclabendazole so resistance possible. BLOOD SAMPLES in lambs, or sentinel Hoggs amongst ewes, is the most sensitive test at this time of the year. This agrees with recent reports of acute fluke from Devon by APHA

There just aren’t enough songs about sheep drugs 🐑🎶

Neuroaxonal dystrophy in Swaledale lamb
Neuroaxonal dystrophy in Swaledale lamb

This is Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (NAD) in a Swaledale lamb. It is an hereditary neurodegenerative condition reported in dogs and humans, usually with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Lambs presented at around 6-8 weeks old with progressive ataxia, trembling and recumbency. Only purebred lambs were affected. The diagnosis was made on the basis of neurohistopathology of the brain and spinal cord. In this case the defect was a compound heterozygous loss of function of the PLA2G6 gene (the same gene responsible for the disease in other species). Affected lambs inherited one defective version of the gene from the sire and another differently-defective version of the gene from their dam. Lambs which inherited only one defective gene were clinically unaffected carriers. The genetic work up was done in collaboration with researchers at Berne University, for more read here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00438-020-01742-1

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