Buchan Vets Farm

26/02/2024

The 94+ Club Meeting will be at The Brucklay Arms on 5th March 2024 🐄

19/12/2023

With Christmas fast approaching we wanted to share our Festive opening hours and how to access emergency care over the next few weeks 🎅

16/11/2023

A massive thank you to all who came to the meetings in Turriff and Memsie, it was great to bring so many of you together to present the future plans of the practice.

Feedback for the 'Buchan and Deveron Vets' Farmer's Club' has been exceptionally positive which is hugely encouraging. We are currently pulling all the details for the 'plans' together, after which we will be in touch with individual farms to discuss a tailored proposal.

If you weren't able to make a meeting then give the practice a call to learn more about the 'Club' and how we believe it will benefit your farm.

01/11/2023

Thank you to everyone who came along to our farmers meeting in Turriff last night. Great questions, interesting discussion and excellent feedback which is fantastic!

Remember, if you couldn't make it yesterday or are based further east, we're holding the same discussion meeting at the Heath-Hill Hotel in Memsie tomorrow evening at 7:30pm. It's a really important meeting about the direction of the practice, relationship between the modern farm vet and farmer, and the services we offer, so please come along even if just for stovies and a chat!

23/10/2023

🔥 Autumn Farmers Meetings🔥happening next week in Turriff and Memsie! If you haven’t already done so, please let us know which venue you’re coming to so we don’t run out of tuck! We look forward to seeing you all there.

20/10/2023

With the weather turning we are starting to see a few cases of calf pneumonia. Cold weather increases the growth of certain respiratory pathogens in the nose and upper respiratory tract, more organisms means more chance of them reaching the lungs and causing pneumonia. For further advice, see the latest farm newsletter or call the practice and ask to speak to one of the vets.

08/02/2023

🐑 🐄 FARM CLIENTS 🐑 🐄

To achieve Red Tractor Status it is recommended that at least one member of the farm staff who are responsible for administering medicines has undertaken training and holds a certificate of competence. Training courses include but are not limited to MilkSure, City & Guilds, Lantra and veterinary-run training courses.

🚨 We have a training course in Strichen next week. Call the clinic to join on 01771637219 🚨

Sign up for the red Tractor Newsletter: www.redtractor.org.uk/media/news

For information on how we can help you achieve Red Tractor Status on your farm call us on: 01771637219

13/07/2022

There's a on the horizon for parts of the UK. Prepare now to help keep your pets safe in hot weather: www.bva.co.uk/news-and-blog/news-article/if-in-doubt-don-t-go-out-dog-owners-urged-to-rethink-walks-during-hot-weather/

20/12/2021

With Christmas Day fast approaching, we thought we'd spend this week sharing festive photos of some of our staff pets. Today we have one of our large animal vets showing off his 'Christmas spirit' with Lulu.
🎉🎉
Happy Holidays!

03/12/2021

Our SAC Consulting colleagues have warned of a higher risk of ergot contamination of grain and headed grass this year. This is as a result of the 2021 growing season, weather conditions and seed availability.

More info: https://sruc.ac.uk/veterinary-surveillance-blog/higher-risk-of-ergot-in-feed-stocks-this-autumn/

16/11/2021

Sheep farmers are being encouraged to semen-test tups ahead of mating, after a recent survey found more than one in five rams failed fertility

04/11/2021

An update for bird owners!

28/10/2021

Sales of Beef Shorthorn females topped 11,000gns at the Stirling bull sales on Monday 18 October. Heading the trade was a pair of 19-month-old heifers

22/10/2021

19/10/2021

Cows Throwing Large Calves

We have had a few issues this year with large calves where an embryotomy has been necessary, and we have carried out caesareans at a higher rate than expected. This problem was also more prevalent last year.

The advice from the SAC is:

'Some farms are reporting oversized calves with associated dystocia / calf viability issues with increased numbers of caesareans. There is published evidence to suggest that in heifers, calf birth weight is reduced by restricted protein in mid pregnancy. Under nutrition can also lead to an increase in the diameter of the blood vessels in the umbilical cord allowing a compensatory increase in blood flow to the foetus. It is speculated that this could lead to foetal oversize if cows undergo a period of feed restriction with a period at the end of pregnancy when feeding rates are increased to compensate'.

01/10/2021

Management of rams needs all year round attention to ensure good conception rates. For more information visit https://bit.ly/3obW6XF

28/09/2021

🐐notice for goat owners

We have received increased reports of high Haemonchus contortus burdens in goats from the local post mortem lab these last few weeks.

Clinical signs vary from poor growth to anemia, collapse, and 'bottle jaw' (submandibular odema).

Please note that this parasite typically does NOT cause diarrhoea.

If you have any concerns about your goats please let us know!

26/08/2021

An action shot of pre-sale bull fertility testing on Foggie Rockstar last week! We also offer this service as a routine 'MOT' fertility screening recommended 2 months before breeding season.

Foggie Aberdeen Angus

21/05/2021

**High risk of Nematodirus in Aberdeenshire**

SRUC have informed us of a surge of sudden deaths in lambs due to Nematodirus worms this week.

Due to the cold weather this spring the nematode hatching has been delayed, but the recent warmer weather in Aberdeenshire means mass hatchings – this now corresponds to when most lambs are starting to eat grass. A high worm burden can lead to death and poor growth rates.

We advise any farm with a history of nematodirus to stay alert in the following weeks. In certain weather conditions like the ones we are experiencing this disease can strike very quickly.

Please be aware that faecal worm egg counts is not a reliable method of diagnosis – look out for the clinical signs and consider post mortem for a quick diagnosis.

Please contact us with any queries about diagnosis and treatment

You can find the SCOPS forecast and further information here:

https://www.scops.org.uk/forecasts/nematodirus-forecast/

21/05/2021

Head of Australian agricultural firm predicts sales surge as UK farmers warn they will struggle to compete

07/05/2021

Our vet Kate showing Primary 5 of St Andrews Primary School just how cute lambs are as well as handling, feeding, and care of animals in agriculture!

19/04/2021

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=810385966234916

22/03/2021

🐓🐓UPDATE: Avian Influenza Poultry Housing Measures🐓🐓
GB Governments have announced plans to lift poultry housing measures from 23:59 on 31 March. The Avian Influenza Prevention Zone mandatory biosecurity measures remain in place for all birds. If you intend to allow your birds outside after 31 March you MUST take action now to prepare the outside areas.
Please check the information available at-
https://www.gov.scot/.../avian-influenza-housing.../

22/02/2021

🐄Getting ready for calving season🐄

The success of calving season starts long before the arrival of the firstborn calf!

🐄Calving equipment and supplies need to be obtained and gathered prior to the start of the season

🐄 It is essential to have a good calving gate securely fitted, a calving jack in good working order, two sets of clean soft nylon ropes, buckets, disinfectant, lubricant, two stomach tubes (one for sick calves and one for colostrum management), feeding bottle, iodine for navel dip, electrolytes, a thermometer, a warming box, calf jacket or infra-red lamp, obstetric gloves and rubber gloves, access to warm water etc.. Be sure to order enough calf tags. Check in advance if calving cameras and calving sensors are working. A white board and markers on the wall alongside all this equipment is very handy for scribbling notes, especially if calves need extra feeds or special treatment and if more than one person is sharing the work. Calving information can be noted here for proper recording later.

🐄Preparation is the key. Have calving pens clean and disinfected prior to start of calving. One roomy calving pen (min 16.8m2) with good lighting per 10 cows is ideal. Be sure to use plenty of straw in calving pens to keep young or new born calves warm. An adequately bedded pen is one in which you can kneel down without your knees getting wet. The pen should also be draught free. Get down to calf-level to check it out!

🐄Determine animals’ body condition scores. Mature cows need a body condition score BCS of 5/10, while first-calf heifers need to be at a score of 6/10 going into calving. Then separate and feed accordingly. Also make sure plenty of feed is readily accessible near the calving area.

17/02/2021

12/02/2021

It’s not just the livestock that need managing.

11/02/2021

Buchan vets Sheep Scanning

We would like to remind our clients that we offer a sheep pregnancy scanning service, and are excited to offer top range scanning equipment and skills that will help you make better informed management decisions. We accommodate flocks of all sizes, as well as being open to scanning other small ruminants and camelids. Here are some of the financial and management benefits of scanning your flock prior to lambing season:

•Identify and pull out barren stock before over-winter feeding of these ewes causes financial losses.

•Optimum management of pregnant ewe nutrition. Ewe nutrition in later pregnancy determines her milk quality and growth rates of the offspring post lambing, and over/underfeeding can cause major problems such as twin lamb disease. Being able to manage ewe nutrition in separate groups (determined by due date and/or number of lambs she is carrying) will vastly reduce this risk, can cut costs, and improve flock output.

•Identification of any tups that are underperforming.

Please note that the ideal window to scan your ewes is 60-90 days into pregnancy, as any later means the scanner will struggle to identify the number of lambs as they are too large.

10/02/2021

Not all colostrum powders are the same!

There are a variety of colostrum powders on the market and whilst they are all likely to provide a good source of energy and protein they vary in the amount of antibody they contain.

Until recently all of the products available were supplements i.e. designed as a top up rather than a true replacer. However we now have in stock a product which is the closest to a colostrum replacer with regards to the level of antibody it contains.

It is called Immucol Platinum. The same company also has a supplement which in an independent test was found to have a higher level of antibody than other colostrum products and it is called Immucol. They are reported to be easy to mix.

We now stock three colostrum products: Provita which can be used as a top up, Immucol which contains a higher level of antibody and is good as a top up and Immucol Platinum which can be used as a colostrum replacer if no natural colostrum is available.