Castle Vets Farm

27/11/2025

Upcoming Flock Club meeting - Monday 8th December
Join us for a mince pie and mulled wine!

25/11/2025

Next up on our 'Meet the Team' series is... Tim! 🐑

20/11/2025

Join us in congratulating Charlotte and Charisse on their recent qualification🎉

07/11/2025

Upcoming meeting:

04/11/2025

We have a few spaces left on our remaining 2025 Red Tractor Medicines Courses. Don't miss out! Phone the office to book.

31/10/2025

🎃👻Happy Halloween from the CVG Team!👻🎃

30/10/2025

Next up on our 'Meet the Team' series is... Emily! 🐮

Listen to Emily's podcast here: https://www.chewinthecud.com/podcast/17676891/forgotten-heifers-the-lost-months/

28/10/2025

Fog Fever

Autumn grass has flourished this year following the dry spell. As a result, cattle have been grazed for longer during the Autumn period, but are we seeing a consequence to that?

We have heard reports of, and seen a couple of suspect Fog Fever cases in cattle (beef and dairy). This condition is medically known as Acute Bovine Pulmonary Oedema and Emphysema and triggered by a move to lush grass. Symptoms are typically observed 5-10 days after the move and may affect a group of animals, but their symptoms can vary greatly.

Mild cases often resolve spontaneously within a few days and include:
- Lethargy, but alert
- Increased breathing and heart rate (lungs sound clear)

Severely affected animals will have:
- Extreme respiratory distress (head stretched forward, tongue out and drooling)
- Relatively normal lung sounds and no coughing
- A loud grunt
- Emphysema (air under the skin, particularly over the back)
- A Normal temperature (despite the name!)
- Rapid improvement in a few days, or death.

The condition is caused by a sudden change from a low to a high protein diet, and high levels of the amino acid Tryptophan, found in fast growing, lush grass. Tryptophan is metabolised by the bugs in the rumen and converted into 3- methylindole, which is a toxic product that gets absorbs into the blood stream and actively damages the lung tissue.

Unfortunately there is no treatment for Fog Fever, apart from supportive therapy. Prevent animals from sudden exposure to lush grass by strip grazing / cutting / short grazing periods for at least 3 weeks and buffer with hay where necessary. Younger animals and sheep are much less susceptible so could be run ahead of adult cattle where grazing has run away.

23/10/2025

Cattle caesarean sections. What are the outcomes?

Recently our vets headed up to Edinburgh to discuss just this at the National Cattle Veterinary Conference (BCVA congress).

Over the years we have been auditing our performance behind the scenes to make sure we are doing the best for your animals come surgery. But it turns out national data is lacking! And so, following the publication of our data, Charlotte (and her support team of Andy and James) headed up to BCVA to present our findings to the other cattle vets from across the country.

So here it is:
Our cows have a survival rate of 94.7%, 14-days post caesarean section.
Survival is reduced in cases where the cow is down during surgery (2.9x the odds).
Survival is reduced in cases where a dead calf is delivered (2.7x the odds).
Being a heifer does not impact survival chances.
Breed of cow has no effect on survival rate.

Remember that surgery is never without risk, and risk-levels relate to how your cow is presenting and the surgical environment. You can also do your bit to help by planning in advance for where you would perform surgery on farm. Calving gates or crushes with easy access sides, lighting, protection from the elements and hygienic surrounding are all a big help. Just remember it is the left hand side of a cow we need to access for a caesarean!

Full published article by Lucy Giles, Liz Nabb and Charlotte Bain: https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.4601

21/10/2025

We are proud to be sponsoring the Liskeard & District Prime Livestock Show being held on 1st November at the Calweton training centre 🐑🐄

Not long to go....Schedules available soon ! 🤩

15/10/2025

We are excited to welcome back farm vets Katherine and Sarah from maternity leave! It's great to see them back in their boots and out on farm again 🐑🐄

06/10/2025

🌱 Last week we launched our Regenerative Agriculture Discussion Group, Castle Roots. With a brilliant first meeting, kindly hosted at Trebartha Barton, who run a 200-head herd of pedigree Stabilisers.

The day began with discussions on the principles of regen ag — from grazing techniques and tackling root causes of problems, to soil health, “weeds” and the importance of measuring and monitoring what we do on farm.
We then headed into the fields and were met with pastures alive with diversity, both above and below ground. While some might call it “messy,” the thriving wildlife, crumbly worm-filled soils, a trusty spade, and the great condition of the cattle told a different story! 🐄🌿🪱
It was a fantastic opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and see how different approaches can deliver healthier soils, healthier animals, and more resilient farming systems.

A huge thank you to our hosts and to everyone who joined us. We’re already looking forward to the next session!