At Westpoint Farm Vets we aim to provide the highest level of specialist farm veterinary service to livestock keepers, from smallholdings to commercial farms.
The Westpoint Farm Vets team collaborates to provide the highest standards of proactive care to support animal health, success and sustainability for the farming community. We have a dedicated team of farm vets working in partnership with farmers offering our clients a range of benefits that will have a direct and positive impact on the health and welfare of their animals and the profitability and efficiency of their farm.
16/12/2024
A protection zone is now in place scross East Riding, Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Biosecurity measures should be in place to prevent contact between wild birds and captive stock, reducing the risk of disease spread.
If you have concerns over bird sickness or any unexplained deaths that you wish to report, please call 03000 200 301 in England. You can talk to us at any time about health concerns in your flocks.
Reminder: An Prevention Zone (AIPZ) is now in force across the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
This means that it is a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the East Riding of Yorkshire, City of Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks, of whatever type or size, in addition to following any Protection/Surveillance zone restrictions that apply. See the press release on GOV.UK for details: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avian-influenza-prevention-zone-declared-in-four-counties.
Ami Sawran, Clinical Director of Westpoint Farm Vets, shares guidance for farm vets on responsible antimicrobial use in camelids.
25/11/2024
Has your farm been affected by Bluetongue Virus?
APHA are running a survey to determine the impacts of Bluetongue virus on confirmed BTV positive premises and are recruiting farmers to participate.
We are collating the clinical signs BTV-infected animals have exhibited in England and how severe these clinical signs have been beyond the initial inspection visits. The potential long-term effects for example on fertility are of particular interest. In addition, we are collecting information on the impacts that the recent outbreak of Bluetongue virus and associated control strategies may have had on your clients’ farms and on running their businesses. This is an opportunity to help inform and contribute to Defra's Bluetongue strategy.
The survey takes up to 40 minutes over the phone. The time needed will depend on the number of animals they keep and the severity of the disease and impacts experienced. Participation is voluntary and anonymous.
If any of our clients wish to help with this survey, please let us know and we will make sure to put you in touch.
19/11/2024
Some of our farm team have made it down to London to stand in solidarity with UK Farmers. Farming remains a vital industry in the UK, and we will continue to do our utmost to support our clients and to help farms thrive.
This week, Ashford's Jack Balkham has written to his MP imploring the government to reconsider recent decisions that pose a threat to the wellbeing of our farmers and the longevity of the farming sector.
18/11/2024
***look away now if you don't like eye stuff***
This lovely chap had a rather unfortunate eye injury that resulted in a prolapse of his lens. This results in blurry vision, and can also prevent the eye from draining properly, meaning a painful buildup of fluid. Unfortunately this chap did have that painful resultant glaucoma, and we decided to remove the eye to alleviate the pain.
Most animals cope very well with this operation, so he was swiftly seen to at Chelmsford's Coalyard Clinic, where as far as he is concerned, he had a quick nap, and woke up without a sore head. He is back with his herd, and adapting very well. When his hair grows back over his face, you won't be able to see that he's had surgery at all. In the final photo, you can see that the eye has become misshapen, so he will be so much more comfortable now.
15/11/2024
Don't forget that if you're already on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway that you're likely eligible for follow up funding. Give us a call to explore what the funding can do for your farm.
13/11/2024
A tricky little op, this one.
This lovely young alpaca had a considerable umbilical hernia that was trapping his intestines. Sometimes these can heal up naturally, but he was at such high risk of strangulation that we had to operate. He handled it like a champ, and even though he had some tricky adhesions (sticky insides!), he has recovered from surgically beautifully.
11/11/2024
It may not be a pretty sight, but it's important to know what haemonchus infestations can do. This huge burden was found in a recently deceased sheep, and you can see just how pale the animal's tissues are. The squiggly lines on the floor are thousands of haemonchs contortus worms that have been draining the animal of blood. These worms multiply quickly, and their larvae are blood feeders, which means that an animal can be very poorly and depleted before the burden becomes evident on a faecal egg count. This highlights the importance of physically checking an animal's mucous membrane colour and condition when considering worm burdens and interpreting faecal egg count results.
It's been a warm and wet year, so unfortunately we are still seeing large burdens of these, and other worms. It pays to be vigilant even this late in the year. Speak to us about your parasite management plan, for advice on prevention and control strategies.
08/11/2024
***SURGICAL SCENES***
A tricky and unusual surgery for today: this heavily pregnant cow had a small mass on her tail, and we were hoping that she could calve before removal. Now into her final trimester, the blood supply to the tumour was so great that it ballooned very quickly, preventing her from lifting her tail - immediate intervention was sought as we couldn't let her hold on until housing and calving.
Cows use their tails for fly swatting, so it is a shame to have to see it go, but it was necessary to remove this rare and aggressive tumour. We hope to see her calve without difficulty soon, so that she can enjoy her retirement. She was straight off to her feed bucket afterwards, so we think she's feeling much better.
06/11/2024
Your bull is essentially 50% of your entire breeding programme, so he has to be fit to work to ensure a tight calving period and assure the future of your herd.
All of our branches offer bull fertility testing, which, if done prior to the season, allows you to understand your bull's breeding potential with enough time to go to plan B if any issues arise.
Contact us as soon as possible to book your bulls in ahead of the breeding season.
04/11/2024
Breeding decisions that will benefit your herd in the future shouldn't be made in a rush - our pre-breeding checks can assess the breeding suitability of heifers (though cows can also be assessed).
This proactive visit can also include infectious disease screening or trace element testing if appropriate. We would advise discussing these with your vet prior to breeding season next year, so as to ensure you get the slot you're after.
01/11/2024
A reminder that carved pumpkins (as well as any kitchen waste) should not be fed to pigs, as this poses a serious disease risk.
31/10/2024
Happy Halloween to one and all, and Happy Diwali/Deepavali too!
🎃 🪔
Our Horsham branch has had some fun carving their pumpkins this year. Which one is your favourite?
28/10/2024
A timely reminder as to why some diseases are 'Notifiable' - with Bluetongue on our shores, we have been more familiar with the reporting system, but we acknowledge that it can be a little complicated and tiring at times. Here, we outline why certain diseases are notifiable - we are all responsible for the timely reporting of suspicious clinical signs to safeguard human and animal health.
25/10/2024
Housing management of pre-weaned calves strongly impacts health, welfare, and profitability. Dr Tiffany Etherington shares advice.
25/10/2024
There's a clue in the poo, but you need interpretation to find out what to do...💩
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Videos
Checking in on a cow post caesarean section is a simple pleasure of vet life. Excellent to see both dam and calf up and eating.
Here's a VERY speedy rundown of a standard plasma transfusion in a cria with failure of passive transfer. We have managed to do several of these recently, due to the diligence of owners checking colostrum intake after birth.
We've just edged into Spring - but what were our farm teams up to over winter? A whole lot, it seems, with 24/7 cover of farm animal emergencies, as well as proactive herd and flock care. Here's just a quarter of A Year in the Life of our farm vets and techs
To all of our clients - it has been a pleasure to take care of your farm pets, livestock and smallholdings this year. Here's a little snippet of life over 2023. Here's to a happy, healthy and successful 2024. Special thanks must also go to our fabulous teams, incluidng support, administration, techs and vets - together, we have provided 24/7 care on every day of the year, delivered proactive healthcare visits, ensured farmers had access to important funding, delivered clinical teaching, brought on the farm vets of the future, and have unfailingly been an ear on the other end of the phone. Happy new year, everyone - let's make it great!
Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful clients and teams who celebrate.
To all others, we wish you a restful festive season.
Our on-call vets are here to support you if needed (but let's hope you don't!)
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Our Story
Westpoint Farm Vets has built its successful business providing high quality, evidence-based veterinary services to livestock farmers. Talented vets are crucial both to the success of our clients, and to our own organisation. At Westpoint we consistently employ many of the most dedicated and committed vets in the industry.
Farmers working with us have the opportunity to source knowledge from across the group resulting in an excellent level of service. Our local vets offer all the hands-on dedication traditionally associated with practice. As part of VetPartners, our vets and their clients can also rely on the support of a national group, right at the forefront of the animal health industry.
As our vets can work closely with Biobest and other laboratories they have access to the most up-to-date information. This enables them to assist farmers in maximizing the health of their animals, their productivity and their profits. In a perfect loop, the on-farm findings of our vets fuel our research, and in turn the research results influence the work back on the farm. We work with universities, research institutes and other centres of excellence which also helps the industry address key welfare, disease and production constraints.
The entire group is committed to constantly improving knowledge and imparting best practice across the whole of the animal health industry. To facilitate this we have developed innovative ways to assist knowledge-sharing both within our group and also amongst the rest of the industry.
For our vets, we have clinical working groups, focused on providing the most up to date approaches to maintain and improve herd and flock health. Our clinical working groups regularly review new and cutting edge literature and liaise with other agri-businesses, such as Kingshay, to provide educational material for other vets and farmer groups. We assess the most cost effective treatment protocols to consider on a day to day basis, as well as medicine best practice; this is important with the ever increasing pressure on the responsible use of antimicrobials.
We invest in bringing new knowledge and skills to our vets through training and mentorship programmes and many of our vets maintain a clinical work load whilst studying for further qualifications such as PhDs, Diplomas, Certificates and other post-graduate qualifications.
Within the group we have vets sitting on national committees dedicated to supporting the animal health industry in the UK and provide expert support to the retail chain and the pharmaceutical industry. Others are asked to share their knowledge at industry events, or have their work published in the farming or veterinary media. This is an important part of our work ensuring our knowledge is transferred in a way to benefit the entire industry.
