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Although
the veterinary input into the management of beef suckler herds and
the rearing of beef animals has traditionally been less than the
input into dairy herd management, it is no less important. For our
beef clients we regularly attend individual animals who might be
in difficulty calving or who might be sick or injured. We will also
visit them to carry out routine procedures, such as synchronising
cows for artificial insemination, carrying out pregnancy diagnosis
or dehorning and castrating calves. In addition we also advise regular
visits, usually on at least a quarterly basis, to assess the progress
of the herd and to plan future management strategies to ensure economic
production, a low incidence of disease and a high standard of animal
welfare. At these visits we would discuss a wide range of management
topics dependent on your aim for your animals. Such topics might
include breeding strategy, preventative medicine programmes (including
vaccination and worming regimes) and nutrition. We would regularly
condition score your cows and periodically collect blood samples
for laboratory analysis to assess
the performance of the cows' diet, to monitor the cows' mineral
status and to carry out disease surveillance. Dietary analysis can
be carried out using our Rumnut computerised nutrition
package allowing deficiencies to be detected before they cause a
problem and allowing growth rates of youngstock
, heifer replacements and store animals to be predicted.
In
addition to the many conventionally managed beef herds with which
we are involved, we also work with several organically
managed herds, which require additional expertise and advice to
that required by conventional farm assurance
schemes.
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