We are proud to be the only stockist of Hygain Horse feed to Gisborne, Wairoa and the wider region!

Why stock a horse feed?

We believe in a holistic approach to animal health at Farm Vets and the cornerstone of any farm performance is what and how much you feed your animals. However, this aspect is often overlooked. The benefits of having well fed animals ripples through your working team (horses, dogs) to farm production. Ensuring your animal is fed right is the first step to optimal performance. This in turn will ensure faster recovery, healing and increased performance across the board.

Our equines are an integral part of the farming equation on many properties where 4WD vehicles access is limited. Having "fuel in the tank" and less "days off" is essential. The same principle applies to competition and pleasure horses whether they are spelling, being brought back into work or in the middle of show season.

Horses should obtain the majority of their diet from good fibre sources such as pasture and hay. However, if the pasture has come under stress (seasonal changes) you may need to "top up" their diet with some form of hard feed. Especially if they have a heavy workload, are slightly older, tend not to hold their condition or are mares feeding/in foal.

One of the quickest and easiest ways to recognise any significant variations in the weight of your horse or variations due to age/breed is to learn how to body condition score your horse. Without evaluating your horses body condition on a regular basis it's very difficult to know whether they are getting everything they need. This can often result in overfeeding or underfeeding.

Other factors to take into account if your horse is losing condition -

Dental issuesParasitesStressDisease/illnessGastric ulcersNot enough feed

Hygain have got an excellent tool on their website to point you in the right direction if you're considering feeding your horse - https://www.hygain.com.au/nutrition-centre/feed-advisor/

Feeding your horse doesn't have to be complicated. There is a wealth of information available to us now (sometimes too much information!) and it's up to us to filter what is/isn't applicable for our horses and their current situation.

Give us a call if you would like to talk more about whether your horse may benefit from supplement feeding.

Tactically and economically blowfly strike is best approached at docking using a proactive attitude, within which product choice and application play crucial roles. A proactive approach will mitigate the negative economic impact that may arise from waiting until flystrike is present.

Ideally, the prevention plan you put in place will take into consideration things like time until shearing, chemical class previously used for lice control and regional knowledge about seasonal weather forecasts/patterns and the relative blowfly challenge. The old adage that ‘the best defence is a good offence’ holds true when looking at your blowfly prevention programme.

When it comes to chemicals insect growth regulators (IGRs) are the most common chemical family used for flystrike prevention, mainly due to their persistence. The two categories of IGRs are:

Triazine-pyrimidine derivatives – this category is sufficient for fly control only and actives include cyromazine and dicyclanilBenzoyl Phenyl Urea (BPU) compounds – suitable for fly & lice control which includes the actives diflubenzuron and triflumuron

The above chemicals are common choices for those proactively approaching the upcoming season; however should there be a need to treat blowfly strike it is important to look for products that have two actives, one of the above for ongoing strike control and the secondary ensuring rapid knockdown of maggots. For example, Cyrazin® K.O which contains the IGR cyromazine in combination with ivermectin.

Chemical application involves adhering to the label instructions with the correct method to ensure appropriate coverage of the target areas (pour-on/spray-on products) or complete coverage and saturation to skin level (dipping products) to provide the best outcomes.

When assessing the comparative protection periods of different products (usually stated as “up to” X weeks) it is important to remember that actual length of cover will be determined by factors such as effectiveness of application, fly pressure, environment and other influences.

If in doubt, talk to us about the best product for your situation. We will be able to advise whether sticking with a chemical compound or group previously used will continue to offer long-term protection or if it is time to change. New Zealand is still on the front-foot with regards to chemical efficacy, with lessons learnt from Australia, however without responsibly using the currently available chemicals we will risk breakdowns and lack of efficacy.

Top Tips

Be proactive, act before there is a problemFollow the product label guidelinesUse the correct equipment for the product and the jobCarefully consider (and seek advice if needed) about the correct chemical for the job based on your usage pattern and on-farm product history

The management of bulls has a large impact on herd reproduction. Bulls with low fertility decrease conception rates, which leads to low pregnancy rates, increased calving spans, reduced throughput of weaners and animals meeting market specifications, and consequently reduced farming profits.

Common sources of low bull fertility and conception include:

bulls in poor condition two months prior to mating (when semen is produced)insufficient effective bulls for the number of cows in the mating herduse of too many bulls, which encourages fighting and is wastefulmixed ages of bulls in mating groups, or mixing bulls shortly before or during mating, which can affect conception while social dominance is being establishedlarge mating paddocks where bulls and cows become separatedover-fat bulls (condition score 4.0–5.0) and unfit bulls due to lack of exercise (over-fatness can interfere with the heat exchange function of the testicles resulting in infertility with low sperm output)transporting bulls for some distance close to the start of matingvenereal disease (eg vibriosis, trichomoniasis).

Body condition score is a key factor when monitoring the general health and nutritional well-being of bulls. The ideal condition for a bull prior to mating is condition score 3.0 (range of 2.5-3.5).

Prior to mating, bulls need to be assessed as physically sound, not carrying reproductive infectious diseases and having acceptable levels of libido and semen quality.

What to do to ensure a successful mating:

planning mating groups eight weeks before joining and running bulls together before mating to allow social groupings to establish (mixing bulls shortly before or during mating can reduce conception rate due to distraction when fighting, and possible injury to bulls)ensuring access to at least one replacement bull (more in larger herds) from four weeks before mating beginsvaccinating bulls with a BVD vaccineratio of 1 bull to 40-50 cowsmultiple sire mating with bull rotationuse smaller flatter paddocks (if possible) for mating

A successful mating relies on cows calving at the right time of year – this ensures the period between calving and coming on heat is 70-80 days – this then allows a calving interval of 365 days. Hence, it is far better to have the cows calving in the middle of spring rather than late winter...food for thought!

Every docking season, an on-farm management decision is made around whether ram lambs are left entire, to castrate (wether) or push the testes back into the body cavity (crypto). Lots of research has been done on this topic, yet there is still plenty of debate as to what is best on farm.

Some farmers base their decision on management factors i.e. less chance of ewe hoggets being mated, reduced ram behaviour, less chance of spreading Brucella ovis or less crutching. However, some farmers base their decisions on economics, with the overall perception that ram lambs will be the fastest growing.

A research trial was undertaken by Massey University to answer this question. It found:

there was no difference between entire rams and crpytos for any of the growth, carcass and value traits considered. Hence using cryptos will not compromise the profitability of lamb finishing systemswethers are less profitable (slower growth rates and more overfats) and therefore should only be used where management issues outweigh the financial impact.

Are Tapeworm drenches worth it?

A national drench survey in 2006 showed 90% of farmers give a tape drench pre-weaning. But is it worth giving a lamb a tapeworm drench?

A Manawatu FITT research project was undertaken in 2010-11 to answer this exact question. In this trial there were three groups:

Control (no treatment)Worm (Triple Combination Drench)Worm + Tape (Triple Combination Drench + Praziquantel (to control tapeworm))

The results showed:

A roundworm drench given pre-weaning improves (Comparing Control and Worm Groups):

Adding a tapeworm drench to the roundworm drench improves (Comparing Worm and Worm + Tape Groups):

A liveweight gain to a tapeworm drench (as is the case in this trial) goes against almost all of the research done previously. Drenching for tape generally results in a yard full of tapeworm and this fills a farmers’ heart with joy to see the positive effect his drench has had.

A reduction in dag score leads to less dagging and a reduced flystrike risk.

The true response to a tapeworm drench will vary from farm to farm and how well the ewes have been looked after.

We have seen an early onset of bloat in cattle this year. After the mild winter, pasture has an abundance of legumes (clover) at the moment and once the rain stops and sun comes out, the clover is going to grow at even faster rates. Bloat is the over-distention of the rumen caused by the formation of a stable foam. Once a foam has formed, gas produced in the normal fermentation process is unable to be “burped” out. The foam is caused by a foaming agent on the leaves of the legumes such as clover and lucerne. Usually the first sign of bloat is swelling in the left sided paunch of the cattle beast. The animal becomes uncomfortable very quickly. Signs of this include getting up and down frequently, restless, vocalisation looking at flank and kicking at their belly. Death can occur within 15-20 minutes due to suffocation and lack of oxygen to lungs owed to pressure of the rumen pushing on the lungs and heart. Treatment is urgent. Drench affected animals with 200ml of vegetable or mineral oil. If the animal cannot swallow, a large bore needle will need to be injected on the left paunch to allow the pressure to escape. The oil can then be injected into the rumen via the needle. Remove all animals off the pasture. There are various ways to control bloat. Beef farmers require less intensive methods than dairy farmers and as such there are only two or three options. Removing animals from bloat-inducing pastures or treating animals with an anti-bloat capsule. For some farmers, spraying pasture with oil may be an option as well. Anti-bloat capsules contain monensin, which is a rumen modifier. It changes the rumen population of bacteria resulting in less gas being produced. These capsules last for 100 days. As with sheep capsules, they can be regurgitated and at $20 odd dollars a pop, it is a good idea to write the tag number on the capsule so you know which animal has regurgitated their capsule. As with all bloat control methods, anti-bloat capsules do not provide 100% protection. A nice side effect of the capsules is a slight increase in animal production. Some farmers believe just giving hay is an effective method of control. It is true that hay will decrease appetite for bloat-prone pastures but there will be animals that won’t eat hay because they have a preference for legumes. In most situations, hay feeding will be inadequate if the bloat problem is severe.