I’ve received a text from DEFRA telling me that Bluetongue Virus is in the UK. What is Bluetongue virus and why do we need to know about it? Bluetongue Virus (BTV) is a virus which affects cattle, sheep, other ruminants such as goats and deer, and camelids (such as alpaca and llamas). It causes […]
Tag Archives: Sheep
NEW PODCAST Listen To Bluetongue Advice For Farmers From Our Vets
Bluetongue Virus (BTV) is a virus which affects cattle, sheep, other ruminants such as goats and deer, and camelids (such as alpaca and llamas). It causes severe symptoms including fatalities in some circumstances and is therefore classed as notifiable. Unfortunately, there are no vaccines available for BTV-3 vaccine in the UK and Europe. Synergy vet […]
October – News From Our Rounds
NORTH – James Aitken It is now three months since the clients of Orchard Vets in Glastonbury moved over to Synergy, and likewise three months since I joined the Synergy team. As a traditional mixed practice Orchard had been finding it increasingly difficult to provide a gold standard service to the vastly different clients and […]
Spring Calving and Lambing Reflection
As I write this, we are in the midst of a busy few weeks of Spring lambing and calving. It’s been great to get on farm and see some immaculate calving pens, highly organised lambing sheds and keenly motivated teams. Hopefully things have mostly gone well, but there have been some challenges and difficulties and […]
The Medicine Hub is here – an update for beef and sheep farms
UK farming has been a world leader in reducing antibiotic use – yet we have struggled to prove this progress in our ruminant sectors. Now we have the Medicine Hub for beef, sheep and dairy. While we know from our own records at Synergy that our beef cattle and sheep clients are generally low users […]
What is Joint Ill?
One of the conditions I get asked about time and time again as lambing approaches is Joint Ill. What is Joint Ill? Joint Ill is an infectious arthritis seen in lambs, usually within the first few weeks after birth. In the past this condition has generally been thought to be associated with poor lambing hygiene. […]
Flies and Icebergs – what do they have in common?
What have the flies you see buzzing around your animals and icebergs got in common? The answer, the greatest danger comes from what lies beneath! Just like the tip of an iceberg only 15% of your farm fly population can actually be seen, the remaining 85% is hidden away as eggs, maggots and pupae waiting […]
Twin Lamb Disease by numbers
A recent article in the Veterinary press (Crilly et al. 2021) reviewed our current thinking of twin lamb disease in ewes – a major clinical syndrome at lambing time. Twin lamb disease is caused by a ewe being in negative energy balance (i.e. she requires more energy from her diet than she is obtaining) and […]
Shape the future – the chance to have your say
You may have spotted in the farming press that in April 2022, AHDB is holding a vote asking all eligible levy payers from Beef, Lamb, Dairy, Pigs and Cereals sectors – how each would like their respective Levy to be used. However, only those who register to vote can do so in April! AHDB is […]