Hunterville Vet Club

Hunterville Vet Club Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Hunterville Vet Club, 4 Bruce Street, Hunterville.

13/05/2026

New Calf Scour Vaccination

For dairy farmers it is time to think about the pros and cons of using
Bovillis Cryptium. This new vaccine, when given to cows, via their colostrum will protect calves from Cryptospirosis, the most common cause of calf scours in hand reared calves. Although Cryptospirosis is not as fatal as Rotovirus can be, it is still a real problem in calf rearing systems. Calves need to be taken off milk and treated with electrolytes. There are no drug treatments for crypto.

In the first year of treatment cows need 2 vaccinations 4 - 5 weeks apart, and the second no later than 3 weeks before calving. In future years a single vaccination is given 3 weeks before the start of calving. The vaccine can be given at the same time as calf scour vaccines for Rotovirus.

The cost of vaccination is $5.60 per dose.

If you are selling 4 day old calves you should be able to recoup some of this cost from the calf rearers. Talk to us about the merits of Bovillis Cryptium orplace your order.

11/05/2026

Campylobacteriosis In Dogs

We have been seeing a few cases of Campy in dogs. This is a bacterial
cause of diarrhoea and occasionally vomiting in dogs. Most adult dogs will get a mild, self-limiting bout of diarrhoea but some can get unwell and become dehydrated. The biggest risk is spread to puppies as they can suffer a much more severe form. It can also spread to humans so please use gloves and disinfectant when cleaning up diarrhoea! It generally comes from uncooked meat, chicken and raw milk but some dogs can be asymptomatic carriers. Treatment is in the form of injectable antibiotics
and electrolytes / fluids.

08/05/2026

Coughing Calves

In recent weeks we have investigated 2 cases of coughing calves / weaners
with poor weight gains. In both cases the problem was associated with
lungworm challenges.

Lungworm larvae love warm, moist conditions such as we have experienced
through February for much of summer. While older cattle develop resistance
to lungworm, young cattle can be very susceptible to lungworm challenges.
As a result we see problems most frequently on properties with high
stocking rates of young cattle and especially on properties where both
spring and autumn calves are farmed.

The good news is that timely drenching programs using the correct drench
will generally prevent most problems. Feel free to contact the clinic if you are
concerned about lungworm threats or have queries around appropriate
drenching programs.

08/05/2026

Nitrate Testing

Just a reminder to consider the possibility of high nitrates before grazing new grasses or green feed crops in the coming months. The current pattern of long dry spells followed by rain can see big swings in nitrate levels. At current cattle values, getting caught out with a high nitrate level can be very expensive!

At $15 a sample, testing is cheap and we can normally get results to you within a couple of hours of receiving samples, if they arrive before 1pm.

07/05/2026

May 2026 Newsletter

06/05/2026

Looking for a huntaway or handy dog, well mannered and family friendly for dairy dry stock duties. Something that is established, maybe ready to retire from the hill country or not quite good enough for the hill country would be my ideal.

Contact Anna Ash 0276556681.

Phone Sally on 027 321 0352 for more information.
21/04/2026

Phone Sally on 027 321 0352 for more information.

15/04/2026

Deer Farmer Reminder

For those of you whose velveting we supervise, your drug books need to be returned by the end of April at the latest. Please drop them off at the clinic and remember to return any unused drugs. Also ensure you fill out the pages which record the total of any drugs used and purchased, and sign page 9.

Thanks for your speedy attention to this matter. 😊

13/04/2026

Checking For Liver Fluke

Fluke infections picked up over summer will be starting to mature now. As they do so they will begin to produce eggs that we can pick up with a faecal test. Unfortunately, this is not the same test that we use for worm eggs. It is much more time consuming!

Doing tests for fluke eggs over the next couple of months is a good way of detecting any developing fluke problems in your ewe flock, before the fluke impact too heavily on flock health.

When the presence of fluke is reported on kill sheets for cattle it may or may not indicate a possible problem in your cattle herd or sheep flock. Talk to us about options for establishing just what is going on.

11/04/2026

Resistance Update

As we push into autumn and worm numbers build on farm, especially populations of black scour worm or ‘Trichs’, evidence of drench resistance issues have been highlighted in many of our 10-day post drench tests. For many this means a move to Zolvix or Startect as continuing to use drenches that don’t work properly just allows resistant worm populations to multiply and become a greater portion of the overall worm population.

For the ever-decreasing number of farmers who have not carried out appropriate testing, it is not too late to check things out this year!! If you are lucky enough to have no problem or an early emerging problem developing, a plan to slow resistance development is far more likely to be successful!

On a frustrating note, you may have read or heard elsewhere that there is likely to be no Startect available for a minimum of at least 15 months from later this year. Pfizer, the company that makes derquantel, the oral active in Startect, has decided it can make more money using the plant to manufacture other drugs and a few thousand NZ and Aussie sheep farmers don’t amount to much!
Zoetis, who sell Startect, are trying to source another manufacturer for the active. Derquantel is supposedly complex to manufacture and plants with the ability to produce it are limited. Don’t hold your breath! This is certainly not what we want to see when the first cases of Zolvix resistance are already occurring.

10/04/2026

April 2026 Newsletter

Address

4 Bruce Street
Hunterville
4730

Telephone

06 3228057

Website

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