Farm Animal Veterinary Update | Spring 26

Veterinary Update - Late Winter into Early Spring | 2026

Well, what can we say, the winter calving season is here and it's been busy. We've been the busiest we have been for many years with more calvings, more uterine prolapses, more LDAs and many more lame cows than the last couple of seasons. A few years ago we started running a calving cup to have a bit of fun in the middle of winter and provide some sort of bright side to a 1am calving.  At the time of writing Carol had booked in the most calvings and Sophie had done the most calvings.

We tend not to get called to easy calvings these days. Normally we are presented with only a tail coming in a backwards calf, a head back, tangled twins, a twisted uterus, an inside-out calf or a calf that's too big to fit out. Even for the most experienced vets, you don't know if it's going to be a 3 minute or a 3-hour job. We just know that somehow, we have to get it out. They are a challenge and, for most of us, the best part of the job. 

If we can't get a calf out by the normal means, we can cut up a calf with wire after it has died in the cow (we call this a foetotomy) or perform a caesarian. If you've ever helped with a foetotomy, you'll know that they can be a long and exhausting process. Caesarians are often the best option if the calf is still alive or the calf has only recently died.

Another common call out for us is a cow with a twisted uterus. These tend to happen with big male calves but sometimes we pull out a heifer. The uterus most commonly twists anticlockwise when looking from the back of the cow, but they don't all follow the same rules. Cows with a twisted uterus often look uncomfortable but don't look like they are calving. They don't push because there isn't anything in their pelvic canal. If you put your hand in a twisted uterus, it feels like the calf is down the end of a long tunnel. If you feel the side of the tunnel, you can appreciate the twisted ligaments/ vaginal wall. To fix a twisted uterus we might be able to rotate the calf by hand, or we might need the help of a detorsion bar. Rolling the cow can also sometimes help. In cases where the cervix is closed, sometimes our only option is to do a caesarian.

Now is the season that we normally see lame dairy cows, however, we have been doing much bigger numbers than we normally do. You will always get lame cows on a dairy farm, however, we can't stress the importance of management practices to reduce their number. A few management practices we would like to remind all farmers about are:

• As soon as a cow becomes lame, take her out of the main herd and give her a rest from walking by putting her in a close paddock or shed with deep bedding. Get us out to open an abscess and put a block on early, but make sure that you don't wait for us to come out to tell you to rest her.

• Spend time (and money) maintaining tracks in the drier months. Pay particular attention to washed out areas where underlying rocks (e.g. bluestone) are exposed. Also make sure that your tracks are wide enough for the number of cows that need to walk down them.

• Make sure that track/yard and track/underpass transitions are regularly attended to so that stones are not sitting on concrete for the cows to stand on

• Don't push cows too hard on lanes or in the yards so they can choose carefully where to put their feet.

• Reduce time spent standing on concrete. This could be done by splitting the main herd into multiple smaller herds

• Reduce the risk of grain overload or subclinical grain overload. Acidosis will make feet softer and more likely to bruise or get abscesses.

Over the last few months we have had various disease outbreaks, including an outbreak of vitamin B1 deficiency (polioencephalomalacia, PEM) in yearlings. Vitamin B1, or thiamine, is required for normal brain function. Vitamin B1 in normally produced in the rumen but some gut upsets (acidosis) and plants can stop this production or destroy the vitamin. Water with a high sulphur content will also reduce available levels of Vitamin B1. Affected animals often first become blind, then as the disease progresses, they can become stiff and unable to get up. At the end stages of the disease, affected animals often have their head held back (called stargazing). The disease can be treated in the early stages with injectable vitamin B1. Unless we find water with a high sulphur content or an acidosis outbreak, we generally can't pinpoint the cause.