Vet charges
- Thread starter Sandpit Farm
- Start date
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
Is the tea not deliberately timed for the wellies going off and the shoes going on? 
mwj
Member
- Location
- Illinois USA
In my country the term ''barn blind'' is the term we use for what you describe. It is imposable sometimes to convince the effected person.
Gormers
Member
- Location
- east yorkshire
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
Now this thread has run its course, is being a vet like being a Catholic?
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
Practicing and non-practicing (as per the bold bit) heard of non-practicing catholics.
(didn't want to make any jokes about a priests or arm length gloves )
(didn't want to make any jokes about a priests or arm length gloves
)
Our vet needed to do this exercise, I loaded the box up with sheep, parked in his car park and he seen I had sheep. Job done.
That's fine if prescribing for an individual, but on very dodgy ground if prescribing for a flock having seen 1 member.............
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Practicing and non-practicing (as per the bold bit) heard of non-practicing catholics.
(didn't want to make any jokes about a priests or arm length gloves
Not sure but I was never asked to milk a cow blindfolded by the dean of the vet school...
At the moment in question my entire flock was ...............6 meat linc rams
Jackson4
Member
- Location
- Wensleydale
havent had a vet involved for some time here... saved alot more money, alot better welfare by culling sheep than getting a vet in to SELL me antibiotics/health plans/vaccines/tests i dont need.. but i am sheep, not cows. How many times a vet come to your place and say 'i can solve this without antibiotics!'...??? Had a sheep with pneumonia the other day... rang the vets.. so and so vet seems to think it could have been something else (visit/bring it in extra charge) how would you treat it? same drug!
It was pneumonia but quite advnced.
It was pneumonia but quite advnced.
- Location
- Derbyshire
I'm not sure I was suggesting any underhand tactics in my OP. I appreciate everything vets have ever done for me. I was merely questioning whether £72 was a reasonable charge simply to check I have sheep to allow me to have spectam.
Arguably a vets time is their time, whether that is driving or giving advice so I understand people's viewpoint that £72 was completely justified. I just find it makes me wince... But that's just me wince!
@Jackson4 you are of course entitled to your own opinion. The great majority of farms do better with veterinary input than without it! A health plan is invaluable on a lot of units. many farms simply don't realise the waste they are undergoing. That waste can be inappropriate supplementation, miss use of fluke and worm products, inappropriate usage of vaccines, unacceptable preventable losses etc. Culling sheep has a place, but I'd much rather investigate and find WHY you need to cull all your sheep than fill Mr Warren's wagon. Culled sheep are a WASTE from your enterprise. It is lost money.
Without tests you cannot ascertain what supplements you need. When you need to worm. What disease you have on the farm. You will wast money guessing these things.
What I can assure any of you - there is no fun trying to drag people along. If you don't want to engage with your vet that's fine. Perhaps you've picked the wrong vet? In general terms you should see each pound spent back many times over. If they are doing their job properly. Vet college never taught me psychic skills so sometimes we do need to see animals to find out what is wrong. A vague phone description often not helpful.
Without tests you cannot ascertain what supplements you need. When you need to worm. What disease you have on the farm. You will wast money guessing these things.
What I can assure any of you - there is no fun trying to drag people along. If you don't want to engage with your vet that's fine. Perhaps you've picked the wrong vet? In general terms you should see each pound spent back many times over. If they are doing their job properly. Vet college never taught me psychic skills so sometimes we do need to see animals to find out what is wrong. A vague phone description often not helpful.
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
Jackson4
Member
- Location
- Wensleydale
[QUOTECulling sheep has a place, but I'd much rather investigate and find WHY you need to cull all your sheep than fill Mr Warren's wagon. Culled sheep are a WASTE from your enterprise. It is lost money.][/QUOTE]
Terrible genetics from bad breeding... the solution doesnt come in a bottle but from breeding different genetics. Its not the vets fault, and i'm not having a go, but you all go off for 6 years in a little bubble of studying anatomy and drugs etc and obviously thats what you focus on.. i've noticed this in your posts on here. The thing is it all cyclical if you dont do something about it.. why are the majority of animals that come to your surgery in need of human intervention??? Mainly because a human selected it on traits instead of nature.
I know vets cant go out to there custumers and say.. look you shouldn't be using drugs on these sheep you shouldnt be breeding from animals which so little resistance to disease.. you'd pee them off and drugs are a big part of your income, so turkeys voting for christmas. But maybe at higher level you should be involved in pushing for better breading. Who was it a bit since that caused a stirr by saying animals should be culled rather than continued use of antibiotics?? cant remember if it was the vet side or human side on the debate on antibiotic resistence?
I am only talking sheep here and when we were dairy the vet was more involved, but my dad was clever enough to stick with friesian type cows throughout the time when his neighbours were all buying holstiens and shoving tons of cake down there neck which lost them their margin and there cows only did a few lactations before falling to bits... drug use in the thousands.
More and more people in the dales here, like ourselves, have gone out of dairying which probably explains why the local vets have had to merge.. sheep farmers dont use vets like dairy and wont have the drug use unless they have terrible sheep or no culling policy. Obviously there will be occasions like pneumonia which can be brought on by a multitude of different things, the 3 i've had out of 350 sheep got it as a stress through a change of enviroment.
Oh and by the way i'm not filling mr warrens wagon up with 'culls' because by breeding for health i have alot less culls. The only sheep which have left on warrens wagon in the last year are 3 girls i killed with barley poisoning about a month back trough feeding and one girl on the 3 in 1 who thought she was clever than everbody else by not eating fibre. This was experience to me and the girls as neither of us have used barley before, lessons were learned.
I dont just shoot them if they underperform (though i certainly threatened one thin lass the other day... fit when she came in, lost condition quick from 8 to 4 weeks to lambing, no ketosis, teeth fine, wont eat enough hay or cake in a pen, had a course of proply glycol... do i a) call the vet in and spend £150 on her, maybe another £100 to do bloods or b) sell her at leyburn for £60 for a 7 year old sheep which could be carrying genes which have made this happen and i'd have a better flock, and replacements without her?? What do you think.
Terrible genetics from bad breeding... the solution doesnt come in a bottle but from breeding different genetics. Its not the vets fault, and i'm not having a go, but you all go off for 6 years in a little bubble of studying anatomy and drugs etc and obviously thats what you focus on.. i've noticed this in your posts on here. The thing is it all cyclical if you dont do something about it.. why are the majority of animals that come to your surgery in need of human intervention??? Mainly because a human selected it on traits instead of nature.
I know vets cant go out to there custumers and say.. look you shouldn't be using drugs on these sheep you shouldnt be breeding from animals which so little resistance to disease.. you'd pee them off and drugs are a big part of your income, so turkeys voting for christmas. But maybe at higher level you should be involved in pushing for better breading. Who was it a bit since that caused a stirr by saying animals should be culled rather than continued use of antibiotics?? cant remember if it was the vet side or human side on the debate on antibiotic resistence?
I am only talking sheep here and when we were dairy the vet was more involved, but my dad was clever enough to stick with friesian type cows throughout the time when his neighbours were all buying holstiens and shoving tons of cake down there neck which lost them their margin and there cows only did a few lactations before falling to bits... drug use in the thousands.
More and more people in the dales here, like ourselves, have gone out of dairying which probably explains why the local vets have had to merge.. sheep farmers dont use vets like dairy and wont have the drug use unless they have terrible sheep or no culling policy. Obviously there will be occasions like pneumonia which can be brought on by a multitude of different things, the 3 i've had out of 350 sheep got it as a stress through a change of enviroment.
Oh and by the way i'm not filling mr warrens wagon up with 'culls' because by breeding for health i have alot less culls. The only sheep which have left on warrens wagon in the last year are 3 girls i killed with barley poisoning about a month back trough feeding and one girl on the 3 in 1 who thought she was clever than everbody else by not eating fibre. This was experience to me and the girls as neither of us have used barley before, lessons were learned.
I dont just shoot them if they underperform
(though i certainly threatened one thin lass the other day... fit when she came in, lost condition quick from 8 to 4 weeks to lambing, no ketosis, teeth fine, wont eat enough hay or cake in a pen, had a course of proply glycol... do i a) call the vet in and spend £150 on her, maybe another £100 to do bloods or b) sell her at leyburn for £60 for a 7 year old sheep which could be carrying genes which have made this happen and i'd have a better flock, and replacements without her?? What do you think.
- Location
- Newcastle upon Tyne
Terrible genetics from bad breeding... the solution doesnt come in a bottle but from breeding different genetics. Its not the vets fault, and i'm not having a go, but you all go off for 6 years in a little bubble of studying anatomy and drugs etc and obviously thats what you focus on.. i've noticed this in your posts on here. The thing is it all cyclical if you dont do something about it.. why are the majority of animals that come to your surgery in need of human intervention??? Mainly because a human selected it on traits instead of nature.
I know vets cant go out to there custumers and say.. look you shouldn't be using drugs on these sheep you shouldnt be breeding from animals which so little resistance to disease.. you'd pee them off and drugs are a big part of your income, so turkeys voting for christmas. But maybe at higher level you should be involved in pushing for better breading. Who was it a bit since that caused a stirr by saying animals should be culled rather than continued use of antibiotics?? cant remember if it was the vet side or human side on the debate on antibiotic resistence?
I am only talking sheep here and when we were dairy the vet was more involved, but my dad was clever enough to stick with friesian type cows throughout the time when his neighbours were all buying holstiens and shoving tons of cake down there neck which lost them their margin and there cows only did a few lactations before falling to bits... drug use in the thousands.
More and more people in the dales here, like ourselves, have gone out of dairying which probably explains why the local vets have had to merge.. sheep farmers dont use vets like dairy and wont have the drug use unless they have terrible sheep or no culling policy. Obviously there will be occasions like pneumonia which can be brought on by a multitude of different things, the 3 i've had out of 350 sheep got it as a stress through a change of enviroment.
Oh and by the way i'm not filling mr warrens wagon up with 'culls' because by breeding for health i have alot less culls. The only sheep which have left on warrens wagon in the last year are 3 girls i killed with barley poisoning about a month back trough feeding and one girl on the 3 in 1 who thought she was clever than everbody else by not eating fibre. This was experience to me and the girls as neither of us have used barley before, lessons were learned.
I dont just shoot them if they underperform
(though i certainly threatened one thin lass the other day... fit when she came in, lost condition quick from 8 to 4 weeks to lambing, no ketosis, teeth fine, wont eat enough hay or cake in a pen, had a course of proply glycol... do i a) call the vet in and spend £150 on her, maybe another £100 to do bloods or b) sell her at leyburn for £60 for a 7 year old sheep which could be carrying genes which have made this happen and i'd have a better flock, and replacements without her?? What do you think.[/QUOTE]Excellent post!
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
- Location
- Newcastle upon Tyne
I'm always in trouble.....won't make any difference!!!
Notquiteretired
Member
- Location
- West Lothian
Not you this time it was the post before missing a ] after the 1st QUOTEI'm always in trouble.....won't make any difference!!!
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