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fair share of silage! Needless to say the
grazing round was very fast with plenty
of topping post-grazing and turnips were
strip grazed as quickly as possible so that
paddocks could have new grass leys sown
for the following season.
Working in a couple of clinics turned out to
be of benefit in terms of seeing different
aspects of Kiwi practices. The approach to a
'herd health' aspect of veterinary work often
seemed reactive on the back of health issues,
rather than a more proactive 'health planning'
setup. The main reason for this I feel was that
the seasonality of the work meant that when
times were busy, they were extremely busy,
and getting through the work was the main
focus of the day! There also tended to be
a larger number of farms/cows per vet
and no organised system in terms of herd
responsibility making planning and
preventative medicine slightly ad hoc.
The XLVets New Zealand exchange
programme is a great idea and I feel
I benefited massively from the experience.
I would recommend it to any vet who is
keen to learn new skills, experience new
systems, meet some great people and see
an amazing part of the world!
X LV E T S SCHOL AR SH I P
SPRING 2011 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
20