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Veterinary Surgeon
Hollie Dale
XLVets Practice
Wright & Morten
Veterinary Surgeons
Prize-winning herd of
British Blondes
en route to accredited health status
HERD HEALTH STATUS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
11
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
C
heshire beef farmers, Chris and Debbie Shenton, and son Mark
and wife Kate, are setting out to demonstrate the good health of
their prize-winning pedigree herd of British Blondes, of Bridge
Farm, near Handforth. They have signed onto an accreditation scheme
which will validate the disease-free status of their herd, and is hoped
will further improve the appeal and value of their cattle.
To help them do this, in April this year, they
changed their vet practice and enlisted the
services of XLVets' Wright and Morten Vet
Practice. They are now getting support and
advice from vet Hollie Dale, who is taking a
proactive approach to ensuring all-round
good herd health.
It's already been a significant year for the
Shentons. For the first time, they entered their
Bridge herd into the British Blonde Society's
annual competition. And they were delighted
when they won not only the Regional Herd of
the Year competition in the Midlands, but also
the National Large Herd, and National Herd
of the Year.
Whilst the competition judges had been
impressed with the productivity and uniformity
of the cattle, these days prospective bull
buyers also want to know about the disease
status of a herd.
Chris Shenton explains: ‘As a family, and also
with encouragement from the Blonde Society,
we wanted to take the herd forward and get
health accreditation. We knew we would
need some specialist veterinary back-up for
the herd, and hence our move to Wright and
Morten. Teamwork is a two-way process:
Hollie has the experience and we trust her
advice. And we also expect her to tell us
when we need to do things differently!’
Herd management
The Bridge Blonde herd was established
nearly 20 years ago and now numbers 60
breeding cows plus followers. The focus is on
selecting animals for growth, temperament,
fertility and longevity - the oldest cow (Lilac) is
in-calf again at 18 years of age!
The herd is block-calved from January to March.
The Shentons use a total of six bulls, with
different bloodlines, which are used selectively
on the cows and heifers. To ensure they are
Mark Shenton with winning heifer Bridge Ellie at Nantwich Show