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WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
25
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
In the limelight...
STUDENT DIARY
Emily Collier
, Usk, Monmouthshire
Third year student, University of Bristol
Our first trip out was to visit Matt and Vicky
Smith’s Columbpark Limousin Herd in Exeter.
We are all well aware that herd health
has to be a key focus in today’s farmer-vet
partnership, and so it was incredibly
rewarding to see a farm that takes this so
seriously. They have been accredited free
of Lepto and Johne’s, and they vaccinate
against BVD. They prioritise vitamin and
mineral supplements to support their health
scheme. Matt and Vicky also keep several
Speckle Park cattle which are now a firm
favourite of mine. They produce a good
carcass and are easy calvers as well as
being docile cows. I am already making
plans for a smallholding of my own!
As I mentioned in my last column I spent two
weeks over Easter working at my ‘foster’ vet
practice. For the first time since coming to vet
school, my knowledge base is wide enough
to understand disease processes, tests and
treatments, so being able to apply this
knowledge is great. I saw a mixture of small
animal, equine and farm cases but one that
will stick in my mind was a difficult calving
of a Highland cow. It transpired that she
had probably tried to calve about a week
previously so we were left trying to get a
very smelly calf through a very closed cervix.
After about two hours of me and the vet
hanging off the end of the ratchet it became
clear that we were getting nowhere. Had
she been calmer, we could have tried to save
her with a caesarean section and antibiotics.
However, the farmer knew there was no way
he would be able to inject her safely every
day, so sadly we had to give up the battle.
It was a sad and sobering case yet it
highlights a reality that all farm vets have to
come to terms with - you win some, you lose
some, and practicality often has to take
precedence over sentiment.
About Me
I decided when I was seven that I was
going to be a vet, and that I wanted to
study at Bristol University. I am proud to
say that's where I find myself now, in my
third year and planning to intercalate in
behaviour and welfare next year. I have
lived in the same village in Monmouthshire
all my life, surrounded by agriculture. I
used to spend every spare moment with
the horses, which were kept on a sheep
farm. I would spend hours in the sheds at
lambing time eagerly watching for which
ewe would be next, and was always on
hand to help with the shearing. I went to
several (rather wild) YFC barn dances and
the agricultural shows were the highlight
of my summers. In addition to many
weeks at local vet practices and equine
centres, I have worked on the pig unit at
Hartpury College and on a couple of
local dairy farms; I actually loved the early
starts, much to my own surprise! I also
helped with lambing a flock of 1,000
ewes near Bridgend, which was certainly
a steep learning curve but one which I
fully enjoyed.
As the number of mixed veterinary practices slowly declines, so it
seems does the number of aspiring farm vets. Most of my friends
would turn their noses up at the unpredictable hours, the difficult
working conditions and the often physical nature of the job. Thankfully
there remains a stalwart gang of us who believe that, while the role
of the farm vet is certainly changing, it is far from dying, and that it is
still an exciting and rewarding career prospect. It is with this in mind
that the Bristol Farm Animal Veterinary Society has recently been set
up and I am proud to be one of its founding members.
The stars of the show