Livestock Matters - Autumn 2017

WORKING toGether FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE... 3 LIVESTOCK MATTERS X LVETS NEWS In May 2017 Mount Vets became a member of XLVets. Mount Vets is situated in Wellington, Somerset. In addition to the main surgery we have a small animal branch in Wiveliscombe, eight miles to the north, and a farm animal/poultry branch in Broadhembury, fifteen miles to the south west. We are currently building a large purpose built hospital on a green field site on the edge of Wellington. We hope to move into this building in Autumn 2017. The practice is run by five directors and we have a team of sixteen vets in total. Although the business operates as one entity it is divided into species-based departments. The farm animal department has nine vets and provides a veterinary service to 75 dairy clients (herd sizes ranging from 50 to 800 cows) and approximately 150 beef and sheep clients. The bulk of our work is clinical, but we are also very involved in education and training, and the practice delivers in-house courses as well as teaching for The Duchy College and The Laura Persey Trust. As with any practice in the south west, TB testing is a significant part of our workload. Alongside the farm animal work we provide a first opinion service to a small number of equine clients. The poultry and gamebird department has two vets with specialist knowledge in all commercial/domestic poultry and game bird species. The department works from the Broadhembury branch, which is equipped with post mortem and laboratory facilities. In addition to clinical work the department is heavily involved with knowledge transfer at all levels and provides specialist courses for vets, producers and industry. In 2014 Stuart Young was presented with the National Poultry Marketing award for knowledge transfer for ‘The South West Poultry and Game Bird Initiative’ which he ran with the Duchy College. As an independent practice we feel that we are strongest when we collaborate with others who have a similar ethos and we intend to make a positive and proactive contribution to all aspects of the XLVets community. Mount Vets join XLVets Alastair Caygill, Mount Vets Visiting UK Dairy Day? The first floor Sharing Knowledge Zone includes a dedicated area for seminar presentations. Presentations will commence at 10.00am and conclude at 4.40pm featuring a captivating line-up of 18 speakers. Each presentation will be 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes for questions. Don’t miss Rachel Hayton, Synergy Farm Health, 11.20am - Antibiotic resistance, how is it going to affect me and my farm ? We will also be talking about FarmSkills courses so make sure you come along and say hello to the team. This year XLVets are sponsoring the seminar zone at UK Dairy Day, 13th September, The International Centre, Telford.