Labwork

In-house

FWEC

Faecal worm egg counts (FWEC) at the surgery are an efficient and economical way to find out whether you need to worm your young stock.  We examine faecal samples under the microscope to determine how many eggs are present.

It is also important to recheck for worm eggs a week after you have wormed your herd to confirm that there is no resistance.  Worms are increasingly becoming resistant to our wormers and this could potentially be devastating to the farming industry.  By checking for resistance we can advise you to use a different category of wormer if it is necessary.

Calf scour samples

We are now able to test for 4 (rotavirus, coronavirus, E.coli and cryptosporidium) of the most common causes of calf scour in our lab at the surgery.  Please bring fresh scour samples to the surgery and we will usually be able to give you the results the same day.  Ideally, two different samples should be tested in order to confirm the cause of the scour.

By testing the scour samples the same day, we can advise you on treatment sooner and so hopefully we will reduce any losses.

Downer Cow Profile

If you have a ‘downer cow’ after calving that we suspect may have metabolic problems, we can take a blood sample and check the levels of magnesium, calcium and phosphorous in the lab at the surgery.  We will be able to give you the result of the blood test the same day and advise you on any further appropriate treatment.

External Lab

There are many diseases that can be diagnosed by tests performed at the laboratories.  Examples of when it is useful to send samples to the lab include:

• Disease outbreaks in calves/milking herd
• Routine screening for certain diseases e.g. to decide whether vaccination is necessary
• Post mortem examinations
• Metabolic Profiles
• Free and subsidised disease monitoring schemes e.g. for BVD, leptospirosis and IBR. (please call the office for details of the current schemes)