Devon Dairy Vets

Devon Dairy Vets We are a dairy focussed practice with over 20 years of experience working in Devon. Give us a call to find out more.

03/09/2026

Today vet Ingrid was working together with vet Fiona from Freedom Veterinary Advisory Services to fertility test 24 rams.

Fertility testing your rams 🐏and bulls🐂 is always a good idea, so that there are no surprises.

Rams and bulls can be infertile (no (live) semen whatsoever), or more commonly sub-fertile (some semen, but not enough). Both will have a big economic impact.

Causes of sub/infertility are varied, but one of the reasons can be a fever. Semen can not survive high temperatures, that's why they are hanging outside the body cavity after all!

Particularly this year, with a lot of Bluetongue virus going around Devon, it is even more adviseable to have your breeding rams and bulls tested. Bluetongue virus can affect the semen both directly, as well as indirectly through a fever.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any concerns or questions 📞

01/09/2026

We are ROMS registered and can carry out regular scoring on your farm.

Mobility Scoring is a great tool.

🐄It enables early detection of lameness.
🐄Faster treatments, will result in better and faster cure rates
🐄Clear tracking of progress over time
🐄Raises Team awareness of foot health
🐄Improves overall herd welfare and milk yield

🐄💉Top Tip for Herd Vaccinations without inadvertently spreading Bluetongue. 💉🐄💡Use 2 vaccination guns and a tag team. 1 ...
20/08/2026

🐄💉Top Tip for Herd Vaccinations without inadvertently spreading Bluetongue. 💉🐄

💡Use 2 vaccination guns and a tag team. 1 Person to inject the cow (🐄 or 🐑), while the other changes the disposable needle. Swap guns and repeat!

Yes, it takes a bit more time than usual, but once you get into the swing of it, it's not too bad!

Of course this goes for all types of vaccinations at the moment, not just for the Bluetongue vaccine.

Remember injecting multiple animals with the same needle can spread Bluetongue, in the same way a midge can. 🦟🦟

17/08/2026

🪱 Worm Egg Counts🪱

We have been doing regular worm egg counts on pooled faecal samples througout the season.

We thought it might be useful the show you how best to take samples and what happens behind the scenes back at the lab!

To be able to have a good representatation of the group we will need:

🪱 10-15 individual samples
🪱 that are fresh
🪱 that are taken at random
🪱 that are roughly the same size

You can either collect these in individual airtight bags (NOT GLOVES!) or pots, where we will weigh the samples out for you. Or you can take an equal sized sample of each individual (by using a DEDICATED 😉teaspoon) and put it in the same pot.

🪱🪱We use a different technique for finding lungworm, as these are already in the larval stages when they leave the animal🪱🪱

Because we can do Faecal Egg Counts in-house, we endeaver to have results the same day.

Get in touch if you have any quetions

https://devondairyvets.co.uk/contact/

10/08/2026

Here is Ingrid, our dairy vet, looking at what happened to dairy cows in the Netherlands during the BTV-3 outbreak in 2023 and 2024 and at what effect the vaccinations in 2024 had.

BTV-3 was first reported in September in 2023 in sheep. it quickly spread throughout the Netherlands in both sheep and cattle. This Dutch study looked at the impact of BTV-3 on Dutch Dairy herds before and after the BTV-3 vaccine was available.

After the initial 2023 season, 64% of Dutch Dairy Farms had been exposed to BTV-3, but their Antibody levels varied a lot.

43% of dairy herds vaccinated in 2024, but only 72% of those were fully vaccinated (the whole herd and both injections). Of those 37% finished their course ofvaccinations at least 3 weeks before the virus was 1st detected again in their postcode in 2024.

Have a look at the video and see what theresults were and what lessons we can learn from the outbreak in the Netherlands.

Sign up to the webinar tomorrow (5th of August) at 5pm, that has been organised by AHDB to update farmers and vets on th...
04/08/2026

Sign up to the webinar tomorrow (5th of August) at 5pm, that has been organised by AHDB to update farmers and vets on the current bluetongue situation.

Link in the shared post below ⬇️

It's all about the poo 💩 today. After scanning some cows it's time to look at the future herd. Picking up some poo samp...
30/07/2026

It's all about the poo 💩 today. After scanning some cows it's time to look at the future herd. Picking up some poo samples to see if there are any worm eggs to be found. Sally the farm dog is keeping a close eye!

Farmers Guardian Morrisons

Proud to be supporting Celebrating British Farmers and grateful for being part of the Farming Industry!Here we are gett...
30/07/2026

Proud to be supporting

Celebrating British Farmers and grateful for being part of the Farming Industry!

Here we are getting stuck in and getting mucky whilst scanning cows. Due to all the heat we have had so far this year, fertility will also be affected.

Who said farming was easy? But farmers will keep on going!

Farmers Guardian Morrisons Farming CAN

What a great day at the Mid Devon Show today, catching up with friends, farmers and vets! Thank you Mid Devon Show
25/07/2026

What a great day at the Mid Devon Show today, catching up with friends, farmers and vets!

Thank you Mid Devon Show

Every year, in farming, around 8,000 workers are injured at work.... some never make it home. Farm Safety Week is an ...
22/07/2026

Every year, in farming, around 8,000 workers are injured at work.... some never make it home.

Farm Safety Week is an important opportunity to bring the farming community together and have honest conversations about safety. Too many lives are changed in an instant and by supporting this campaign we want to remind everyone that small
changes in behaviour can make a big difference.

Devon Dairy Vets is proud to support this year’s Farm Safety Week (20–24 July 2026), the annual campaign led by The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), calling on the UK and Ireland’s farming communities to make safer choices on farms.

Now in its 14th year, Farm Safety Week shines a spotlight on one of the most important issues facing the agricultural industry. While farming continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK & Ireland, this year’s campaign turns its focus to something often overlooked – the life-changing impact of serious
injuries.

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Crediton

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