Portland House Farm Animal Vets

02/09/2026

With tupping already underway with some of our clients and many due to start in the next few weeks it's important to assess the ram's fertility to avoid poor conception rates, particularly with the impaxt of Bluetongue.

The Sheep Veterinary Society have launched their advice as to timings and testing to avoid any costly poor performance in rams.

Please give us a call to discuss ram fertility with a vet

Guidelines on the examination of rams for breeding – a BTV update from The Sheep Veterinary Society...

• In order to achieve conception rates in excess of 85% of ewes in the first cycle ram health and fertility must be optimal.

• Bluetongue virus (BTV) replicates in the testicles in infected rams, causing significant impact on s***m production. This is in addition to the general effects on fertility of the high temperature and blood vessel damage making animals unwell.

• Rams do eventually recover s***m production but their fertility for the coming season is expected to be very poor.

• The time taken for s***m to develop is 50 days and recovery of breeding soundness after BTV infection is considered to be up to 100 days therefore there are long lasting impacts on ram fertility for the current season.

• Ram MOTs and electro-ejaculation (EEJ) should only be carried out by those trained and competent in the techniques.

• Given the ongoing risk to fertility, unvaccinated ram assessment should happen as close to mating as possible to be useful at the time of mating but sufficiently in advance that alternative
ram power can be sought if necessary.

• However, please be aware that BTV infection after a successful ram MOT test can still impact fertility, making vigilance and vaccination essential.

• Vigilance should include checking for clinical signs in all animals daily, using raddle on rams to detect returning ewes and scanning early.

• The standard advice remains that every ram should be physically examined every year (however
note that this does not necessarily mean that EEJ should be included).

• It is not considered acceptable to perform EEJ on any ram that fails the first stage of a ram MOT and no ram should be condemned on the basis of an single unsuccessful EEJ.

This information is made available with thanks to Sheep Veterinary Society

14/08/2026

🐑💩 New In House Speciation for Coccidia 💩🐑

Did you know that only two strains of coccidia actually cause disease in sheep?

Previously treatment decisions involved making an educated guess based on clinical history as to whether a high cocci count was likely to be pathogenic or not, or alternatively samples could be send off to the lab resulting in a delay of up to 8 days before treatment and a lab charge of over £80 making it unfeasible in most cases.

This means that many lambs may have been treated unnecessarily resulting in more expense and time for our clients but this is no longer the case for sheep!

Now we have the ability to run Coccidia speciation alongside Haemonchus contortus in house with results in less than 10 minutes! This can be added onto our routine FECs so a decision as to whether speciation is required can be made once we have the initial results.

Our current price list:
💩FEC for cattle, sheep or goats is £18 + VAT
💩Post drench FEC for cattle, sheep or goats £17.50 + VAT
💩Speciation testing following an initial FEC, including both H. contortus and coccidia species £8 + VAT (currently sheep only)

11/08/2026

🐑🦟🐂 Bluetongue Update 🐂🦟🐑

Bluetongue is still spreading rapidly across the UK with confirmed cases as far north as Scotland and the peak of the outbreak is not expected until September.

💉 Vaccination is the only way to protect your flock or herd, with just one midge bite capable of spreading and causing disease. A reduction in disease severity is seen as early a week after vaccination so it is never too late to vaccinate.

💉 Like most of the country we are now out of stock of bluetongue vaccine but we are expecting some stock from Europe coming in within the next few weeks. We are putting together a list of clients who are waiting on vaccine so we can try and ensure we have enough stock allocated for everyone.

📞 Give us a call to pre-order your vaccine
📞 Any suspicion of disease needs to be reported to APHA or your vets, please see the table below for signs to watch out for.

07/08/2026

Did you know that it is estimated that 50% of beef and dairy calves suffer from Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT).

This can be either from poor quality colostrum, or too little suckled/fed within 4hrs of birth.

Calves with FPT are 2.3 times more likely to have respiratory disease and are 4.3x more likely to die before 6m of age than calves that have good levels of passive transfer.

Today Katherine went out on farm to test some calves for passive transfer to check how the colostrum management on farm was doing after some issues last year. Calves under 7days old were blood sampled and the test run in house for quick feedback. These calves all looked really well but some did have fail of passive transfer so looks aren't everything and further tweaks to the farms protocols made before the next cow calved this afternoon!

Give us a call to see how we can help you make sure you are doing everything you can do give your calves the best start possible.

04/08/2026

Bluetongue Webinar by AHDB for an update on the current situation.

Cases have risen rapidly in the past few weeks so it is vital to act now to protect your stock. We currently have vaccine available but there has been some shortages over the past few weeks so don't leave it until its too late. Please speak to a vet to find out more.

⚠️ Bluetongue cases are rising rapidly, with severe clinical signs being reported.

If you keep livestock, now is the time to stay informed.

Join the next webinar on Wednesday at 5pm, to hear the latest updates from Defra, local vets, the NBA and NSA on the current BTV-3 situation and what it means for your farm.

Register now and stay informed: f44ca7a7-8bc3-4c38-a348-df2b92cf1da7@a12ce54b-3d3d-4346-95ef-ff13ca5dd47d?source=copyLinkOneEventsShareDialog" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f44ca7a7-8bc3-4c38-a348-df2b92cf1da7@a12ce54b-3d3d-4346-95ef-ff13ca5dd47d?source=copyLinkOneEventsShareDialog

Submit questions in advance: https://bit.ly/46kyBAf

22/07/2026

Ever wondered how our vets perform ram vasectomies? Watch vet Rebecca chat you through the process 🐑👀

21/07/2026

🐑🐑 Ram MOT/Fertility Days 🐑🐑

Following on from the success of the recent ram vasectomy clinics we are now offering Ram Fertility Days for reduced price tup fertility exams.

Did you know nearly 30% of rams are sub-fertile? Leading to low scanning rates and increased barren and ewe culling rates

How many of you properly check your tups prior to tupping? Whilst a ram's testicles may appear normal the s***m might not up to scratch and this isn't obvious without a full semen analysis.

We are offering a basic tup MOT with no semen analysis or a full fertility exam at the practice for as many tups as you need doing. Drop the rams and trailer off and pick them up once they're done. If it's hot we'll have a shaded pen and water available for them.

Please give the practice a call to discuss how this could benefit your flock 📞01777 703663 (option 2 for farm)

Prices quoted are ex VAT and per ram.

21/07/2026

🐑🐑 First cases of Bluetongue for 2026 season🐑🐑

There have now been 12 reported cases of Bluetongue in cattle and sheep across England since 10th July.

Whilst mortality rate can reach as high as 70% of affected animals in sheep it can also have a quiet yet huge impact on the productivity on farm by affecting the fertility of both cattle and sheep by causing increased barren rates. This is particularly worrying in cattle where no other clinical sign may be seen and so farms can be unaware of the issue until it's too late and calving has been affected.

However, it is not too late to protect your flock or herd by vaccinating. Please give the practice a call to find out how it could benefit your farm 📞01777 703663 (option 2 for farm)

10/07/2026

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08/07/2026

🐑✂️Vasectomy Day!

Three ram’s came to the practice today for their discounted vasectomies - £100 each (ex VAT)

Thinking about teaser rams this season? Our next Vasectomy Day is the 20th July 📆