If you’ve got livestock, you’ve got deadstock. This is an inevitable fact of farming. Animals which die can tell you an awful lot about the rest of the herd. If you know the reason why an animal has died, you can usually prevent other animals from dying from the same diseases. It is very likely that you can also improve the productivity of other animals in the herd or flock which will fatten quicker or give more milk if you can control the diseases they are exposed to. One of the best ways of finding out about these diseases is to adopt a pro-active approach to dead stock and turn the negative event of losing an animal into a positive one by making sure you don’t lose any more. This is the reason Farm Post Mortems exists. It aims to offer an accessible, affordable service which allows you to make the most out of your fallen stock at minimal inconvenience. This will improve your bottom line both by preventing further losses and by preventing diseases that are not even suspected but which may reduce an animal’s productivity but not kill it. The company is working along with EBLEX to investigate causes of death in English beef and sheep stock, in the hope of improving herd and flock productivity by identifying common causes of disease and treating early, so halting losses and improving efficiency.
Every time a post mortem is done you will receive a report detailing the diagnosis and any other findings as well as suggested actions that can be taken to treat the problem. This report will be sent to both farmer and vet within 24 hours of the post mortem. All post mortems are carried out by a specialist vet at a purpose built facility at J Warren ABP in Hamsterley, County Durham. Post mortem can be requested at the same time as carcase collection, minimising any inconvenience.
Farm Post Mortems aims to improve the productivity of your stock by the early identification of disease, so increasing your efficiency and ultimately your profits. Farm Post Mortems is run by Ben Strugnell BVM&S Cert PM MRCVS, an independent vet specialising in farm animal pathology. Post mortems are carried out in a lab facility on site at J Warrens ABP to minimise any inconvenience to you in getting the carcase examined. Ben qualified from the vet school at Edinburgh University in 2002 and worked in mixed practice in North Yorkshire for five years, specialising in farm animals. He then went on to work for the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in Thirsk, where he developed his skills in pathology and his belief that an accurate post mortem can diagnose the majority of diseases in farm animals and can prevent unnecessary losses and improve productivity on farm. He subsequently set up Farm Post Mortems to offer a comprehensive gross post mortem services and to give vets and farmers a cost-effective way of diagnosing disease and increasing livestock efficiency, so improving your profit margin.
