104 | Dedicated to farm animal health Waikiwi Vet Services Invercargill’s experienced team also offers a wide range of caring services for cats, dogs and other pets. Kim Newth Waikiwi Vet Services Invercargill offers comprehensive farm animal healthcare in Southland covering dairy, sheep and beef, deer, pigs and animals on lifestyle farmlets. Whether it’s for routine health checks or emergency services, Waikiwi’s large animal team is committed to supporting farmers and providing high quality care to keep their livestock healthy and productive. No job is too big or too small for the six-strong team of experienced vets and vet technicians. “We cover all the way from Bluff to Winton, Tuatapere and eastern Southland and as far north as Mt Nicholas,” says Delwyn Thompson, Director/Practice Manager. “Many local farmers have been with us for years and years, through both good times and bad, and we’re very grateful for that. We’re a privately owned vet practice and our farmers are owner-operators as well. Through working with them over the years, we have got to know them well.” Southland farmers have been dealing with challenging ground conditions this year. A very wet spring and ongoing rain has left pastures muddy and waterlogged with supplementary feed stocks running low. “We’re seeing a lot of challenging situations coming through from the extra stressors put on the animals this spring. It is not just the dairy farmers being impacted – the sheep and deer farmers are affected by these conditions as well.” Farmers reported a significant rise in lamb death rates due to the cold, wet conditions. RURAL SERVICES » Waikiwi Vet Services Ltd While the grass is now slowly growing, Delwyn says the ground underfoot is still very wet and hasn’t had much of a chance to dry out. Shifting stock does not necessarily help matters as ground everywhere is fairly sodden and grass quickly turns to mud once stock is moved. “It’s causing all sorts of challenges. The trucks haven’t been able to put fertiliser down as early, it’s just too wet.” Members of Waikiwi Vet Services’ large animal team work closely with all their farmers. Their focus is on providing positive support and responsive animal health care to help farmers get through the issues they’re grappling with. A ray of sunshine amid all the rain was Waikiwi Vet Services recent bad weather photo competition that featured many hard-working farm dogs. “It really highlighted the conditions we’ve been struggling with here. The winning photo shows four dogs on a quad bike just covered in mud – not one of them is clean. These working dogs have been doing it hard, just like the farmers.” Waikiwi Vet Services Invercargill’s experienced team also offers a wide range of caring services for cats, dogs and other pets. As well as the Waikiwi Clinic (299 North Rd, Invercargill), the practice has a second South City Clinic (102 Elles Rd). Underpinning the vet services provided are core values of compassion, excellence, teamwork and effective communication. Meanwhile, Southland Rural Support Trust has recently published advice to local farmers on how to deal with ‘The Big Wet’. Need someone to talk to? Call the Southland Rural Support Trust now on 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP). Reduce antibiotic usage by 22%
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