Eltham Vet
Eltham Vet Services is a 13-vet practice that has served the farms and family pets of Central and South Taranaki with distinction since 1937. For your pet’s healthcare & your peace of mind contact or visit us.
While my original predictions of a "dry" haven’t quite come to pass, most farms could now benefit from a bit of rain. Growth rates are slowing and grass is getting a bit crispy in places. The upside is that facial eczema spore counts have remained low across most areas, and we haven’t seen any clinical cases so far this season.
That said, don’t get caught out. Keep monitoring your own spore counts and continue treatment until levels drop on your farm. There’s a lot of variation between farms and even paddocks, so decisions are best based on your own data. It’s still early, and spore counts could rise quickly with some moisture.
With pasture slowing, it’s a good time to identify younger or lighter cows that would benefit from being dried off early to regain condition. See Holly’s article for feeding options to help lift BCS.
With this in mind, now is the time to book your dry cow consult with your key vet. April will be busy, so forward planning will pay off. There are also some changes coming regarding dry cow antibiotics — see the article in this newsletter for more information.
The crazy fuel prices are front of mind for everyone at the moment. As far as we are aware, veterinary services are considered essential, so we will still be able to get out to you if needed.
You may have noticed Joan is back helping us out while we find Leigh’s replacement — we’re loving having her back. We also welcome Paige to the reception team, who is already becoming a friendly voice and favourite at the front desk. Alex and Briar will soon be off on maternity leave — we wish them both all the very best.
Hi everyone! I’m Paige, the newest member of the Eltham Vets Customer Care team. I’m born and bred in the Naki and have been dairy farming in Riverlea for the past five and a half years. In my free time you’ll find me spending time with friends and family, out walking, at home in my craft room or spending time with my flock of birds. I’m really excited about this new opportunity and, while I know quite a few faces already, I’m excited to meet plenty of new ones too.
This year we will be running 2025/2026 dry cow/mastitis consults alongside 2026/2027 Animal Wellbeing Plans and RVM consults for the 2026/2027 season.
Animal Wellbeing Plans are now a requirement for all Fonterra suppliers and provide a valuable opportunity to review herd performance, animal health, and plan ahead for the coming season.
For most of our dairy clients, one meeting with your key vet will cover all three requirements, making the process efficient and streamlined. In some cases, your vet may recommend a follow-up visit to go through specific details in more depth.
You will find two inserts included with this newsletter. Please ensure both are completed and returned before your in clinic appointment. The more information you provide, the smoother and more productive your meeting will be.
We recommend contacting the clinic early to book your appointment with your key vet, as these consults fill up quickly.
Important Update – Dry Cow Therapy (DCT)
We are no longer able to supply DCT over the counter on the same day.
If you have any questions or would like to book, please get in touch with the clinic.
Target 6 week in calf rate is 74% and above, LIC average this season is 70%, how do you measure up? This season we will be offering free repro reviews with your key vet. Don't sleep on this offer, let the reception staff or your key vet know you'd like to get a repro review done.
Autumn Vaccination Reminders for Dairy Herds
As we head into autumn it is time to review your herd vaccination programme. Ensuring boosters are given before risk periods helps maintain protection for both animals and people.
Leptospirosis Vaccination
Leptospirosis boosters are due for the milking herd and in calf heifers this autumn. Leptospirosis is a significant disease in dairy cattle and is also zoonotic, meaning it can infect humans. Humans are typically exposed through contact with infected urine or contaminated water and the disease can cause severe flu‑like illness, liver and kidney damage, and time off work.
In New Zealand the Pacifica strain is now the most common cause of human infection. Herds vaccinated with the standard Lepto 4‑way programme are protected against this strain once animals have received the full initial course of two injections.
Calves will also require a booster leptospirosis vaccination in autumn unless their second calf vaccination was given late (last injection in January). If calves have not yet received their leptospirosis vaccinations they will need a two‑shot course as soon as possible.
BVD Vaccination
If you vaccinate your calves for BVD, the vaccination course consists of two injections starting from four months of age. If they haven’t had vaccinations you should get them sorted before they go grazing.
Salmonella Vaccination
For farms vaccinating against Salmonella, the milking herd and rising one‑year heifers are due for their booster vaccinations in autumn. Salmonella outbreaks most commonly occur during autumn, winter and early spring, particularly during periods of stress such as wet conditions, feed shortages or sudden feed changes. Vaccinating for Salmonella is important it can cause abortions, sick cows, loss of production and death it is also a zoonosis.
Calves that were vaccinated in spring will require a booster vaccination this autumn. If they have not been vaccinated previously they will require the full two‑shot course.
If your herd vaccinations were given in winter last season due to vaccine shortages, it is a good idea to bring the programme forward into autumn or early winter this year. This helps avoid giving salmonella vaccinations too close to calving.
If you are unsure about the timing of boosters for your herd or calves, please contact the clinic and we can help review your vaccination plan.
What is the Right Supplementary Feed for Late-Lactation Weight Gain?
Are your cows reaching their target body condition score by dry-off? Unfortunately it’s common that we rely on the dry period for cows to put on weight. If cows do not have enough time to reach target it costs valuable days in milk, early season production & will impact fertility. Different supplements vary in energy, protein, fibre and feeding management – the 3 most common are briefly discussed below.
PKE - 10.5–11.5 MJME,15–18% CP, and 8–10% fat - upper limit 5-6kg DM/cow/day.
PKE is palatable, regularly available, safe, and versatile. The digestible fibre is fermented by rumen microbes to produce acetate which is the key building block for both milk fat and body fat synthesis. It is relatively high in protein which makes PKE a useful supplement when the goal is to support both milk production and body condition gain. PKE also imports phosphate onto the farm which may help reduce fertiliser requirements in some systems. No feeding transition is required, allowing farmers to add it in or out depending on pasture supply and cow demand. Limitations include that the relatively high oil content can interfere with rumen function and fibre digestion, dominance behaviour can lead to uneven intakes, it tends to grow mould once wet and it provides no effective fibre in the diet.
Maize Silage: 10-11.2 MJME 8% CP and up to 34% starch - upper limit 7-8kg DM/cow/day.
Maize silage is an excellent, energy dense supplement in pasture-based systems due to its high starch content. It will support body condition gain and milk production in late lactation when blended with pasture and balanced correctly. The main consideration with maize silage is storage, wastage and transition management. Cows should be introduced no faster than 1 kgDM/cow added every 3 days to allow rumen microbes time to adapt. When fed in the paddock, wastage can be exceptionally high (upwards 35%) and cows may selectively gorge. The timing and management of maize harvest has a significant impact on feed quality. Maize silage quality is typically maximised after around six months of ensiling, which is not commonly achieved in many New Zealand systems. Managing heating & spoilage will minimise quality loss, palatability & wastage.
Pasture Silage – 9.5-11MJME (PIT), 8.5-10.8 MJME (wrap), 15-18% CP
Pasture silage feed value can vary considerably depending on cutting stage and crop management. Key factors such as DM%, digestibility, fermentation acids and energy are important to measure: it is highly recommended to test silage through Hill Labs (approximately $165 including GST). Drop off a 1kg sample to the vet clinic. High-quality pasture silage can support body condition score gain comparable to maize silage, however, wastage and palatability issues can quickly disrupt weight gain targets if the crop is not well managed from harvest through to feeding out.
DairyNZ estimates that a 500 kg Friesian cow requires around 160 kg DM of maize or pasture silage, or about 125 kg DM of PKE, to gain one body condition score above maintenance requirements. At typical feeding rates of 2–3 kg DM/day, this means condition gain generally occurs over 6–10 weeks, highlighting why cows need to start gaining condition before dry-off rather than relying solely on the dry period. Genetics, pregnancy, weather, wastage, infrastructure & feeding management can have positive or negative implications on time frame.
Are We Drenching Our Calves Too Often?
There is an increasing risk of worm resistance developing in dairy cattle in New Zealand. Without effective drenches to control worm burdens in calves, it will become much more challenging to rear animals to target weights without major changes to calf rearing systems.
To help reduce the risk of drench resistance, we need to focus on two key principles:
1. Use drenches only when needed – when worms are actually present.
2. Use drenches effectively – correct dose, accurate drench gun, appropriate product selection and correct application.
With this in mind, while we’ve been out vaccinating calves, we’ve also been collecting faecal samples for worm egg counts. The results have been surprising. Even when drenches had been stretched out to 6–7 weeks, worm egg counts have generally been incredibly low. The only high worm burdens we’ve identified have been in sick calves where Yersinia or Salmonella were suspected — but testing showed worms alone were present at levels capable of causing disease. These findings suggest that, in many well-managed systems, we may be drenching calves more frequently than necessary.
When calves are well grown and well feed and are grazed alongside adult cattle who mop up worm eggs.
In these situations, our sampling indicates that 7–8 weeks between drenches may be achievable, especially if supported by periodic monitoring.
If you have any questions about your calf drench programme or would like to organise worm egg count monitoring, please contact your key vet.
You will all be well aware of the tightening up of antibiotic use, with dry cow therapy being at the heart of this conversation. The Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ) have released an updated Dry Cow Antibiotic Therapy (DCAT) statement. This comes fully into effect in 2027, and from that point the expectation is that there will be no unjustified use of Dry Cow Antibiotic Therapy at drying off.
In practical terms, this means use of antibiotic dry cow therapy will need to be supported by clear evidence that treatment is required. Some farms may still qualify for whole herd dry cow antibiotic therapy, but they will need to meet very stringent requirements to do so (high bulk cell count, high clinical mastitis infection rates, and/or high subclinical infection rates).
Moving toward selective dry cow therapy
Most farms are already familiar with the move toward selective dry cow therapy, where only cows that are likely to have an existing infection receive antibiotic dry cow. Identifying which cows require treatment will rely on good herd information, including herd test data, somatic cell count patterns and mastitis history.
What this means for this season
Although the new DCAT statement formally comes into effect in 2027, we are expected to begin implementing these changes now. That means if you are currently hoping for whole dry cow therapy this season, you will be expected to implement a udder health programme for this coming season. This programme helps identify the underlying mastitis risks on farm and will typically include:
Our team will be working with farms this season to review mastitis data and help plan dry-off strategies that meet the upcoming requirements.
If you would like to discuss your plan for the coming dry-off process early, get in touch with your key vet.
Eltham Vet Services is a 13-vet practice that has served the farms and family pets of Central and South Taranaki with distinction since 1937. For your pet’s healthcare & your peace of mind contact or visit us.
