If you are looking to book a cat vaccination, please be aware that there is an ongoing shortage of some cat vaccines affecting all UK Veterinary practices. Find out more here.

Services for Cattle

Our full range of services for cattle

Pilgrims started as a 100% farm practice in 2004 and all of our vets have some grounding in livestock work. Whilst the practice has evolved into dealing with all species, cattle work still comprises about 20% of what we do.

This includes: 

  • Routine fertility (ultrasound PD scanning down to 28 days)
  • Herd health Planning (BCVA Standard)
  • Standard Farm procedures – dehorning, disbudding, castration, bull ringing, foot trimming, Nutritional consultancy
  • TB Testing
  • Cattle Disease Testing/ Screening
  • Cattle Vaccinations
  • Herd Visits
  • In-House Lab
  • Mobile Diagnostic Facilities
  • Pregnancy Diagnosis
  • Cattle TB Testing

Cattle Disease Testing/ Screening

Checking your herd for disease can have a huge impact on the success of your farm

Many cattle diseases (such as BVD, Johne’s, Leptospirosis, IBR and Neospora) can significantly reduce productivity through their impact on fertility and abortions. We aim to take a proactive approach to controlling these diseases to help maximise the potential of each and every farm.

Because much of the cattle work we do is focused around the New Forest, much of the disease screening we perform is to reduce the risk of diseases such as BVD from spreading between herds on common grazing land.

Blood tests are commonly performed to screen for these cattle diseases, and these are a cost-effective means of assessing a herd’s health status, and putting in place control measures as soon as possible where necessary.

At Pilgrims Veterinary Practice in the New Forest, all of our diagnostic equipment is fully mobile, meaning we can do the necessary tests on your premises and supply fast results. We also have an in-house lab and access to external laboratory services for further testing.

Book a cattle screening visit

  • As well as disease screening, Pilgrims Veterinary Practice offers the below cattle services:
  • Routine TB Testing to help keep your herd free of this disease
  • Pregnancy diagnosis using our mobile ultrasound scanner
  • Cattle vaccinations to protect against preventable diseases
  • Herd visits offering healthcare checkups and advice

Cattle Vaccinations

Many preventable bovine diseases can severely affect herd productivity

Our experienced livestock vets can provide you with a well-thought-out approach to vaccinations for cattle, as most bovine diseases are preventable.

For example, bovine pneumonia can severely hamper growth in calf rearing units. Diseases such as BVD, Leptospirosis, and IBR can reduce fertility or cause abortion. Also, things like clostridial disease can be a cause of sudden death.

We can vaccinate against all of these threats to your cattle.

In many cases, relevant diagnostic tests can be performed at your premises using our mobile diagnostic equipment and in our in-house lab, to determine the cause of the problem. With the information these tests give us we can tailor our vaccination advice to the specific needs of your livestock system.

If you’d like us to create a tailored vaccination plan to protect your herd, please contact our Fordingbridge practice

  • As well as vaccinations for cattle, Pilgrims Veterinary Practice offers the below cattle services:
  • Routine TB Testing to help keep your herd free of this disease
  • Disease testing/screening for BVD, Johne’s, Leptospirosis, IBR and Neospor
  • Pregnancy diagnosis using our mobile ultrasound scanner
  • Herd visits offering healthcare checkups and advice

Herd Visits

We provide regular heard visits from our experienced livestock vets.

Our aim is to work with local farmers, from large-scale beef and dairy units to small ‘hobby’ herds, in order to increase productivity and improve animal welfare.

Regular herd visits enable us to provide the best advice on preventing disease and addressing any current or potential problems that may arise. This may be in the form of a formalised health plan, or as advice on vaccination and parasite control from our experienced vets.

Herd visits also allows us to sell prescription medications at competitive prices under the increasingly tightened veterinary prescription guidelines, which state that they can only be given to an animal “under our care”.

At Pilgrims Vets in the New Forest, we pride ourselves in being able to offer practical, sensible and cost effective advice to help improve the productivity of our clients’ farms.

Book a heard visit

  • As well as herd visits, Pilgrims Veterinary Practice offers the below cattle services:
  • Routine TB Testing to help keep your herd free of this disease
  • Pregnancy diagnosis using our mobile ultrasound scanner
  • Cattle vaccinations to protect against preventable diseases
  • Disease testing/screening for BVD, Johne’s, Leptospirosis, IBR and Neospor

In-House Lab

Pilgrims Vets in-house lab is fully equipped for speedy diagnosis of animal health problems

Our in-house laboratory boasts a state-of-the-art blood testing machine, microscope and a host of other diagnostic equipment. We invest heavily in this important area of the practice with significant benefits for all our patients.

Having veterinary laboratory facilities on site (rather than having to send samples to an external lab) means our farm, equine & small animal vets get rapid results – essential in emergency cases or when treating sick animals as part of our emergency and out of hours services.

Our fully equipped in-house laboratory is capable of performing various routine blood tests, haematology, faecal worm egg counts, and investigation of external parasites.

In most cases we can provide a same-day turnaround, which means our highly experienced team can offer the best treatment and advice as soon as possible.

Take a look at the other in-house facilities we use at Pilgrims Vets in the New Forest.

Mobile Diagnostic Facilities

Get speedy diaginosis and test results with our mobile diagnostic facilities.

Unlike some veterinary practices, all of our equipment is fully mobile, allowing a high level of investigation to be carried out on your premises. At the same time, this gives you the opportunity to be immediately involved with your animal’s results and treatment plan process. This also reduces the stresses some animals feel when travelling to the vets.

  • Eklin digital radiography unit with rapid laptop display
  • M-turbo ultrasound
  • Endoscopy
  • In house laboratory for urgent blood sample analysis and faecal worm egg counts

As well as having state-of-the-art facilities at Pilgrims Vets in the New Forest, we also have a highly experienced and caring veterinary team who will look after and treat your animal as if it were their own

We offer a range of veterinary services for dogs, cats, equine animals, cattle, sheep & goats, poultry and camelids. from our Fordingbridge and Cranborne practices.

Get in touch with our team today and let us help you with all your animal health care needs.

Pregnancy Diagnosis

Our experienced veterinary team can assist you with cattle pregnancy diagnosis.

Knowing which cows and heifers are pregnant and having an idea on calving dates can make management of a suckler unit much simpler. Using our mobile Easiscan ultrasound scanner we are able to provide information on the pregnancy status of your animals.

The best time to perform these ‘PD’ scans are usually approximately 6-8 weeks after the bulls have been taken out. Scanning at this time gives us the best opportunity to give accurate calving dates, but also offer advice on non-pregnant animals. Picking up barren animals, or managing infertility issues at this early stage helps to improve the productivity of your farm.

Talk to our experienced team about what to expect when one or more members of your herd is expecting, and how we can help with the pregnancy and other cattle health issues.

Book a pregnancy diagnosis visit

  • As well as pregnancy diagnosis, Pilgrims Veterinary Practice offers the below cattle services:
  • Routine TB Testing to help keep your herd free of this disease
  • Disease testing/screening for BVD, Johne’s, Leptospirosis, IBR and Neospor
  • Cattle vaccinations to protect against preventable diseases
  • Herd visits offering healthcare checkups and advice

Cattle TB Testing

Pilgrims vets are APHA-approved to perform TB testing on cattle

Routine TB tests on cattle in Hampshire and Dorset are performed annually, however, there are some additional regulations that relate to the movement and testing of animals in the New Forest. Ask our vets for more advice on TB testing in your area.

What is TB testing and why is it so important?

According to the UK TB Hub, “Cattle keepers have a statutory responsibility to ensure that their animals can be safely TB tested. The tuberculin skin test is carried on two days; Day one – injection of avian and bovine tuberculin. Day two – reading of the test 72 (+/- four) hours later.” Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a highly infectious disease affecting cattle. It primarily affects the lungs and is thought to be transmitted within herds by inhalation of infected aerosol droplets from infected cattle.

Can Bovine tuberculosis be passed to humans?

Bovine tuberculosis can be passed to humans via direct contact with a wound (can happen during slaughter). Also risks, but minimal ones, are humans contracting TB through inhaling the infected aerosol droplets when working closely with infected cattle, and eating infected meat.

Unfortunately, with the recent changes to the way government-funded TB tests (whole herd-tests, tracer tests, new herd tests etc) are paid, we have elected to discontinue our contract with XL Farmcare to perform these tests. This means that we are not able to perform Government-funded TB testing through XL Farmcare, however, we understand the importance of having a familiar face performing your cattle TB test, so we are still able to perform these tests privately. This would be at your own expense.

Combined Cattle Service

We can combine cattle TB testing with blood testing for disease screening, pregnancy diagnosis, cattle vaccinations and various other basic procedures (such as castrations and disbudding) as we understand in many cases this is the easiest or only opportunity to have this done. We still offer routine pre-movement testing as always, and routine herd visits to your premises. Please get in contact with us to discuss any TB testing or other cattle enquiries you may have.

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