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1.
Dairy cow, heifer, and bull health, emergency medicine and
surgery services:
GVS continues to provide
service in the traditional ‘James Harriot’ sense to all farm
animals and horses. We provide emergency services year
round and routinely visit farms to examine and treat animals
that are ill or suffering. This continues to be one of the
most important services offered to our clients.
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2. Reproductive health
management programs:
Through rectal
palpations, standard operating protocols and other
techniques, we assist in achieving good
reproductive performance, that is cows calving with
genetically superior calves evenly throughout the year at a
budgeted cost. This involves programs and monitoring of
reproductive diseases, management of cow grouping, feeding,
handling around calving, procedures for the postpartum
period, nutritional content of the ration, lameness control,
genetics, semen quality, and many other factors influencing
reproduction and breeding. Our programs consider all of
these areas.
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3. Vaccination programs:
Our vaccination programs
are tailored specifically to the farm protecting against
organisms that cause economic damage, such as E. coli
mastitis or clostridial infections, or pose a large
financial risk if they occur (small chance of occurring but
large cost if it occurs) in a naïve (previously unexposed)
herd. John has taken a special interest in the area and
constantly updates both the products that we carry and
improvements in how we use them.
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4. Mastitis control programs: Dan McDermid has taken on
the challenge of analyzing milking machines, milking
procedures and mastitis control programs. He has developed
an expertise that now is solicited by veterinarians in the
US and Canada. Our programs included the monitoring of
records (DHIS and farm), of milk and somatic cells, teat
health scoring, bedding management, stall design, treatment
protocols, milker management and milking machine
performance.
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5. Milker and
milking machine evaluation:
Dan has the expertise and
equipment to perform all of the tests to measure the
performance of the milking machine. Recommendations are
shared with the equipment dealers, collaborating to solve
any deficiencies. Milker technique is evaluated and training
of proper milking procedures is offered.
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6. Lameness control and
management:
Dick has taken and
interest the prevention and treatment of lameness in dairy
herds. Many factors influence lameness in dairy herds, a
disease that results in significant losses through culling,
including facility design (stalls and alleys), genetic
conformation, hygiene, infectious diseases and nutrition. We
examine lameness problems from a holistic perspective,
collaborating with hoof trimmers in the area, and think that
barn design and quality workmanship are critical to avoiding
this problem.
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7. Calf and heifer management:
Our
calf programs begin with colostrum management, and include
feeding programs, disease control and vaccination programs,
husbandry procedures, protocols for treatment of sick
calves, and the monitoring of growth performance.
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8. Review of nutrition
programs:
We collaborate with all of the excellent nutritionists
serving our clients. Our frequency on the farm and
understanding of records provides an opportunity to monitor
the performance of the rations fed in the herd. The
performance of production, both milk volume and components,
reproduction, health, and finances are reviewed and, in
consultation with nutritionists, recommendations are often
made on feeding programs.
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9. Standard
operating procedures for health related and other husbandry
tasks:
We develop standard
operating procedures (SOP’s) specifically for farms and
provide models for the clients to customize covering areas
such as fresh cow treatment, calving procedures, calf
treatment, information recording, milking technique, and
many more areas. SOP’s are excellent training tools for new
employees and ensures that everyone understands what is
expected.
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10. Biosecurity
evaluation and program development:
Biosecurity (ensuring
that diseases foreign to the herd do not enter) is becoming
an issue in dairy herds as some diseases such as Johne’s,
Salmonella, Campylobacter and Coxiella are becoming a public
concern. In addition, dairy farmers wish to avoid diseases
that effect production and finances such as Bovine Leukosis,
Johne’s, IBR or BVD, to name a few. A biosecurity program
addresses specific ways to avoid or control the diseases as
well general methods to keep diseases out of the
barn. Special ways can be used to introduce animals and
control the risk, particularly in closed herds. |
11. Barn design and evaluation:
We have spent time with
producers plans examining each area that will have an effect
on animals and employees. These would include requirements
for stalls, alleys, feeding and feed storage areas, holding
areas, cooling systems, lighting, cow flow, parlours,
treatment and hospital areas (special needs) and calf
rearing facilities.
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12. Genetic review:
Although we have not been
involved in bull selection, we consult on overall objectives
and developing rational systems for bull selection that
consider herd weaknesses, goals, minimum requirements and
cost. This area is linked to the reproductive program
and we collaborate with the AI units.
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13. Training for the
future Milk Quality Assurance program:
Chris has experience with quality assurance programs and has coached farmers in
preparation for the records, barn procedures and changes
that may be necessary for the farm to qualify as a validated
dairy herd. The programs require that farms have
standardized systems to ensure that the quality of milk and
meat is not physically, chemically (medicines or pesticides)
or biologically (cooling problems) altered. Currently
BC is implementing such a program and it is expected to
be required soon by processors and consumers. Programs may
extend to include manure management (stewardship of the land
resource) and animal welfare considerations. GVS remains
current on the political changes which may some day
influence our customers farms.
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14. Lab services:
Our in house lab handles milk samples for bacterial
culture and identification, colony counts, hygiene
evaluations, and antibiotic sensitivity tests, fecal
samples for culture, worm egg counts, lung worm and
liver fluke diagnoses, and coccidia floatations, blood
samples for complete blood counts, dehydration testing, and
colostrum intake assessment, urine samples for evaluation as
well as skin or hair samples for fungi, bacteria or
parasites. Other tissues, blood, serum, and plasma are
couriered to several different local and national labs for
more complex testing.
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15. Collaboration with experts:
GVS veterinarians
collaborate with many experts in animal health and agrology
from throughout North America to expand the knowledge
offered to our clients and deal with specific problems.
GVS veterinarians frequently attend veterinary conferences
to keep current with dairy production medicine.
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16. Farm financial and
management consultant services
offered through
DairySMART Management:
These services include the areas of financial
analysis, decision making and management, farm employee
management, succession planning and options, skills
training, farm business management training, production and
financial benchmarking, and quality assurance training.
Chris has taken a further degree and training in business
management (Master of Business Administration) for
agricultural enterprises.
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