Archived News

8th May 2008

It’s all systems go!  Our Bluetongue vaccine is safely in the fridge and we start by injecting 70 cattle with the first of two doses (at 3 week intervals) at Raikes farm this morning.  They will also need to be ‘Swished’ along their back to protect them from midge bites until the vaccine becomes effective in six weeks time.  As each animal comes through the cattle crush it will be weighed and anything over 600 kg will have sticky-tape put around the tail so we can decide which of these will go to the abattoir next week.

I’m taking our keep-cool box up to the field with the vaccine in, and once a vile of vaccine is opened it must be used within 8 hours and any remaining must be disposed of. 

These photos show Amanda connecting the vaccine bottle to the Stericap (we just call it a vaccine gun) and then giving an injection to one of the cattle. The needle passes through the stericap and is automatically disinfected on its way into the animal and again as the needle is withdrawn and then it's ready for the next injection.  It's a quick and easy system which makes the job efficient.

Amanda connecting the vaccine bottle to the Stericap and injecting an animal

Early this morning David sprayed off the weeds in field that the cattle came out of yesterday at Abinger, it will be spread with muck and then ploughed in about three days. Elsewhere on the farm there is a lot of power harrowing to do, which Laurence started on yesterday.  Roy is following behind with fertilizer and finally the maize contractor is behind him drilling maize into the prepared soil.