A day of routine disbudding of calves stretches out before Inglewood Veterinary Services director Neil Chesterton reports The Taranaki Daily. Calves have tiny horns that have to be dealt to and any extra teats get removed with a pair of scissors at the same time. Disbudding is a routine, boring job in a way, he says. But after he discovered that about 20 percent of calves have extra teats, he started wondering if it was genetic. Now he records the numbers of all the calves with extra teats and LIC is looking into the genetics. Meanwhile, graduate vet Robyn Lundall, 24, who's working with Mr Chesteron today, has been busy in the calf pen injecting each calf, then marking it with paint. A few minutes later, the calves get wobbly on their feet and slowly start to lie down. One calf fights the inevitable, stubbornly getting back on her feet, again and again, before finally succumbing. Once on the ground, Miss Lundall injects each calf with a local anaesthetic above each eye. Mr Chesterton has fired up the little gas furnace and Stefan Read is in charge of handing over the irons to Mr Chesterton to use on the calves. David Jury and Miss Dravitzki take DNA samples from each calf's ear. The DNA is to test which calf comes from which dam. The details are recorded when the calves are born, Mr Jury says - the DNA is to try to limit mistakes. He is breeding pedigree cows for type and production and needs to get the parentage right. There is lots of paperwork involved at calving time and LIC provides a little book to record details. He also writes it down on a blackboard in the calves' shed, in case the "bible" goes through the washing machine or falls out of his pocket. "It's a good job because people call you for help, so it's a good relationship. You're there to help," Mr Chesterton says. "Farmers are very appreciative people. I also like the fact that every case you go to is like the tip of the iceberg. If a farmer rings you with a cow with mastitis, it would be boring if you just treated the cow with mastitis, but it usually leads you on to helping him with his bigger problem of why the cows are getting mastitis. The job allows you to think and be more involved in their farm. It's a challenging job in that way."
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