Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: vet fees  (Read 6963 times)

hampshiresmallholder

  • Joined Mar 2019
  • Hampshire
  • If two wrongs don't make a right, try three
vet fees
« on: March 12, 2019, 09:51:13 pm »
Hi, another question from me,  ::)

Is it possible to calculate vet fees etc. What I mean is there a set fee they charge or does it depend on the time of night they might come or whatever and how bad the case is.
I am trying to calculate my costs for bottle calves and have done things like milk replacer, hurdles, hay, straw, and calf nuts, but not sure about the above.


any help gladly received

mt 

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: vet fees
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2019, 10:08:43 pm »
If you ask the vet they should tell you what your normal callout fee is, and any other info you need.  Callout fees vary according to all sorts of factors, so it’s impossible for us to guess what your vet will charge you.  But at our practise at least, it’s something the receptionist can look up on our account and tell us.  Presumeably there is also a tariff for out of hours callouts.

Then there may be a consultation fee on top of that, usually a minimum then an hourly rate, plus any meds and prices for various procedures. 

I think I might start with an estimate of vet fees being 10% of the overall purchase price of the calves and see how it pans out in practise.  Hopefully you will do better than that ;)
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: vet fees
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2019, 10:11:29 pm »
Piece of string. Phone them and ask.

hampshiresmallholder

  • Joined Mar 2019
  • Hampshire
  • If two wrongs don't make a right, try three
Re: vet fees
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2019, 10:07:32 am »
Piece of string.


yes i thought it would be.


thank you both. i will work on 10% as sally says for now, and see what reality brings. :thinking:

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: vet fees
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2019, 12:03:27 pm »
10% might be okay but a touch of pneumonia or scour would probably be more than that. Budgeting for vets bills is tricky. Some months we have minimum bills, some months we have a lot of visits (beef suckler and a few sheep). One week in the autumn we had 3 vet assisted calvings in a row- no one could have predicted that.  We pay for the time vet spends on farm (minimum 20 mins) then an out of hours fee on top if needs be.


Buy healthy, strong calves that have preferably been vaccinated for pneumonia and that would reduce the risk.

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: vet fees
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2019, 12:06:07 pm »
I usually manage to take my animals to the vet, so was fairly shocked at the callout fee for blood testing last year. I will find invoice later, but i think callout was about £35, and hourly rate more.
If vet has a yard to park in, and you can get your animals there, do it. ?

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: vet fees
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2019, 02:14:22 pm »
calves like sheep can be transported to vets so save on call out fee.    10% is probably OK as long as you realise one year it could be 1%  and the next 100% !!!
Linda

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hampshiresmallholder

  • Joined Mar 2019
  • Hampshire
  • If two wrongs don't make a right, try three
Re: vet fees
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2019, 03:08:19 pm »
calves like sheep can be transported to vets so save on call out fee.    10% is probably OK as long as you realise one year it could be 1%  and the next 100% !!!


Thank you all
Yes i do realise that. I've learnt to always expect the unexpected :D

the vet i contacted has come back with these core prices. i think they are quite reasonable.

New Client Visit - FREE
• Pre Booked Visit - £24
• Normal Visit - £36
• Out of Hours/Emergency Visit - £48

this is for 20 mins. then they charge for every 10 mins after that.

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: vet fees
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2019, 03:31:41 pm »
Keep in mind that will probably be plus VAT.

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: vet fees
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2019, 06:52:21 pm »

the vet i contacted has come back with these core prices. i think they are quite reasonable.

New Client Visit - FREE
• Pre Booked Visit - £24
• Normal Visit - £36
• Out of Hours/Emergency Visit - £48

this is for 20 mins. then they charge for every 10 mins after that.

And just how do vets go out of business with charges like that? I am so in the wrong job!
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: vet fees
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2019, 06:59:12 pm »
You are Alan! Retrain and go out there and get those £s!!! Easiest cash you will ever make

alang

  • Joined Nov 2017
  • Morayshire
Re: vet fees
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2019, 08:04:01 pm »
You are Alan! Retrain and go out there and get those £s!!! Easiest cash you will ever make

lol no thanks. I'm done with my educational establishments days.
I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: vet fees
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2019, 10:30:18 pm »
You are Alan! Retrain and go out there and get those £s!!! Easiest cash you will ever make

 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

PipKelpy

  • Joined Mar 2019
  • North Shropshire
  • Dreamer with Mary, (cow) and sheep.
Re: vet fees
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2019, 07:36:54 am »
Vet fees, don't cry! In the early 2000's calves were cheaper and i spent £100 On 8 calves. Believe it or not, they were good ones too! Due to lambing, I already had shavings, straw, buckets etc in stock so I figured 8 calves, several bags of milk, nuts, good stock of silage and hay already in, plenty of land, I'm going to make good money, pigs fly!! So, effydral when they 1st got here to settle them down. 3 days in, my problems started. A calf that I called Clementine started to not thrive like the others. 3 vet visits down and I had to call someone out to shoot her.   Annoyed, we paid for an autopsy which revealed damage to her throat and stomach lining that could only have been done by misplaced tubes on the original farm. It was suggested that she was doped up to get her through the auction so all would seem fine. We presented the report to the auction and their reply back was that they knew the farmer but couldnt/wouldn't say anything. I even contacted Trading Standards but they too said that their hands were tied! I've bought calves since from other auctions and made A bit of money from them. 1 we put in the freezer,a big Brown Swiss. He was some of the best beef ever! I needed a calf back in 2017 and went to Market Drayton for one but when I was watching, they sent through a calf coughing and sneezing and that put me off, so we contacted the people we bought our cow off and Knickers arrived. Mary came in December and Jennifer, calf number  4 is coming in 2 weeks time. Vet fees i'm afraid are something you have to put up with. I used to have a bottle for everything until I discovered Homeopathy so now sheep and cattle have remedies made with Brandy!! Also, which the vet thought was good, I put homemade yoghurt in the milk replacer. Helps with the gut!
Halter train the cattle to keep them quiet but watch your back when they come a'bulling! Give them all names even those you plan to eat. Always be calm. Most importantly, invest in wellies with steel toe caps and be prepared for the clever cow who knows where the toe caps end!!

honeyend

  • Joined Oct 2011
Re: vet fees
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2019, 09:12:11 am »
This last year has been my first year with cows, so I mentally budgeted for vet fees, thinking a call out fee is better than a dead cow/calf.
So from March 2018 I have had  a vet 3 times. The local farm vet , was expensive, we are less than four miles from them, but I still got a £35 call out fee, and they were not hands on. Now I use a vet which is further away, part of a big group, the vets are Polish and Romanian, both hands on, very good and patient with me, and even remember my cows.
  My biggest bill £190, for disbudding, so I am changing to polled cows.
 I think the secret with all animals is paying a bit more to by stock that you know has been cared for properly. I do not think I would by anything from market, travelling causes stress and you can expect to get, 'travel snots', to follow.
  I have now been around a few small holdings and some I am afraid to sad to say do not measure up to farmers yards who handle far more cattle. I would be ashamed if mine were stood in a foot of s**t.
  I have been surprised how little advice I have been given by other cattle keepers I have met, even though I ask. Very different from horses, where everyone has an opinion. I do not know if this is because I am a women, or because I ask questions, so a lot of what I have learned has come from ADAS, government web sites and forums. Which is a shame. The local small holders group no one seems to keep cattle, so no help from there. I think actually the vets have been well worth their money.

 

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