Resource
Herd health tasks and dates for each season on a single-page vet calendar, planned around South African deer herds.
Deer herds under permit have health jobs spread across camps, veld types and changing weather. South African herd routines set the dates: when we open a kraal, when we need to call the vet, what we record for the state or for disease traceability. Crews fill in the vet calendar before every new herd year, after each big move or veterinary inspection, and whenever state rules on movement or animal health change, such as after new FMD controls or when camps are quarantined.
Pin the sheet up where the team gathers: the camp gate, cold room or farm office wall. Planned jobs go on the sheet, and so do the sudden ones: the dose that follows heavy rains, the quarantine that starts after a neighbour’s outbreak, or the routine checks that keep a permit valid.
The calendar shows the full year on one A4 page, with space for the dates your crew works. We list the usual South African herd health jobs: parasite treatments, vaccinations, camp rotations, stud inspections, permit renewal dates and calving checks. There is a space for power backup checks on cold rooms and electric fences, as load interruptions can slip everyone’s mind. We also leave room to add extra vet visits or state-required tests when FMD, brucellosis or other controls come in.
To fill in the calendar, write the job dates where the team can see them. Update it after each vet visit or whenever a date shifts, and tick off jobs as you go. Use a marker so it is visible even after a muddy week.
Most missed jobs happen when tasks sit in one person’s diary, out of sight of the crew. Another trouble spot: forgetting backup power checks for electric fences or cold rooms, especially after new kit gets installed. Crews also mix up state permit dates with actual herd moves, so both go on the same sheet, ready for when the environment department or the state vet comes to inspect.
To get the printable sheet, just send us a message through our contact form and ask for the vet calendar. We will send a PDF that you can print as many times as you like. Anyone in the team, from the foreman to the agri science teacher, can request one for free.
