How to run your block

Cheap feed per kilo is not the same thing as cheap eggs. What a laying hen actually needs, why grain alone falls short and why that takes weeks to show, how scratch and scraps dilute a balanced ration rather than adding to it, whether grain really needs grinding, and which savings genuinely lower the cost of an egg rather than just the cost of a bag.

Colostrum protects the newborn, milk grows the calf, solid feed develops the rumen. Why the gut closes at 24 hours, what a Brix reading tells you that colour can't, why two current NZ sources give milk allowances that are double each other and how to read both, when calf meal and water should start, the weaning weights that are dairy examples rather than universal targets, and the follow-up weigh-in most people skip.

Pet lamb, bottle lamb or poddy lamb — the job is the same. Why colostrum in the first six hours is the one thing that can't be fixed later, how much milk to feed and how often, why goat kids are on different numbers, the feeding mistakes that cause scours and bloat, when solid feed and water start, and how to tell a lamb that is genuinely ready to wean from one that just likes the bottle.

Why drenching more often is not better worm management — faecal egg counts, drench checks, why the bottle looks the same when a product has stopped working, correct dosing, quarantine for bought-in stock, and the treatment records that make the next decision easier.

Most of the worm population is out on the pasture, not inside the animal. How grazing height, rotation length, leader-follower and mixed-species grazing change worm challenge, what refugia is, and why drenching straight onto clean pasture is a trap.

Why a soil test comes before any decision about lime, what low pH actually does to roots and nutrients, why the "right" pH differs by country, soil type and sampling depth, what lime does and doesn't do, and an evidence-first look at whether pasture diversity can correct acidity.

What else arrives on the trailer? What to ask a vendor before money changes hands, why there are two different quarantine clocks running and how long each one lasts, and the counter-intuitive rule that Wormwise and WormBoss both reach — don't put new stock on your cleanest paddock. Plus the ASD, NAIT and NLIS paperwork a private sale actually requires.

The published daily figures for sheep, cattle, horses, pigs and chickens in both countries — and why the New Zealand and Australian numbers differ by two to three times, which is the most useful thing on the page. Plus trough refill rate versus trough size, how much water leaks before it reaches an animal, water quality, and how many days of storage you actually have.

What the animal-welfare rules actually require — permitted methods, the caudal-fold tail-length rule, the six-month limits and where high-tension bands differ — plus the best age to do it, the health check worth doing while you have the lamb, why sheep are not NAIT animals, aftercare, and what to record.

What clostridial vaccines actually protect against, why the full primary course is what builds protection, how sheep, goats and cattle differ, why the same product name means different disease cover in different countries, how long a newborn's colostrum protection really lasts, and what to record so the booster is never missed.

How long pasture should actually rest, why rest days and recovery are not the same thing, what to leave behind after grazing, the three-leaf check, measuring pasture without expensive gear, and what is worth writing down.