Food Animal - Veterinary Medicine at Illinois

Food Animal Reproduction, Medicine, and Surgery (FARMS)

“All three vets that have helped are great. Very professional! And the students are all awesome, very attentive. And caring. Thank you!”

– FARMS client

Our team consists of faculty veterinarians, residents, and veterinary technicians along with our veterinary students. Our climate-controlled facility is designed for low-stress cattle handling and is equipped with a hydraulic squeeze chute and hydraulic tilt table. We offer in-house, on-farm, and emergency care for livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camelids, and cervids.

Services

Primary (routine) care

For livestock owners with a small number of animals, it is often most convenient and cost-efficient to bring the animals to the clinic for routine procedures such as castration, disbudding/dehorning, vaccination, deworming and hoof trims. We can easily handle 15 cattle and 30 sheep or goats in the clinic. Larger groups are best done at the farm.

Reproduction

Efficient reproduction is a core component of a successful livestock operations and we are prepared to help livestock producers maximize their success by providing the following services:

Breeding soundness examinations for all livestock species
Estrous cycle manipulation strategies for a variety of species
Pregnancy diagnosis via palpation or ultrasound for all livestock species
Semen freezing for most livestock species
Obstetrics (assisting with delivery)
Transcervical or laparoscopic artificial insemination for all livestock species
Embryo transfer via conventional flushing

Specialty care

We provide diagnostic testing and medical and surgical care for individual animals. While many cases are managed on an outpatient basis, we are prepared to handle challenging cases and have many advanced diagnostic tools available. When medically and economically justified, we can hospitalize patients that require more intensive care than is practical on a farm. Examples of the services available include:

Clinical pathology – complete blood count (CBC), serum chemistry, cytology
Microbiology – culture and sensitivity
Histology on biopsy samples
Ultrasound
Radiology – digital radiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Surgical procedures – routine procedures with regional anesthesia and more complicated procedure under general anesthesia

On-Farm Services

We routinely travel to farms and perform routine livestock procedures and treat ill animals. We have a portable cattle chute that we can bring to a farm if needed. The typical practice radius is approximately 50 miles, although exceptions are made in special circumstances.

Also see Theriogenology.