0:00:01 > 0:00:03We Brits love our animals...
0:00:05 > 0:00:07..from livestock in the fields
0:00:07 > 0:00:09to pooches in the park.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14It's the job of the nation's vets to keep them healthy.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Whether consulting in the countryside...
0:00:19 > 0:00:23There is something very nice about being next to a nice cow.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29..or horsing around in the stables...
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I spend all my job outwitting animals.
0:00:33 > 0:00:34Got him!
0:00:36 > 0:00:40..they're passionate about their patients.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Hey, little miss. I am now known as the mad chicken lady.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53On call when the animals need them most...
0:00:53 > 0:00:55If we leave it any longer,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58he almost certainly is going to not make it.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02..they're the dedicated vets patching up pets
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and caring every day
0:01:04 > 0:01:08for more creatures, great and small.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Coming up...
0:01:21 > 0:01:26In Fife, Megan's determined to save a rescue hen's life.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29We'll have her in. See what she's done.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33In Teesdale, farm vet Richard's called to a calf emergency.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36His rumen, his main stomach, is full of gas.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38They do get to the stage where they die of it.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41And there's a tongue twister in store for vet Helen.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43She could have bitten it with a canine tooth
0:01:43 > 0:01:44and then it torn through.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The Kingdom of Fife, in Scotland.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54It's a mainly rural area,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58with 400 square miles of farmland -
0:01:58 > 0:02:02perfect grazing for over 1,500 farms...
0:02:04 > 0:02:07..keeping the vets from Inglis Practice busy.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And back at back at base, they have their very own farm animals
0:02:12 > 0:02:13living in the back garden.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Vet Megan is particularly fond of them...
0:02:19 > 0:02:21I am know known as the mad chicken lady,
0:02:21 > 0:02:25or crazy chicken lady I think is more like it.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28These are ex-commercial chickens,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31which were rescued by a team of local volunteers.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36One of the other ladies was looking for volunteers to get involved,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39so that's how I got involved. And now I'm heavily involved
0:02:39 > 0:02:44and spend the majority of my spare time thinking about chickens.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I think chickens will be my thing.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I haven't got time for anything else!
0:02:51 > 0:02:54There are 30 million egg-laying hens in Britain,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56over a third of them living in cages.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Commercial chickens start laying at around four months old
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and are kept for a year and a half.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12When their egg production drops below an average of six per week,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16then they are considered beyond their commercial value,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19so they will get slaughtered at that point.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Some of the rescued hens arrive with serious injuries.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28The five that are all over there at the moment, they all had
0:03:28 > 0:03:29a fractured leg each, so...
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Their legs have been repaired,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33whether we've mended them or they've done that themselves,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and now they live the life of luxury out here.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I think the grand total was 2,000 ex-commercial layers that
0:03:41 > 0:03:43they've rescued.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Soon to be 2,086.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Today, Megan's going to help re-home another batch.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Rescuers Jackie and Fi have agreements with local egg farms
0:03:57 > 0:04:00to re-home some of the chickens due for slaughter.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03The hens come first.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05This is what this is about.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07It's about the hens. it's not about any of us,
0:04:07 > 0:04:08it's not about anything else
0:04:08 > 0:04:11other than getting the hens from farms to freedom.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12Relieved that they're here
0:04:12 > 0:04:16and actually don't look as bad as I thought they were going to look.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18I know we've not let them out yet,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20but compared to the last lot of caged hens,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22they don't look too bad so far.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Out you go. There you go.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Come on. Come on.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Come on.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32This is the first time ever
0:04:32 > 0:04:35they've seen daylight or had the room to move.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Just really emotional.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Some of them come out really quickly and others kind of hide
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and you have to tempt them out.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I'm not an emotional person, but this gets to me.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52It's Megan's job to health check the chickens.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57She's been really badly feather pecked.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58She's pretty much bald.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02There's nothing wrong with her other than her feather problems,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04so when she moults and her new ones grow back in,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07she'll look as beautiful as all the other ones. But it takes a while.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11But there's a more serious case.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14That leg's really sore, so she'll be staying with us.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16See what's going on.
0:05:18 > 0:05:24She's really limping on this left leg, so we'll have her in,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26see what she's done.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28And we will try and sort it.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Newly christened Flo is the only hen to stay behind.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35The rest have found new homes,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39where they could go on to live for another ten years.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43This is the first time I've actually rescued hens. It feels quite good.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Yeah, quite good. And hopefully...
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Well, they're going to a very good home anyway.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50We're taking four.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Always kind of wanted to get some of my own and so this is our chance.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Bock! Bock-bock-bock-bock, booock!
0:05:59 > 0:06:00Thank you very much.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02They're all looking amazing.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04I know they look scruffy, but they all seem happy,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07doing what chickens should do.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Look, how cute!
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Really, really excited.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13And all day and all last night,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I could not wait a second.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19That all went pretty smoothly and I think everyone's really happy.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21And 85 hens off to their new homes.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23There's just one poorly hen
0:06:23 > 0:06:26that has a sore leg, so we're going to manage her pain
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and then get on and probably X-ray.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39I'm just going to anesthetise her just by inhaling the anaesthetic gas.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Hi!
0:06:49 > 0:06:53You can see this whole bone is in one piece.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57And then we have got part of one of the other femurs here.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00And then you can see the other end of it here,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02so we've got the fracture.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Flo's leg will need to be fixed with a metal pin.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09It seems to be a really common fracture.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12We've seen... Most of the fractures we've seen so far
0:07:12 > 0:07:14have been of the femur. So whether it's a weak bone
0:07:14 > 0:07:19or whether their bones are just weak in general from their upbringing...
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Weak bones reduce her chances.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26If the leg can't be fixed, Flo will have to be put down.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35120 miles south lies Teesdale, County Durham.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Over two thirds of this land is farmed
0:07:38 > 0:07:43and home to hundreds of dairy and beef cows,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47all potential patients for farm vet Richard.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53I think there is a very deep if not an instinct, a feeling amongst
0:07:53 > 0:07:55people who have worked with animals.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00It's something that is more or less in all people,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03but in some people it is quite a deep need to be amongst animals
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and to work with them.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Today, Richard has been called to an emergency on the Dale.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12We are on our way reasonably swiftly to go and see a bullock
0:08:12 > 0:08:18that got bloat. And what that means is that its main stomach, its rumen,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23is blown up with gas. And it is one of the calls that if we get,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26we drop everything and dash to
0:08:26 > 0:08:28because it can be life threatening.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Richard's come to a farm with more than 30 beef cattle
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and over 100 ewes.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40It's been in farmer David's family for 150 years.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46His eight-month-old calf is in a serious condition.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Tea time last night he was looking a bit seedy. I looked at him
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and I thought we'd see what he was like this morning.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55It's gone down a bit, but it still isn't right, like.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00The calf is weaning - changing from a diet of milk to grass,
0:09:00 > 0:09:01which is tough to digest.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Cows have four chambers in their stomachs
0:09:05 > 0:09:07to break down vegetable matter.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09The largest, the rumen,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12contains billions of microbes to help digest food.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17His main stomach, his rumen, is starting to digest fibre.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20But occasionally there is a bit of an upset
0:09:20 > 0:09:24as that process is happening and instead of burping up the gas
0:09:24 > 0:09:26that's being produced,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29it's stopping inside him, and that's what's causing the problem.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33It's the gas that's being produced by the fermentation of this forage diet.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34Now,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37if we leave him, it may sort itself out,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40but it might not, and next time we might not be so lucky.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45So what we're going to do is we'll put a red devil in his side.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49That's what we call red devils.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53It's a plastic spiral with a screw thread on it
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and a rather evil-looking spike.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58We anaesthetise the bullock's side,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00make a little incision through the skin
0:10:00 > 0:10:03and then that vicious-looking spike goes through the skin,
0:10:03 > 0:10:04into the stomach.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07And then, as you can see, it's got a screw thread on it,
0:10:07 > 0:10:08which picks up the wall of the rumen
0:10:08 > 0:10:12and holds it against the abdominal wall.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14And then we pull the pin out and there is a wonderful,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18satisfying hiss of gas, and he deflates.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21They do get to a stage where...
0:10:21 > 0:10:26where they die of it. I have before now gone out to treat one and
0:10:26 > 0:10:28before I've managed to do anything to it,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31the poor thing has popped its plug.
0:10:31 > 0:10:37So I guess you can maybe see how his...his rumen, his main stomach,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40is full of gas. It's not as bad as it's been, by the sound of it,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43but it's pretty...it's pretty bloated.
0:10:43 > 0:10:44It's pushing out his side.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48So we're just going to put a halter on him just to hold him steady.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55The next job, we're going to give some local anaesthetic.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Can you just catch his nose, David, while we do this?
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Just to give him something to think about.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I know, I know it stings a bit, doesn't it?
0:11:03 > 0:11:04Good lad.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07We try and be as hygienic on farm as it's possible to be,
0:11:07 > 0:11:12so I want to make sure that his side's disinfected, as it were,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14before I make a hole in it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Operating outdoors has its challenges.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Inevitably, you've got wet hands when you're doing surgery,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and wet hands and wind means cold!
0:11:23 > 0:11:27So, yeah, sometimes it's...it is hard.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31And you sometimes end up doing these sort of things in snowstorms.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34But, yeah, it's part and parcel of what we do, I guess.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38To save the calf's life, Richard has to puncture the stomach.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Have you got him there, David?
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Good lad. One, two, three...
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Good lad, good lad. All right.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46And then, one, two, three...
0:11:46 > 0:11:50HISSING Lovely noise, horrible smell.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53What you don't do now is light a cigarette.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56There are tales of vets burning farms down
0:11:56 > 0:11:59because this is pure methane, obviously. If you light it,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02you end up with a jet of flame.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06A couple of stitches ensures the red devil won't fall out.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Just one more thing really, and that's to give him an injection
0:12:09 > 0:12:11of some antibiotic just to make sure that,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14having made a hole in his side, he doesn't get any infection there.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The calf can now be returned to his mother,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22feeling a lot more comfortable.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I would leave that in for a month to six weeks.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I'll leave you the pin. And then,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30after that time, if you put the pin back in
0:12:30 > 0:12:33for a day or two, just to check he's not going to blow up...
0:12:33 > 0:12:36And then, you've had them before, I know, you just nip the stitches
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and unscrew it like a screw thread.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41There will be a hole there, obviously,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43but it will block up within a few days.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45And it won't cause him any bother.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47He wasn't that bad there,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51but if we left him half a day, he might have really been bad.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06In Fife, vet Megan has helped re-home hundreds of commercial hens
0:13:06 > 0:13:09and has adopted five herself.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Today, her son Charlie is helping out.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Hello, ladies.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Charlie is chicken mad.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19He likes to name the chickens.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21He likes to go and get the eggs.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24He is not too bothered about cleaning out the poo or anything.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26And he likes to pick them up, cuddle them,
0:13:26 > 0:13:27carry them around the garden...
0:13:27 > 0:13:31He just totally interacts with them all the time.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35- Three.- Three eggs. - Will you hold it up?- Yeah.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- Are they warm?- Yes. I want three.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Look, we've had four already, Mum.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46These hens have filled us with eggs
0:13:46 > 0:13:49for the last six, seven months regularly.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51There's never been days when there's not.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54These ladies would not have had the best start in life
0:13:54 > 0:13:56but they're certainly living it up now.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Megan has just helped re-home a new batch of rescue hens.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05She's really limping on this left leg.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09But one, Flo, had to stay behind with a broken leg.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13We've got the fracture between those two ends of the bone.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Today, Megan's colleague, Ken, will attempt to fix it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23It's a fractured femur.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26And it's not unusual for them to break their femurs.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Their bones are really quite delicate.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31So we just have to pluck off some feathers then.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33You have to pluck off the feathers
0:14:33 > 0:14:35so you can sterilise the site properly.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Plucking the feathers actually means that they grow in quicker.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40If you cut them, they don't grow back so quickly.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44That's a sterilised bandage.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47That's just so I can grasp the bottom bit of the leg
0:14:47 > 0:14:49without any contamination.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51You see how the leg is bending where it shouldn't bend.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54It's bending here, and it shouldn't really bend there.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Long-term, it would stay lame if it wasn't corrected.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04So the fracture, I have just overrun.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06It's fractured there and this is what's happened,
0:15:06 > 0:15:07cos it happened several days ago.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10The muscles have contracted and pulled it, it's overlapping.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12So we'll have to stretch it a bit
0:15:12 > 0:15:13to get it back into a better position.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17A caged upbringing means Flo's bones are fragile
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and could fracture further when Ken tries to pin them.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24You can't afford to use too thick a pin or it will crack the bone again.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27If that happens, she'd have to be put to sleep.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30People might think it's quite extreme
0:15:30 > 0:15:33to be doing this for a chicken.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36But these guys could go on and live another
0:15:36 > 0:15:39six, seven, eight years in somebody's back garden.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And it should supply maybe five, six eggs a week, perhaps,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44for quite a little while.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46It's well worth the effort, yeah.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50We're just checking how far down to put the pin.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52So that bone is sitting pretty straight now,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55and it's pretty solid, too, it's not bending.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Cut it.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59Good.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01And we'll take the stitches out
0:16:01 > 0:16:03in about ten, 12 days.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06And even by tomorrow, she'll be walking about.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09It's all been quite an ordeal for poor Flo.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13But hopefully, soon she'll recover and find a new home.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26In Teesdale, Castle Vets has a steady stream of patients.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Small animal vet Helen can see up to 30 a day.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35I'm not feeling an obvious, a really obvious foreign body.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Tell me which toe it is.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40What's just slightly worrying is there's something
0:16:40 > 0:16:41within her bladder.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43But she's not complaining.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46The thing is, it's a fantastic job.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48It's not just a job, it is a way of life as well.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Her next client is 12-week-old puppy Olive,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56with owner Willow and dad Michael.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59It seems Olive has already got herself into trouble.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02We brought Olive in - she cut her tongue,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04so they're going to stitch it up for her.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08So she's getting expensive straight away.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10We've got a few, don't we? Yep.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Hello.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17- Hiya.- All right?- Yes, you? - Yeah.- Good.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Right...
0:17:21 > 0:17:24So we've got little Olive, who's come in to have her tongue stitched
0:17:24 > 0:17:26- today, is that right? - That's right, yep.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28What have you been messing with, eh?
0:17:28 > 0:17:30How did you cut your tongue?
0:17:30 > 0:17:31Do you know how she cut it?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- She bit it.- Did she?
0:17:34 > 0:17:35That was a silly thing to do.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38SHE YELPS Oh, I know, but we need to have
0:17:38 > 0:17:39a little look.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Oh, yeah. Yeah.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46A quick check confirms Olive needs an operation.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Well, we'll look after her today and we'll see you later.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- OK?- Yeah.- Okey-doke.- Brilliant. No problems, we'll see you later.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Go on, babe.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57- Bye.- Bye.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02First, she's anaesthetised.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05But it's a big needle for a little dog.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07SHE YELPS
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Don't bite my finger, please.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Her veins are just...so tiny.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Helen sees a lot of animals with cut tongues.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Commonest reason is if they licked something sharp, like a tin can lid
0:18:28 > 0:18:30or something like that.
0:18:30 > 0:18:31That's the commonest reason for them
0:18:31 > 0:18:34cutting their tongues, but
0:18:34 > 0:18:38she could have bitten it and then the...with the canine tooth,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and then it torn through.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44So basically, I'm just going to freshen up those edges a little bit.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Obviously, the anaesthetic risk is much, much greater
0:18:47 > 0:18:52in...in very young animals and very old animals.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Getting the anaesthetic right is harder as well because,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59obviously, the body weight is so much less, so the quantity
0:18:59 > 0:19:02of anaesthetic they need
0:19:02 > 0:19:04is much less.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Now the fiddly bit begins.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10What I'm going to do is put a suture in...
0:19:13 > 0:19:16..on this side first of all so that
0:19:16 > 0:19:18we've hopefully got a bit of...
0:19:20 > 0:19:23..normal shape there.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Tongues will heel very, very quickly.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31And what I want to make sure I do is get the sutures in...
0:19:32 > 0:19:37..tight enough, but not so tight it's
0:19:37 > 0:19:40sort of going to roll the tongue up or anything, so...
0:19:42 > 0:19:44One repaired tongue.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Come on, little munchkin.
0:19:50 > 0:19:5520 minutes later, a few bursts of oxygen should bring Olive round.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I don't want it to bite its tongue on recovery.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Yay! Oh!
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I'm happy it's awake enough now it can go back in its kennel.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09I just wanted to make sure that it was coming round OK and that it was
0:20:09 > 0:20:10sort of with it
0:20:10 > 0:20:12before we put it back in its kennel.
0:20:12 > 0:20:13Yeep.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Oh. Yeah.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26You have a settle? Or are you feeling a bit groggy, a bit disorientated?
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It'll take a little while for Olive to find her feet.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Out in the nearby County Durham countryside,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48farm vet Richard is back on his rounds.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52He often helps local farmers with sheep and cattle herd management,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and that means a lot of pregnancy diagnosis.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59One, two, three, four...
0:20:59 > 0:21:01She is six weeks in calf, Nancy.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03- Six weeks?- Yes.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Some farmers have turned cattle breeding into a science,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10using artificial insemination and embryo transfers
0:21:10 > 0:21:12to create the best possible cow for market.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16It's a very useful technique because
0:21:16 > 0:21:19it means that farmers can use semen
0:21:19 > 0:21:22from bulls which could certainly be too expensive for them to buy.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26So you can buy semen from an absolutely top quality bull
0:21:26 > 0:21:30for a fraction of a percent of what he's actually worth,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32what it would cost to buy him.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It gives the farmer access to genetics that otherwise
0:21:36 > 0:21:39he wouldn't necessarily have access to.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Today, Richard's visiting a farmer who breeds pedigree Charolais cows
0:21:46 > 0:21:48for the beef industry.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Stephen wants to breed pedigree calves from his prize cow, Abbey,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56which could be worth up to £10,000 each.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59The plan is to collect fertilised embryos from her womb,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03which can then be implanted into his other cows.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Abbey won't carry a calf herself - her job is to be the egg donor.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12So what we are going to do is we're going to scan her
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and check her womb and ovaries
0:22:14 > 0:22:18and in particular check that she's not in season at the moment.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Um... I'm just looking at her womb
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and checking that it looks normal,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26that there's no infection in there
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and then I'm going to scan her ovaries.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30And...
0:22:32 > 0:22:34That's her left ovary there.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40There is the corpus luteum, where an egg is being released.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44I'm going to scan the uterus, check that's all right.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46And really what I'm looking for there
0:22:46 > 0:22:48is evidence she might be pregnant, though I'm sure she's not.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Obviously, she can't be. Immaculate conception and all that.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54I'm scanning her right ovary now.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57And that's just got a few very little follicles on.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00So that's quite normal. I'm happy she's not in season.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Everything looks fine. She's not got any problems
0:23:03 > 0:23:07that would interfere with her being used for embryo transfer.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Richard will control Abbey's cycle with an implant.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Make sure it's as hygienic as we can make it.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19And then this is the... It's called a seeder control intravaginal
0:23:19 > 0:23:21drug-releasing device.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24But as you can see, it's basically a T, a rubbery T.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Those two wings hold it in the birth canal
0:23:28 > 0:23:30and that tail sticks out to the back.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34And it's impregnated with a natural hormone called progesterone.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Progesterone is the hormone of pregnancy.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40So what it does is it will put
0:23:40 > 0:23:43a block on her cycle until Steve takes it out. So basically,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45what we want to do is we want to make sure
0:23:45 > 0:23:48that she comes into season at the right time.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51And, uh, when Steve takes that out,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54she'll come into season 48 hrs after.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57But Abbey's not too keen on the idea.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I'll just need a... Ooooh, poo coming.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Aaah! You lucky brute!
0:24:05 > 0:24:08The next stage of the operation is -
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Steve will take the seeder out, she comes into season,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13she gets served.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And then a week after she's served,
0:24:15 > 0:24:16she'll be flushed,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and that means that they'll collect the embryos out from her.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Those embryos will be implanted in Stephen's other cows,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27who'll become surrogate mums.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30So best cows often get multiple births,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34so you get more better breeding cows than normal and,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38hopefully, produce livestock with, you know, superior growth
0:24:38 > 0:24:40and genes that will go on
0:24:40 > 0:24:43and produce multiples of cows
0:24:43 > 0:24:46for the beef industry right the way through.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53While he's here, Richard checks up on an old friend, Izzy.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Hello.
0:24:56 > 0:24:57He's grown a bit.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- It's going well. He's done really well.- Yeah, that's great.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02This calf, at one point, couldn't walk.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05COW MOOS
0:25:05 > 0:25:07And that's its mother.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08Um, and...
0:25:08 > 0:25:12So consequently, it's been on antibiotics since it was about...
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- 12 days old, Richard?- Something like that.- Ten, 12 days old.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18For 60 days.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20And it's absolutely fine.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21You're lovely, you are.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24And it looks like the feeling's mutual.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Back at base, in Barnard Castle, another toddler is feeling perkier.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Puppy Olive had a nasty cut on her tongue.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Oh, I know, but we need to have a little look.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51It was tricky for vet Helen to anaesthetise such a tiny puppy.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55The veins are just...so tiny.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00But now it's time for Nurse Amy to prepare Olive for home.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Hello. Come on then, let's get you home.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12All right.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Come on, then, missus, let's go.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Hello. Do you want to have her back?
0:26:22 > 0:26:24She's pleased to see you.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29If you just keep her nice and quiet tonight
0:26:29 > 0:26:32and let her sleep the anaesthetic off.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34She didn't have a pre-med.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36So she might still be a little bit sleepy tonight.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39SHE BARKS Or she might be like that.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41How lovely.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- Thank you very much.- Thank you. See you later.- See you later.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Hopefully, Olive will keep her tongue safely
0:26:46 > 0:26:48in her cheek from now on.
0:26:54 > 0:27:01In Dunfermline, Megan helped re-home a batch of rescued commercial hens.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03But one of them had to stay behind.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07She's really limping on this left leg
0:27:07 > 0:27:11Farm vet Ken operated on Flo's fragile bones to save her.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13That bone is sitting pretty straight now.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Now, Flo has been released
0:27:18 > 0:27:21into the vet's back garden with the other hens.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26Eight weeks since she was rescued, Megan's checking her progress.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29If you have a little look at her actual walking now...
0:27:29 > 0:27:32She's the one that had the broken leg.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36So she's been quite lame, but that's her pretty much walking normally now.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39You could hardly tell that she's ever been injured.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43When we look back and see what Flo was like when she came,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45you know, scruffy and...
0:27:45 > 0:27:49She's still really quiet, but now all her feathers have grown in,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51she's looking great. Her coomb is nice and red.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56And they're just...they're just normal shy hens now.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59But there's still the question of who will adopt Flo
0:27:59 > 0:28:01and the remaining chickens.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02They're happy here to be honest. So...
0:28:02 > 0:28:05They've got plenty of space, plenty of food,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07plenty of people to spoil them.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11But at the moment, they are just going to live it up at Hotel Inglis.