Australasian Veterinary Examination (AVE), formerly the National Veterinary Examination (NVE) · Australia / New Zealand · Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersMedicine of the herd and flock rather than the individual: fertility, mastitis, calf and lameness control, biosecurity, performance records and economics across cattle, pigs, poultry and small ruminants.
In the exams: NAVLE bovine 13.3%, porcine 5% and ovine/caprine 3.3%; RCVS SME production animal (with VPH) 105 of 367; SAVC Paper 2; AVE Paper 2 cattle at least 13
How our questions for Australasian Veterinary Examination, formerly the National Veterinary Examination spread across the units of Food-Animal Production Medicine & Herd Health. Difficulty: 13 easy, 26 medium, 6 hard.
| Fertility management | 9 | |
| Small-ruminant flock health | 7 | |
| Herd health programmes | 6 | |
| Mastitis control | 6 | |
| Calf health | 5 | |
| Lameness control | 5 | |
| Biosecurity | 3 | |
| Performance records and KPIs: calving interval, SCC, ADG and FCR | 3 | |
| Economics of herd health | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
To achieve a 365-day calving interval with a 282-day gestation, by about how many days after calving must a cow conceive?
A. 83 days
Days open = calving interval − gestation = 365 − 282 = 83 days, i.e. roughly 85 days. 78 days takes the year as 12 × 30 = 360 days; 60 days is a typical voluntary waiting period, not the conception deadline.
On the five-point body condition scale, which change in early lactation is associated with poorer herd fertility?
D. Losing more than about one condition score unit between calving and first service
Loss of more than about one BCS unit in early lactation reflects severe negative energy balance, delaying ovulation and reducing conception. Modest gains in thin dry cows and stable condition are the desired patterns.
Which group lists only contagious mastitis pathogens?
C. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Mycoplasma species
Contagious pathogens live in the udder and spread at milking: Staph. aureus, Strep. agalactiae and Mycoplasma. Coliforms and Strep. uberis are environmental.
A herd has a bulk SCC of 480,000 cells/mL, few clinical cases, and many cows with SCC above 200,000 at two successive recordings. Cultures grow Staphylococcus aureus. Which control measure is most specific to this problem?
D. Milking infected cows last or with a separate unit, and culling chronically infected cows
High SCC with few clinical cases and chronic high-SCC cows points to a contagious pathogen. Staph. aureus forms micro-abscesses and cures poorly in lactation, so control relies on post-milking teat disinfection, segregation or milking order, dry cow therapy and culling. Bedding changes target environmental pathogens; pre-dipping mainly targets environmental infection.
Housed dairy calves aged 3–8 weeks have recurrent pneumonia. The shed is humid, smells of ammonia and has no air inlets at eave level. What is the primary intervention?
B. Improve ventilation through inlets and outlets without creating draughts at calf level
Bovine respiratory disease in housed calves is driven by poor air quality and humidity; adequate ventilation with a stack effect, avoiding draughts at calf height, is the main control. Routine monthly antimicrobials are poor stewardship; higher density worsens air quality.
A farmer estimates 5% of his cows are lame, but independent mobility scoring finds 24% scoring 2 or 3. How should the vet interpret this?
B. It fits the common finding that farmers underestimate lameness, so regular independent scoring is needed
Farmer estimates of lameness are consistently much lower than measured prevalence. Regular independent mobility scoring gives a true baseline, finds new cases early and allows progress to be tracked.
What is the recommended management of newly purchased cattle arriving on a farm?
B. Isolation for three to four weeks, without shared air space or drainage, while tests are completed
Quarantine lets disease incubate and tests be completed before the animals mix. Calves are the most susceptible group, not the most immune, and antimicrobials do not remove viral or chronic infections.
On the five-category FAMACHA chart, which animals are usually treated?
D. Those scoring 4 or 5 (pale to white), sometimes also 3
Scores run from 1 (red, not anaemic) to 5 (white, severely anaemic). Treating only anaemic animals leaves untreated worms in refugia, slowing resistance.
Which organism is the essential transmissible agent of ovine footrot?
C. Dichelobacter nodosus
Footrot requires D. nodosus, with F. necrophorum contributing. Erysipelothrix causes post-dipping lameness and polyarthritis in lambs; Treponema species (not T. pallidum) are associated with contagious ovine digital dermatitis.
In a temperate sheep flock, lambs aged 6–10 weeks develop sudden severe diarrhoea in late spring before faecal egg counts rise. Which parasite best explains this?
A. Nematodirus battus, after a mass hatch of larvae triggered by a cold spell then warmth
N. battus eggs hatch en masse after chilling followed by warm weather; larvae cause disease in lambs before egg production starts, so egg counts can be low. Haemonchus causes anaemia rather than diarrhoea.
Ten here, 45 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to Australasian Veterinary Examination, formerly the National Veterinary Examination in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
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