Exceptional, evidence-based veterinary care for lifestyle block animals.
Poultry Clinic Bookings!
I'm offering a dedicated poultry clinic for backyard chickens and other small poultry patients. Ensure your birds receive the best possible care they deserve, from a vet with a special interest in backyard poultry. I can assist with a range of medical and surgical cases, including illness, injury, lameness, reproductive problems, crop issues, parasites, and general flock health advice.
Please use the form to contact me directly for enquiries and bookings.
Poultry Clinic Info
Richmond
By appointment only
Hospitalisation available off-site 7 days a week
What I Offer
I provide online consultations for sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, and camelids, working alongside owners and, where appropriate, their primary veterinarians. I can help you with practical, science-based solutions that are realistic for your setup, your animals, and your level of experience. Areas of focus include: • Herd and flock health planning • Disease investigation and prevention • Nutritional management • Obstetrics and neonatal animal care • Hand rearing of young animals • Poultry flock health plans • Lifestyle block setup Each consultation is tailored to your goals, with the aim of improving both animal health and owner confidence.
Who I Am
I’m Dr. Sarah Clews (Sez), a lifestyle block veterinarian dedicated to helping owners provide the best possible care for their animals. My approach is built on evidence, compassion, and respect. I believe understanding each animal as an individual is the foundation of genuine wellbeing. Every patient, regardless of species or perceived value, deserves thoughtful and informed care. I’ve devoted my career to educating owners, supporting fellow veterinarians, and raising the standard of animal husbandry for small block animals across New Zealand.
Free Resources
Education is at the heart of my work. Alongside consultations, I share free resources through my YouTube channel, offering practical guidance for lifestyle block owners. These resources cover everyday animal husbandry, nutritional management, and preventative animal care strategies.
Online Courses Coming!
There's a lot happening behind the scenes at the moment. My online animal care courses in NZ are currently in development, with practical, in-depth content designed to give you clear, confident guidance you can apply straight away. Topics include animal husbandry courses, neonatal animal care, and farm animal welfare principles. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you when they're ready!
Join my Sez the Vet Insider List to receive updates and be the first to know when the courses go live!
Reviews & Testimonials
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review! I'm incredibly grateful for the kind words and thoughtful feedback!
If you'd like to share your own experience, you can do so here:
We could not be more grateful to Sarah for the expertise, time, and heart she has poured into helping us. She has not only given Koharu the chance to live a full life, but also given us the knowledge to advocate for him and to share what we've learned with fellow Kiwis — local vets, farmers, and lifestyle block owners alike. Because of her dedication and brilliance, Koharu has the future he deserves. We wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone caring for farm animals in Aotearoa!
M. Sager
Dr. Sarah is hands down the best Vet that has ever worked with my chickens. She has worked with them and me in person and using a phone consultation. The phone consultation was particularly impressive because of how thorough she was able to be. I took some videos of the sick chook and she asked for some more information. She was then able to recommend a clear, achievable path for my beloved Ms. Sylvie. Dr. Sarah has an obvious depth of knowledge, not only in animal medical care but also in holistic animal management and husbandry. She truly cares for lifestyle animals, which is amazing, and for this I am so so so grateful she is my vet.
Sam Penman
Sera has been a true board of knowledge for us! We have a small lifestyle block with many animals, and she’s answered every query and solved our problems tenfold. We had a rough run with buying animals that came to us already sick, but Sera gave us the best advice and treatments — and before long, we had healthy wee babies again! I truly appreciate someone who not only knows their work inside out but also delivers it with such kindness, honesty, and empathy. A genuine, knowledgeable vet warrior! 🐾💪
Meghann Rawlings
We took my sons much loved pet chicken to see Sera. Sera was so kind, genuine, caring and knowledgeable. We were really pleased with the high level of care she gave our girl, and appreciated that she took the time to explain her diagnosis and followup treatment clearly to us. Our lovely girl was back to herself in no time at all. Highly reccomend. Thank you.
Beky Bodley
I’ve known Sarah for 30 years and from childhood she has been an “animal whisperer”. Throughout her teens and young adulthood she tirelessly and relentlessly drew attention to and fought for the rights of vulnerable, exploited and abused animals. She is passionate about her vocation and is dedicated to the wellbeing of the animals under her care. Her zeal for her profession is contagious and is matched by her professionalism. Sarah is authentic, congruent, and a woman of great integrity and character. I cannot recommend her as a vet highly enough!
Jody Drew
Sarah is a true one of a kind vet. She is incredibly knowledgeable and really goes the extra mile to provide the best possible medical care to our animals here at the sanctuary. She is always so kind & caring with our animals and she sees and treats them as the special and unique individuals they all are. Her knowledge & passion for sheep & lambs in particular has been such a huge support and help to us. We are so very grateful to have Sarah as our vet - she really is amazing!
Lilly Moss
Sarah went above and beyond caring for our lamb that couldn’t walk. Her knowledge and her dedication as well as contacting agencies that could assist were all phenomenal!. We will always be grateful to her!
Genevieve Cooper
Request a Consultation
I arrange online consultations by request to provide focused, individual support for health concerns as they arise. If you’d like to discuss your animal’s condition or seek help with a particular issue, please complete the form provided and include a few details to help me understand your situation.
Online consultations are available within New Zealand. General advice may be appropriate for international cases, depending on the context (please contact me to discuss further).
