Farm Table says:
This useful guide is for producers to be able to self-assess their enterprise for the purpose of animal health and welfare. It covers a lot of information so even the most experienced producers should be able to gain some tips to assist in their own enterprise.
Items covered in this article were:
- Health management
- Extreme weather conditions
- Biosecurity
- Animal welfare
- Livestock transport
Key points were as follows:
- Health management includes purchasing or breeding stock that are best suited to the area and preventing diseases with a vaccination program to manage the health of your herd. The self-assessment checklist for health management can be found on page 7 – 9.
- Extreme weather conditions include fire, flood and drought so having a management plan in place in the event of one of these events occurring is best management to ensure action can be taken quickly. The self-assessment checklist for extreme weather conditions can be found on page 12.
- Biosecurity planning for your enterprise should consider the following:
- Livestock health
- Livestock movements
- Quarantine procedure
- Vehicle access
- Feral animal management
- Fodder biosecurity
- Record keeping
- The self-assessment checklist for biosecurity can be found on page 15 – 17.
- Animal welfare is an important aspect of a livestock enterprise; it covers animal husbandry, care, treatment, feed, water, handling, humane destruction and staff training. The self-assessment checklist for animal welfare can be found on page 20 – 23.
- Livestock transport covers animal welfare from the time the truck picks the cattle up until they have safely reached their destination. The truck driver has a duty of care to ensure that any risk of injury is minimised to the livestock during the transportation. The self-assessment checklist for livestock transport can be found on page 25 – 28.
