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Animal Biosecurity
Protect your animals from pests and disease
Biosecurity is relevant to everyone who owns or works with animals. This is not limited to livestock and poultry, in fact simple biosecurity measures can protect your pet bird, dog or other family pet from pests and disease. Biosecurity can also protect you. Some animal diseases are 'zoonotic' - which means they can also affect humans.
Below are some simple biosecurity measures that you can adopt around livestock and pets.
Keep it clean
Soil, organic material, mucus/snot, saliva and manure can carry disease which then can easily be spread on clothing, equipment and vehicles.
Washing your hands with soapy water before and after handling animals is one of the easiest biosecurity measures you can take. This is particularly important if you are dealing with animals you suspect are unwell.
Keeping equipment clean is also important. Don't share your animal's gear or equipment with neighbours or other people. This includes drenching and injecting equipment, headstalls, leadropes and saddlery. If any equipment has been used by other animals, thoroughly clean and disinfect it before using it on your animals. Where animals from different properties are using the one vehicle, the interior of the float or truck be washed out and disinfected before loading new animals.
It is important to remember that you need to thoroughly clean a item before it will be satisfactorily disinfected.
Keep storage areas clean, dry and tidy. This will assist in detering wild birds, rodents and other pests.
Clean out water troughs regularly and don't place them under trees or where birds perch.
Visitors
Managing the movement of visitors on your property is one way of preventing pests and diseases spreading onto your property. Some diseases, as seen recently with equine influenza, can be very easily spread from one animal to another on people's clothing, in their hair and on their vehicle.
Have a designated area for visitor parking which is well away from your shed, animal thoroughfares and paddocks.
If your visitors have had contact with other animals prior to arriving on your property, ask them to wash their hands before patting or working on your animals. This is particularly important with vets, farriers and other livestock service providers. Ensure they wear clean clothes and boots, or supply some for them to wear on your farm.
Related information:
- biosecurity and workers on your farm
- biosecurity for travelling farm workers, and
- on-farm service providers.
Quarantine new animals
Livestock and birds that are new to your property should be quarantined for one week before they're introduced to your existing flock or herd. This will allow most disease symptoms to show before possibly infecting the remainder of your herd or flock.
Quarantine is a period of isolation, so a paddock that does not directly adjoin paddocks holding livestock should be used, or a yard. In regards to poultry, a separate cage or shed should be used.
Where possible obtain a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD) or a By-product Vendor Declaration (BVD).
Keep records
Keep a detailed log of animals that are coming onto, and going off your property. This information should include where the animals have come from, transport dates and details of any identification markings or tags.
These records can greatly assist if there is an emergency animal disease outbreak in your area, so animal movements can be rapidly traced, and the disease contained.
If you employ itinerant workers on your farm, keeping a record of when they arrive, when they leave and their contact details (such as a mobile phone number), can also assist agricultural authorities during an emergency repsonse.
Buffer zone
Where possible, create a 'buffer zone' with your neighbours through measures such as double fencing and wind breaks.
Feral animals and wild birds
Feral pest animals (such as foxes, wild dogs and cats) are known for attacking livestock, causing losses and injuries. The spread of pests and disease by feral animals is a major biosecurity risk. Where possible, don't allow your stock to mix with feral animals.
For poultry and other birds you should keep adopt measure that will keep wild birds away from your domestic birds. Netting over your chook run is highly recommended.
Feed and water should be positioned so that it not open to attracting wild birds. Water supplied from dams should be treated before offering it to your birds.
See more information on the bird and poultry biosecurity page.
Know what to look for
You know your animal well enough to know if something is wrong. Common signs of a sick animal can include:
- Sores or ulcers
- excessive dribbling from the mouth
- diarrhoea especially with blood
- large discharges from any orifice such as the nose
- not eating properly or off their feed
- dramatic decreases in production such as milk from cows or eggs from chickens
- non-responsive animals
- staggering or head drooping
- severe lameness
- swollen heads
- inability to rise, and
- unexplained deaths.
Report it
Veterinary attention should be sought for sick animals. Importantly with livestock, if you think your stock or birds are showing signs of an exotic disease you must report this to your vet or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888. This will put you in touch with your Department of Primary Industries or Agriculture which will provide advice to you on the most appropriate course of action.
If you suspect a disease, isolate sick animals and do not visit neighbouring farms until the cause has been determined - this limits its chance of spreading.
What to do during an animal disease outbreak
Notifiable Diseases - diseases you must report
Compost it instead
Do not feed food waste (table scraps) to livestock, especially swill (meat and meat products) to pigs. Swill feeding is illegal in all Australian states and territories.
Leave it overseas
Food, plant material and animal products from overseas - including many common souvenirs – could introduce some of the world's most serious pests and diseases into Australia, devastating our valuable agriculture and tourism industries and unique environment.
Before you travel, you should check out the list of items you must declare to the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.
Your animals
Also see our biosecurity information specifically for: