6.05 - On-farm animal welfare compliance

Download the full module

Open PDF of the checklist of onfarm animal welfare compliance

Procedure Comment ✔ or ✘
Read and adopt code of practice for welfare of cattle. Have all guidelines been followed for your farm? Refer to Procedure 5 for a list of relevant codes, guidelines and publications.  
Read and adopt code of practice for transport. Have all guidelines been followed for your farm including not exceeding the time cattle are off water for transport? Refer to Procedure 5 for a list of relevant codes, guidelines and publications.  
Read and adopt code of practice for animals at saleyards. Have all guidelines been followed for your farm including not exceeding the time cattle are without access to water? Refer to Procedure 5 for a list of relevant codes, guidelines and publications.  
Read and adopt MLA's Is it fit to load? publication. Have all guidelines been followed and do you ensure cattle unsatisfactory for transport are not loaded? Refer to Procedure 5 for details on the publication.  
Do your cattle meet or exceed condition score targets? Meeting targets is a core requirement for effective production and welfare of cattle.  
Do you provide adequate quality and quantity of water to your cattle? Refer to information on water quality available from state departments of primary industries and agriculture for water quality for cattle.  
Are cattle free of diseases (or managed)? Adopt control programs for worms, fluke and other important diseases. Refer to informationon sporadic diseases and disorders and Tool 6.7: Cattle disease guide.  
Are cattle polled? Ideally, select for polled cattle to eliminate welfare issues and carcase damage to cattle.  
Response to health problems: Do you monitor the production of your cattle, including nutrition, deaths and other signs and have trigger points to investigate disease before they cause significant problems?

Mortality rate <2% for all classes of stock. Refer to information in

Procedure 1, 2, and 3.

  
Adopt efficient husbandry procedures. Combine management events to minimise handling, follow codes of practice. Adopt management systems that prevent impact of diseases. Refer to Procedure 5.  
Management of calving cows. Provide adequate nutrition and manage heifers to minimise dystocia rates. Management of heifers to minimise dystocia and provide adequate nutrition to optimise herd production. Refer to Procedure 5.  
Management of disasters, fire, flood, drought. Have you developed contingency plans for severe climatic events? Refer to Procedure 5.  
Do your handling systems incorporate features of animal behaviour to minimise stress? Do you and staff continue to develop expertise in animal handling and management? Refer to Procedure 5.