Animal Movement

Moving animals can introduce your livestock to disease.

Reduce the risk

Animal movement and your livestock

Animal movement in your state or territory

How can animal movements affect your enterprise?

Introducing new animals onto a property
New or visiting animals can have diseases you don't know about.

Fencing 
Broken or missing fences can allow your stock to mix with neighbours' stock or wild animals, which heightens the risks for the transfer of diseases to your property.

Moving animals
Visiting/new animals can bring disease with them, or take it away. As many animals are based on properties where there is movement of animals on and off the property, the opportunity for disease to spread rapidly across many properties is high.

Taking animals to shows/sales 
At public areas your animals can be exposed to many diseases by mixing with other animals or coming in contact with pens, vehicles and equipment. Even if you don't buy new animals, your vehicle can carry disease home. If you carry a disease home, it can then spread amongst your own stock

Check: When and where does your stock move? - and how might they contact disease through movement?

Animal movement - reduce the risk

Make sure you know about the animals you are bringing on to your farm - and that the vehicles they travel on are cleaned and disinfected before use.

It's important to keep records of where your animals came from and where they have been. Being able to trace the path of a disease quickly is important to controlling it.

It is good practise to require an NVD for all animals entering your property, to ensure they are healthy. For greater assurance, ask for an annual health statement.

Introducing new animals onto a property

• Aim to buy stock from sources you trust.
• Always insist on a NVD/health declaration and history of their treatment.
• It is important to regularly inspect stock for any sign of health issues.
• Keep new livestock separate from other animals for a suitable period. This gives time for disease symptoms to emerge, and reduces the chance of infecting your other stock.
• If you are using an animal transport company, make sure you know that their cleaning and disinfecting practices will protect your stock.
• Speak to your vet about an appropriate animal health program for new stock.

Fencing

• Maintain boundary fences to keep your animals contained.
• Maintain buffer distances - double fencing between neighbouring properties. Contact your neighbours over any fencing issues and for any movement of stock.

Moving animals

• If you are moving animals, seek advice from your vet on the best way to confirm livestock health.
• Your local state or territory department will have stock health statements for identifying the risk of incoming stock.

Taking animals to shows

• Only take animals in peak condition to shows - do not risk infecting other's animals if yours are unwell.
• Isolate animals for a suitable period on return to your property.
• Keep a close eye on your animals for any signs of disease in the first two weeks after they return to your property.

Taking animals to sales

• When you bring stock back from sales, treat them as per show stock above.
• Be careful of your contact with other animals at the sale yards.
• Ensure your vehicle does not pick up any contaminated material and take it back to your property. This includes vehicles carrying your stock.

Animal movement and your livestock

Animal movement can be a significant contributor to disease spread, regardless of what industry is involved - but the management practices, the pests and diseases that may cause problems in each industry, and the range of farm biosecurity tools that can be used to address them, can vary significantly.

These pages will give you more information on farm biosecurity specific to your livestock industry.

Animal movement in your state or territory

Different regions of Australia may have different approaches to farm biosecurity depending on state laws, climate, disease status and other factors.

These pages will give you more information on farm biosecurity specific to your state or territory.

If you spot unexpected or unusual signs of disease, abnormal behaviour or unexpected deaths in your animals, act immediately. Call your veterinarian, local government animal health authority or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.