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Feed
Feed has been shown to be the culprit in introducing some serious diseases to livestock.
How can the feed you give your animals affect their health?
Feed can carry disease
Purchased feed can be the way you introduce disease to your property.
Poor feed storage encourages pests
It's not just livestock who love the feed - native/feral animals and pests are attracted to it too
Old feed can harbour organisms
It can create an environment where they dangerous organisms can multiply.
There are some illegal feed substances
These arevery dangerous to your livestock, but may also land you in trouble if you feed your livestock with them. Try to ensure that visitors and passersby do not feed your livestock, so you can be sure.
Check: Is your livestock feed from a known, safe source? Is it stored in a way that will minimise contamination and access by pests and other animals?
Reduce the risk
Make sure you know about the feed you buy into your property - where it came from, how it was formulated, any association with disease animals, chemical use - for maximum certainty about its safety for your livestock and your farming future.
Feed can carry disease
- Swill feeding is illegal throughout Australia. This dangerous practice has led to the spread of diseases such as FMD in many countries. Do not do it and do prevent visitors/passersby from being able to do it.
- The feeding of restricted animal material (RAM) is illegal in Australia. The feeding of RAM has led to the spread of BSE throughout the world. Do not do it yourself and do put measures in place to prevent visitors/passersby from being able to do it. Australia is free of BSE and we want to stay that way.
- Don't allow visitors or passers-by to feed your animals.
- Only buy your stockfeed from sources you know and trust to provide quality feed.
- For complete certainty, always get a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD) or a By-product Vendor Declaration (BVD) where possible. This tells you everything you need to know about the origins of the feed.
Poor feed storage encourages pests
- Keep feed in a clean, dry storage area.
- Keep feed stores covered and closed to make sure pets, feral animals/pests and wildlife can't get at it.
- Clean feed troughs regularly.
Old feed can harbour organisms
- Mouldy, wet feed is the cause of many illnesses that can cause production problems and even lead to livestock deaths.
- Dispose of old or contaminated feed safely, keeping it away from livestock and pests.
Feed and your livestock
The challenges posed by the need to have reliable, clean feed for livestock vary significantly between industries.
Your industry will have developed farm biosecurity tools and management practices to address the husbandry needs and pests and disease of your industry.
These pages will give you more information on farm biosecurity specific to your livestock industry.
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Feed and your state or territory
Contaminated feed can spread disease in any climate and location. 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.
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Careful: There is different legislation for the transport of feed stuffs in various state and territories, including for things like grass toxicity (ARGT) residues.
It is important to regularly inspect stock for any sign of health issues.
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.