Livestock welfare
Following a bushfire, the welfare of livestock needs to be monitored and managed appropriately.
General information
Feeding and nutrition
- Confinement feeding
- Welfare scoring nutritionally deprived beef cattle, dairy cattle and their crosses,sheep and horses (PDF, 4125.18 KB)
- Drought and Supplementary Feed Calculator
- Supplementary feeding principles
- Water requirements for sheep and cattle (PDF, 187.74 KB)
- Buying hay or silage after a flood, fire or drought – visual assessment
- Media release: Livestock grazing risks after rain
Bushfire burns, humane destruction and burial
- Assessing bushfire burns in livestock (PDF, 836.94 KB)
- Humane Destruction of livestock (PDF, 472.4 KB)
- Disposing of carcasses
Further information on livestock welfare, when feed and water resources are in short supply, is available on DroughtHub.
Video
Stock health
Reminder: Livestock on green feed, especially fodder crops, need regular boosters with 5 in 1 to avoid pulpy kidney/enterotoxaemia (maybe up to every two months).
Reminder: Animals that have been on agistment may have been exposed to diseases such as pestivirus. Talk to your vet about vaccinations and testing.
Livestock health checklists
Ewes
Ewes need ongoing assessment for body condition, hoof damage, breeding suitability and fly strike where skin damage has occurred. Health checklist for lambing ewes:
- Damaged teats can scar over and lead to lamb deaths. Check before lambing.
- Maintain body condition/fat score to maximise reproductive potential.
- Provide mineral supplementation on fodder crops to prevent lambing difficulties and rickets in lambs.
- Vaccinate, especially as green feed becomes available, using 5 in 1 as a minimum.
Rams
- Scrotal palpation for scarring and adhesions if burnt (infertility from high heat events can last six weeks or more).
- Body condition/fat score.
- Mobility can be affected with hoof damage.
- Vaccination.
Cattle
- Check for teat damage before calving.
- Heifers should be checked before joining. Sell any with significant damage for slaughter.
- Bulls should undergo a physical assessment, including scrotal palpation for scarring and checking of the pizzle.
- Fat score and body condition for both cows and bulls needs to be optimum for reproduction and rejoining of cows.
- Vaccinate with 7 in 1 for cows and add vibriosis for bulls, especially with animals that have been agisted.
