Sheep

The PIRSA Biosecurity division oversees sheep health, identification, and movement.

Sheep health and diseases

Sheep Diseases: The Farmers' Guide

Learn to identify, treat and prevent diseases in your flock. Download the PDF or email us to request a hardcopy.

Download PDF Email: pirsa.lmscadmin@sa.gov.au

Livestock diseases risk calendar

Using this calendar can help you manage, treat and prevent diseases and disorders in your livestock based on seasonal conditions. The calendar contains disease and condition information about sheep and cattle. You can filter information including:

  • species
  • rainfall region
  • season
  • month.

Depending on your selections you will see information about diseases, nutritional issues, events and resources.

Download the livestock diseases risk calendar (XLSM 280.6 KB).

Use the sheep emergency animal disease augmented reality tool to spot signs of disease in your flock.

Learn more about sheep diseases:

Find out about our disease surveillance initiatives, including controls on using restricted animal material as feed.

Sheep and property identification

All properties with 1 or more sheep must be registered with a Property Identification Code (PIC).

Sheep must also be identified with a National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tag before being moved to any property or location with a different PIC.

Learn about transitioning to electronic identification (eID) for sheep and goats.

Sheep movement and traceability

The below video shares the importance of biosecurity and traceability measures when buying and selling sheep.

Animal health officers and livestock agents explain your responsibilities when transferring livestock.

Transcript

Hi, my name's Pene Keynes and I'm the Project Manager at Livestock SA managing the Livestock Biosecurity Extension Project.

Which is funded by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions.

Today we'll talk to livestock agents and Animal Health Officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions about biosecurity measures and considerations when buying and selling livestock.

On any given day in South Australia, producers are buying and selling livestock.

With each new purchase, there's always a risk of introducing disease weeds and other pests onto your property and into your flock.

Whether trading through local markets or interstate, all buyers and sellers have biosecurity and traceability obligations.

Today we'll guide you through the steps to ensure you meet those obligations and maintain a healthy and trusted livestock industry.

There's a number of steps to go through when selling livestock.

All animals being sold must be correctly identified and tagged with a National Livestock Identification System, NLIS approved device, before leaving the property.

Properties of origin must also have a registered property identification code or PIC with the Department of Primary Industries and Regions.

To move livestock, you must have an approved movement document.

The most common movement document is the Livestock Production Assurance, LPA's National Vendor Declaration, or NVD.

NVD's are legal documents.

It's important to read the requirements of each section of the NVD carefully and complete the form truthfully.

NVD's require that all withholding periods for all chemicals applied to the stock are met and recorded accurately in the NVD submission.

NVD's must be provided to buyers when selling through sale yards and abattoirs.

Once the animal is sold, buyers are then responsible for completing the NLIS transfer on the database.

And sellers should make sure that they check the database to ensure the animals have been moved off of their property.

In South Australia it is also a legal requirement to complete a Sheep Health Declaration when selling sheep.

The Sheep Health Declaration is a truthful declaration regarding the presence of foot rot, lice, and ovine brucellosis in the flock of the consignment and the vaccine status for Johne's disease for the animals specific to this consignment.

Animal welfare is also important in the transport of livestock.

It is illegal to transport animals that are not fit to do so, which can include animals who are unable to bear weight on all four legs, have visible signs of severe injuries, are dehydrated, emaciated, or simply not strong enough to make the journey.

Are blind in both eyes and are in the late stages of pregnancy or too young to be transported.

It is also important that time off feed requirements are met.

Meet and Livestock Australia or MLA, has a "fit to load" guide that can be downloaded from the MLA website.

The guide provides more information on transporting livestock and how to ensure they'll be strong enough for the journey.

It's important to find out as much information as you can about the animals you are looking to buy.

Researching the livestock you are purchasing, and if possible, visually inspecting both them and the associated NVD and Sheep Health Declaration before the purchase will tell you what animals are coming onto your farm.

If you require higher level of assurance for certain diseases, try to source sheep from properties accredited 75 under specific disease assurance programs, such as One Biosecurity, the OJD Market Assurance Program, or Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation program.

Also inspecting animals at sale yards and talking to agents can give you a better understanding of the health of the animals and any potential concerns.

Today we're at the Naracoorte Livestock Exchange.

Today there was a big first-cross ewe sale on.

Which grabs a lot of attention from around the state.

If you're buying some stock, I would recommend checking the paperwork before you get into looking at anything and making sure it's lining up with what your, objectives with buying stock are.

There's no issues with your hopping in having a look at the pen, looking out for lameness illness, any signs of other diseases, soundness as well.

So there's no issues with anyone hopping in, checking, you are the buyer.

It's in your right to check those animals before you purchase them.

So today there was a few more placards on the pens.

The vendors had put up, showing a bit more information about their drenching status, their vaccination status.

Some of them had been independently assessed for notifiable diseases.

Just to give people a bit more information of what they were actually buying and purchasing.

It is also important to ensure you receive the correct paperwork from the seller, including the National Vendor Declaration and the Sheep Health Declaration.

As we mentioned, it is the buyer's responsibility to complete the transfer of the animals on the NLIS database.

In the transfer process, the buyer will use the detail in the National Vendor Declaration.

This is a legal requirement and the transfer and movement of livestock must be completed on the NLIS database by the buyer within seven days from the purchase.

Doing this early after the sale and transfer will help ensure our livestock traceability systems are accurate and up to date.

If you are buying livestock through a sale yard, the livestock agent or sale yard should complete the NLIS database transfer of the livestock to your property on your behalf.

As a buyer, always check the newly purchased animals have been correctly transferred in the NLIS.

If you are buying livestock through Auctions Plus or privately, you are responsible for completing the transfer on the NLIS database.

If you need assistance, you can contact Integrity Systems Company customer service on 1800 683 or visit the Integrity Systems Company website.

You've inspected your newly purchased sheep, their NVD and Sheep Health Declaration paperwork prior to the purchase and are now about to introduce them to your property.

There is still a chance this consignment could be harbouring pests and diseases.

Before introducing them to your property, visually inspect all new animals for footrot, lice and scabby mouth, injuries and ongoing illnesses and weed seeds.

The newly updated Sheep Diseases Guide is a great tool that can assist when inspecting sheep for signs of disease.

Contact your local PIRSA Animal Health Office to order a copy of the guide or download from the PIRSA website.

After sheep have been visually inspected, put them in a quarantine paddock for a minimum of two weeks.

This will provide time to empty out any weed seeds, monitor for disease and check what treatments may be required before introducing them to the rest of your property.

If possible, find out as much information as you can about the history of the animals, including previous treatments given.

Quarantining also allows time to assess for unwell animals or tailenders, before deciding to introduce them to the rest of the farm.

The quarantine paddock can be later inspected for new weed seed species, which can be controlled before impacting the rest of the farm.

When quarantining new sheep, as a general rule, the longer in quarantine, the better for all your sheep and your property.

It is also important to be aware of signs of serious or emergency animal diseases.

If livestock is showing unusual symptoms, signs of emergency animal disease, or there have been significant stock losses following the arrival of your animals at your property, contact your vet or local PIRSA Animal Health Office and report to that emergency animal disease hotline on 1800 675 888, as soon as possible.

Calling the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline is free and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you have any other issues or concerns with stock you have purchased, contact the agent and seller as early as possible and discuss your concerns with them.

In summary, sellers have the responsibility to disclose accurate and honest information and provide the correct paperwork.

Ensure animals are tagged and are healthy and fit to load.

Buyers have the responsibility to find out as much information as they can about the animals they're buying, inspect and quarantine new animals, and ensure the transfer is complete on the NLIS database.

By following these simple biosecurity practices when buying and selling livestock, you can help prevent the spread of disease and pests in our industry.

Emergency Animal Disease Hotline

Suspected disease or pests in livestock, poultry or aquatic animals must be reported immediately.

Call us to help stop the spread of animal illness, even if you are unsure of the disease.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Freecall 1800 675 888
Page last reviewed: 25 Sep 2023

 


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