Everybody has different ways they keep track of their animal health records, however, the content for audits generally remains the same: what animal has been treated with what product, and when. On top of keeping up with animal welfare obligations, this treatment information aims to keep unwanted residues out of the human food system.
At BEEF 2024 in Rockhampton, we had a conversation with one of the AUS-MEAT auditors about the accurate recording animal health treatments. He said they want everybody to succeed at their record keeping and subsequent audits, however we also realise how time consuming the recording process can be. The recording system below is a version of what he suggests to his clients.
This information is particularly relevant for customers who haven’t already got clear and consistent treatment recording habits or software.
Download the ANIMAL HEALTH RECORD KEEPING TEMPLATE
Download the CHEMVET PRODUCT REFERENCE INFORMATION
- Recording Inward Products & Assigning Each Batch a Code (Chemical Inventory)
When you receive any animal health products (including drenches, vaccines, mineral supplements, antibiotics, pain relief, sedatives, etc.) it’s important to note down the information about each batch.
Information required includes the product name, batch number, expiry date, dose rate and withholding periods.
A good Chemical Inventory can save you a lot of time when it comes to recording your livestock treatments. Download the ANIMAL HEALTH RECORD KEEPING TEMPLATE above.
Notice how every batch of product received is assigned an ‘Internal Product Code’. This code allows you to save time when recording livestock treatments, as you can note down the internal product code you treated the mob with, rather than having to write out all the information again and again. Once you assign a product a code, write it on the actual drum or box so that you can easily distinguish between batches when you are working.
- The Livestock Treatment Record
Good treatment records aren’t just for the auditors, they’re required on National Vendor Declarations if you sell your stock within any withholding periods, and are extremely useful for your own management insights. For example, if a mob starts to look a bit wormy not too long after drenching them, a question we ask, when figuring out if drench resistance is present, is how many days ago they were drenched. If you’ve got good records and can answer this accurately, then the quality of advice that Chemvet and other livestock consultants can provide will be a lot more relevant and therefore useful.
Section 2 of the ANIMAL HEALTH RECORD KEEPING TEMPLATE is for recording your livestock treatments ‘on-the-go’. If it’s easier, you can write them in one of our Vetmec Pocket Notebooks or the ‘Notes App’ on your phone, using a similar format.