Livestock Farm Practice

SANITATION PROGRAMME

• It includes the following
  • Adequate ventilation.
  • Proper lighting.
  • Adequate drainage.
  • Proper cleaning.
  • Proper disinfection.
• Losses among livestock from infectious diseases and parasites, often can be prevented if the following essential features of adequate sanitation are adopted in the living quarters:
  • Proper ventilation without drafts and without accumulation of moisture on walls and ceiling.
  • Proper disposal of manure, feed wastes and other excreta twice daily and keeping manure pit covered with straw to prevent breeding place of files.
  • Proper construction of smooth and wide enough gutter for holding accumulated droppings and with proper slope to facilitate drainage of liquid excreta.
  • Watering and feeding utensils so constructed that they may be easily cleaned and thoroughly disinfected.
  • Good lighting programme through doors, windows, ventilation and artificial lights to facilitate proper cleaning and keeping floor dry.
  • Smooth inside walls with corners rounded to facilitate cleaning and disinfection.
  • Use of proper and clean bedding material (e.g. saw-dust, wheat bhusa, paddy straw etc.) and removed at least once daily.
  • Avoiding use of permanent pastures where internal parasites or their intermediate hosts are found.
  • Judicious use of such insecticides that have no adverse physiological effects on the animal body e.g malathion dust.
  • Adequate cleaning prior to effective disinfection.
  • Sweeping and scrubbing all feed racks, troughs and passages and disinfecting with lye solution.
  • Burning of all sweepings and scrapings.
  • Application of heavy consisting of white-wash containing a reliable disinfectant to the floors, walls and partitions, managers etc. (1/2 kg of lime in one gallon of water +disinfectant).
  • In case of mud floor, a top of 12 to 15 cm soil is removed and replaced with clean soil.
  • Providing plenty of shade in hot weather.
  • Routine programme of deworming specially for animals on pasture.
  • Judicious spraying for lice and mange.
  • Segregating the sick animals.
  • Protecting feed and water from being contaminated with sewage disposals.
  • Proper disposal of infected litter and carcass.
  • Proper cleaning and disinfection of calving pens.
  • Abundant supply of clean water with good pressure for easy and effective cleaning of milking parlours etc.
  • Barns and stalls must be constructed with concrete metal stanchion which are easier to clean than wood.