How to reduce the risk of new arrivals

Vet Catriona Benson looks at what you can do to make sure introducing new livestock does not bring health issues to existing animals or birds

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Adding to your collection of livestock is exciting! New arrivals can offer numerous benefits. Whether it’s the perfect ram to sire next year’s lambs, fresh genetics for your pig herd, or diversifying into a new breed - there are lots of reasons why you may want to go animal shopping!

However, be aware that your new acquisitions may bring with them more than you bargained for. Bringing new animals onto your smallholding is one of the easiest ways to introduce new diseases, too.

HIDDEN DISEASES AND CARRIER ANIMALS

We're all smart enough to avoid bringing home an animal that’s obviously ill. If your prospective purchase is limping, coughing or skinny, it’s clear that this is not a good investment!

The hidden danger comes from ‘carrier’ animals. Many infectious diseases can be silently harboured by animals that show no outward signs of illness. These carriers may continuously shed pathogens, putting your entire herd or flock at risk.

Common examples include CAE in goats, mycoplasma infections in pigs and chickens, and Johne’s disease in cows, sheep, and goats. These are all serious conditions that you'll want to keep far away from your livestock.

We also need to bear in mind that all diseases have an incubation period. This is the delay between an animal becoming infected, and the time when it actually starts to show symptoms. During the incubation period, you usually cannot tell whether an animal is infected just by examining it. Incubation periods are very variable: two weeks for footrot in sheep, two years for Johne's disease!

What this means in practice is that we cannot be sure that any animal is disease free just from examining it. It may be either incubating an infection, or be a silent carrier. Either of these can introduce new diseases to your existing livestock.

CLOSED FLOCKS