In Australia, it is illegal to feed restricted animal material (RAM) to ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats, deer, camels and alpacas). This is known as the 'ruminant feed ban'.
It is important for all small landholders to do a water budget when making a decision on the number of animals to run on your property.
This will be the basis in deciding whether to limit your stock to suit water availability, or to extend water harvesting to cope with extra animals.
Botulism is a rapid onset, usually fatal disease caused by the botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
Typical signs include hindlimb weakness progressing to paralysis, collapse and death.
Vaccines can prevent a wide range of diseases that cause reduced production, fertility or death in cattle and economic losses to Western Australian producers.
It is illegal to feed meat, meat products and food that has been in contact with meat to pigs in Australia. These rules apply to every pig, including pet pigs and pigs kept for home consumption.
Downy mildew of grapevines can cause serious crop loss if weather conditions are favourable. The presence of oil spots in the vines indicates that primary or secondary infection events have occurred.
Nasal bots are the maggots or larvae of the sheep nasal bot fly, Oestrus ovis. Nasal bots are often found in sheep and goats but do not cause significant problems and owners are usually unaware of their presence.
The productivity of sheep is largely governed by the amount of pasture they eat and this is influenced by the quantity of the pasture on offer and its quality.
Hydatid disease is a serious human health concern, caused by cysts of the tapeworm parasite Echinococcus granulosus.
The health and nutrition of the pregnant ewe largely determines how successful lambing is in any given year.
