Animal Care

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Cattle Housing

Do you ensure that housing for unweaned calves:

 a. Allows calves to easily stand up, lie down, turn around (180°) and adopt normal resting postures?
 b. Provides bedding?
 c. Permits calves to have visual contact with other cattle?
 d. If group housing, provides a bedded area large enough to allow all calves to rest comfortably at the same time?

Do you ensure that housing for weaned heifers:

 a. Allows heifers to easily stand up, lie down, and adopt normal resting postures?
 b. Provides bedding?
 c. Permits heifers to have visual contact with other cattle?
 d. If group housing, provides a bedded area large enough to allow all heifers to rest comfortably at the same time?

Do you ensure that bull housing (if applicable to your farm):

 a. Permits bulls to easily stand up, lie down, adopt normal resting postures, and mount safely?
 b. Provides bedding?

Do you ensure that dry cattle housing:

 a. Allows cattle to easily stand up, lie down, and adopt normal resting postures?
 b. Provides bedding?

Do you ensure that dry cattle and lactating cattle housing provides adequate stocking densities?  (Free-stall: does not exceed 1.2 mature cows per usable stall. Bedded-pack pens: provide 11 m² (120 ft²) per mature Holstein cow.)

Do your animal husbandry, manure and waste management systems ensure the cleanliness of lactating cattle’s udders, legs and flanks?

Do you ensure that the calving area (prior to and after delivery of calf) is kept clean and dry?

Do you have a designated area for the segregation and treatment of sick and injured cattle?

Tie-stall Barns: Are electric trainers:

 a. Designed to not exceed 2500 Volts?
 b. Equipped with a height adjustment?
 c. Located over the chine when the animal is standing with her hind feet near the gutter curb?

Feed and Water

Have you established and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for colostrum management and calf feeding?

Do heifers receive feed that is adequate for maintaining health, growth and vigour?

Do all cattle have access to a clean water source?

Biosecurity and Animal Health

Have you established and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for animal health practices (e.g. disbudding/dehorning, castration, supernumerary teat removal and branding) that includes appropriate pain control where required?

Do you provide prompt medical care for cattle that are sick, injured, too thin (BCS ≤2), severely lame, in pain or suffering?

Have you established and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for managing down cattle?

Have you established and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for euthanasia?

Have you:

1. Had a cattle assessment conducted by an independent assessor on your milking herd for Body Condition Score; hock, knee and neck score; and mobility score? (Record 7)
2. Documented and implemented an appropriate corrective action plan for results in the red zones to meet the program’s timelines for continuous improvement? (Record 7b).

Do your cattle have full tails? 

Handling and Shipping Animals

Do you handle cattle without the use of electric cattle prods whenever possible?

Have you established and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for shipping cattle? 

Staff Training and Communication

Do you train all animal handlers, and are they familiar with cattle behaviour and quiet handling techniques?

Do you have a written corrective action plan on how to communicate and address downed animals?