The least romantic page on this site, and one of the more important ones. What we do to keep disease off this farm, and what that means for you as a buyer or a visitor.
Small farms are not exempt from any of this. If anything a handful of much-loved animals is harder to replace than a commercial mob, and a small holder is far less likely to have a plan. Most disease arrives one of three ways: in a new animal, on a visitor's boots, or over a shared fence. All three are manageable.
Every animal coming onto this farm is held separately before it joins the others — its own water, its own feed, no fence-line contact. The general advice in Australia is somewhere between two and four weeks, and longer if anything looks off. That includes animals returning from anywhere else.
We ask the same questions we expect to be asked: health status, testing history, what has been on the property. Whoever you're buying from, the ones worth naming are Johne's disease, pestivirus (BVDV) and lice or mange in cattle; CAE, Johne's and CL in goats; OJD, footrot and lice in sheep.
Ask any breeder what they test for, how often, and what they can actually put in front of you — results, dates, the paperwork. Then ask just as directly what they don't test for. A straight answer either way tells you more than a reassuring one, and it's what protects the animals you already have at home. Ask us the same questions and we'll answer them.
We love showing people the animals, and we ask that visits are arranged rather than spontaneous. Clean boots and clothes that have not been in another paddock that day. If you have been on another property recently, tell us when you book and we'll sort out the order we walk things in.
Nose-to-nose contact over a boundary fence is one of the commonest ways disease moves between properties. The creek that runs through the place is double-fenced on both sides — which we did after a bull named Boulder decided one summer that he'd like a swim.
PIC registered, NLIS movements recorded, and a written record of every animal on and off the place. Dull, and it is the thing that makes a traceback survivable if one ever happens.
You are entitled to ask a breeder about health status before you buy, and a good one will answer without hesitating. If the answer is vague, that vagueness is itself the answer.
Worth asking anyone: what do you test for and when did you last test? Has anything come onto the property recently? What is the animal's drenching and vaccination history? Can I see the vendor declaration?
And quarantine your new animal when it gets home, even if it came from us. Not because we expect a problem, but because the habit is what protects you the one time it matters. Two to four weeks is the usual recommendation: a separate paddock, its own water and feed, no fence-line contact with your existing stock — and do the new one last when you're going round.
No question about health status is rude, and we would far rather you asked us before you bought than wondered afterwards.