Written by Nicolina Venice Foti, Cornell Cooperative Extension Saratoga County
When it comes to agriculture and farms, biosecurity is something that is always on our minds and should always be taken seriously. We have been doing this long before COVID and with the recent influx of Avian influenza A (H5N1), we are reminded of what can happen when biosecurity is lax. We typically see biosecurity procedures on large farms. When it comes to small homesteads, it’s not something we think about planning for… until we have a problem.
Typically, on small farms and homesteads, if you do not have livestock moving on and off the farm often or if you (the homesteader) are not frequently visiting other farms and having direct contact with your own animals you won’t usually have any problems. However, even if you don’t usually have problems, it is a great idea to create a bio-security plan to protect yourself and your homestead or small farm. Implementing simple biosecurity measures into everyday practices can prevent these larger issues.
Why have Biosecurity measures, and when do we need them?
We have them to stop the spread of disease among a herd on one single homestead/farm but also to prevent the spread from one homestead to others. A biosecurity procedure should be implemented in our daily chore routine to keep our animals healthy. There are other situations that call for biosecurity procedures:
• Getting a new animal on the farm.
» You don’t know if that animal was exposed to other sick animals before you picked them up. While they may appear healthy, they can be carriers and get your animals sick. Isolate them for at least one week to observe their health and behavior.
• Returning with your animals from off-farm activities.
» Taking livestock to shows or events with other people and animals creates an opportunity for exposure. Isolate them for 3-5 days for observation.
• Something just seems off about an animal.
» As a homesteader, if you have animals, you get to know them very well, like members of our family. Because of that, we can notice small changes in behavior. These changes in behavior can be a result of their health, so if something seems off, separating them in isolation early can stop the spread to other animals on the homestead. Keep everyone safe until a veterinarian can identify the issue and clears them to be back with their friends.
What are some basic SOPs (standard operating procedures) for biosecurity that you can implement into your daily chore routine?
• Avoid cross-contact between outside animals and yours.
If you visit another farm, or go to an auction or fair, when you return home to take care of your animals, wash your hands, and change your clothes and shoes. Many diseases are passed from animal to human to another animal. Many times, what is being spread does not affect humans, but we act as carriers and are able to spread disease to livestock.
• Have barn boots you only use at your farm!
• Or incorporate a Boot dip station.
Our shoes and barn boots can be the biggest spreaders for biosecurity. Why is that? Well, we wear boots because they get dirty with mud and, of course, poop! Think about it, how often do you disinfect your boots? Go ahead, think I will wait... Yeah, like never, I know! It seems silly to disinfect something that gets covered in poop daily. And if it's your animal poop all day, every day, typically, that is no issue. But if you wear them to your neighbor's farm to help with chores and come home and run to the barn quick and you walk into your hay storage, whatever is or could be on those boots is now in your hay. Whether you use it as feed or bedding, that hay will contact your livestock. The other animals didn’t make contact, you didn’t make contact, the contaminated boots did!
Boot Dip: A boot dip is a solution of disinfectant in a bucket or shallow tub, that we step in (step, step, splash!) and step out of, then continue our day. Large farms will incorporate them between different barns or arenas to help with on-farm biosecurity.
Seasonal Biosecurity practices
I like to have seasonal whole-farm disinfecting days. I take everything myself- or the animals- use or encounter (especially things in the barn that don’t get out into the elements often). I take it out, wash with a disinfectant, and put it away. While cleaning tools, buckets, and equipment are important, we tend to forget the big things like the barn itself. In the spring, I take everything out of my barns, pens, coops, (whatever you have that houses your animals), then I spray EVERYTHING with disinfectant, let it sit for a while, and hose it all down.
Plan to isolate or handle a biosecurity issue.
If you end up having a situation where you need to isolate an animal from others on your homestead, you should be aware of the following.
• Tend to the sick, isolated animal last. If you were to handle the sick or isolated animal first, even with biosecurity measures in place, you run the risk of transmitting things to other animals. When you are done with chores, remove all clothes and put them directly into the wash. Clean or disinfect your shoes, and clean and disinfect yourself.
• If using a communal feed-storage area, bring the feed to the isolated animal. Do not bring it back.
• Animals in isolation should have their own feed and water buckets.
• Anything that is used with or on the animal in isolation should not be used with any other animals until it has been fully disinfected.
• When filling water buckets, keep hose-ends out of buckets.
• The animal needs to be isolated. They should not share anything with any other animal - domestic or wild.
• Lastly, do not share any barn cleaning equipment from the isolation area with other areas. Not until the isolation period is over and everything has been fully disinfected.