Help tokeep animals healthy

A new website to help farmers, crofters and animal keepers protect their animals from infectious diseases and reduce their reliance on antibiotics was launched at the AgriScot event at Ingliston yesterday.

The Scotland’s Healthy Animals website was launched by Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.

It has been developed by Health Protection Scotland in conjunction with NFU Scotland, Livestock Health Scotland, vets and Scottish Government.

Mr Ewing said the website brought together information and guidance for animal keepers on the steps

“Reducethe dependencyon antimicrobial drugs”

they can take to prevent infectious diseases affecting their animals.

“Attention to biosecurity has long been seen as critical to limiting the impact of infectious animal diseases in the livestock sector and this new tool aims to help reduce the use of antimicrobials by providing disease prevention advice,” said Mr Ewing.

“Promotion of biosecurity and good husbandry practices contribute to improvements in the health and welfare of animals, the profitability of rural businesses, and helps reduce the dependency on costly antimicrobial drugs.”

The website also includes the new poultry hub, which explains to poultry keepers how to minimise the possibility of avian flu infecting their flocks.