Before you create your plan, speak with your vet about how you and your team can improve health outcomes for your animals. Visit our website too, to check out our Cared for Cows Standard, which proactively supports animal ​​wellbeing.

Animals that are treated with pain relief (e.g., for mastitis, lameness, or calf scours) recover faster, have better reproductive performance and are less likely to be culled compared to those not given pain relief.

Ensure your plan covers calf rearing, colostrum management, vaccinations for preventable diseases, a parasite management programme, trace element testing and supplementation for all age groups, lameness, and reproductive performance, including cows that are not ovulating or showing signs of being ‘on heat’ (i.e., ready for mating).

Once you have an Animal Wellbeing Plan in place, share it with your farm team so everyone knows what’s expected of them and what needs doing on-farm. Emphasise the importance of early diagnosis: animals that are identified and effectively treated earlier, recover faster and are less likely to be culled.

Know your true number of cases of each disease or condition by keeping accurate records, including for diseases that are treated with products without a withholding period. Set targets with your farm’s vet based on an acceptable number of cases for your farm – and have a plan for what actions to take if that number is exceeded. Make sure you have accurate records for each cow's ID so you cull the correct animals.

Record key dates for actions in your Animal Wellbeing Plan and keep good quality records of instances of disease or infection and other conditions such as lameness. Include cow identity for culling decisions.

It’s a great idea to have a disease prevention and management focus included in your Animal Wellbeing Plan to help you manage things like parasites, diseases, mastitis or calf scours. This is especially important during mating, and to make sure new animals or people coming onto the farm don’t spread disease.

Know your true number of cases for each disease by keeping accurate records, including for diseases that are treated with products without a withholding period. Set targets with your farm’s vet based on an acceptable number of cases for your farm – and have a plan for what actions to take if that number is exceeded.

Once you have an Animal Wellbeing Plan in place, share it with your farm team so everyone knows what’s expected of them on-farm to prevent diseases. If disease or parasite issues do occur and need notifying, ensure your team knows how to report them using Biosecurity New Zealand’s website or freephone hotline.

Keep track. Record key dates for actions in your Plan and keep good quality records of instances of disease or infection. Also, ensure your NAIT (National Identification and Tracking Programme) records are up to date – these are vital for tracking and tracing cows should notifiable diseases occur.

Ask your vet for information in the first instance. You can also use your Farm Insights Report to look at mastitis, lameness, and 6-week in-calf rates to see how your farm’s going compared others in your area or region.

Is the 6-week-in-calf rate low? It might indicate issues related to feeding, trace element deficiencies or endometritis (an inflammation of the lining of the uterus). Look at the Body Condition Score (BCS) data, culture results and other test results – are there any unusual numbers?

BCS regularly (four times a year). Plan for when cows will be dried off, so you can meet next season’s BCS targets. Watch for lameness, disease and infections, especially those that occur seasonally. Treat these early and separate affected cows from the rest of the herd until they recover.

Youngstock need to hit their ‘weigh-for-age’ targets so they can become healthier producers and achieve good reproductive performance. Weigh them every six weeks and enter the weights into your herd management software. Make changes made if they are behind target.