Control experiences: Animal husbandry in midsummer

Now that summer 24 has decided to finally live up to its name, the requirements of the Animal Welfare Ordinance for hot days are becoming topical. Providing animals with proper and professional care at the height of summer increases their well-being and thus directly and immediately improves their performance. Only then can their genetic potential be utilised.

For the most part, animal husbandry on organic farms has been adapted to the changed situation in an exemplary manner. However, recent inspections have also shown that gaps in knowledge still need to be closed here and there.

The lines below should help to remind you of the important requirements of animal welfare legislation. First and foremost to ensure the welfare of your animals. But also to prevent severe reductions in direct payments and, in extreme cases, criminal charges.

A basic distinction is made between permanent outdoor housing for 24 hours and housing forms with access to pasture but daily stabling.

Permanent outdoor husbandry
If the animals are kept outdoors permanently, suitable natural or artificial weather protection must be available to them in extreme weather conditions (heat combined with strong sunlight). This must simultaneously provide all animals with protection from the midsummer conditions and the opportunity to lie dry. The lying area must therefore not be muddy.

The animals' state of health must be checked at least daily. In times of impending births, this check is required twice a day. Clean drinking water and sufficient feed must be available at all times.

The wool fleece of the sheep must have a thickness adapted to the weather conditions.

Free-range pigs must be offered a cubicle to protect them from extreme weather conditions. From a temperature of over 25°C (in the shade), a shady area outside the hutch and a wallow to cool down are required..

Grazing with stabling
The requirements for protecting animals from the summer heat are not described to the same binding extent for grazing livestock with daily stabling. However, common sense and a farmer's duty of care should make the requirements for this form of animal husbandry self-evident.

However, there are also binding requirements for animals that are housed daily or are housed anyway. Without claiming to be exhaustive, this article draws attention to some of the requirements, some of which have led to shortcomings during inspections on recent hot days.

• Water buffalo and yaks must have access to shade and water at all times when temperatures exceed 25°C. To cool down, the animals must be offered a bath, a wallow or a shower (yes, a shower).
• Freshly shorn sheep can suffer sunburn. This threat must be eliminated by providing a shaded area that provides protection for all animals.
• Pigs are unable to regulate their body temperature by sweating due to a lack of sweat glands. For this reason, Bio Suisse requires pigs kept indoors to be able to cool down when outside temperatures exceed 25°C and to have shade in the outdoor area.ea.

To keep animals in a species-appropriate and compliant manner, it is always worth reading the animal welfare control manuals for your own animal species carefully. These can be downloaded from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO).

Animal welfare offences: painful and expensive
Animal welfare violations are painful for the animals and expensive for the farmer. The consequences of an animal welfare offence can be considerable.

Here is an example (information without guarantee): A herd of suckler cows with 20 cows (20 LU) and 20 calves over 4 months of age (6.6 LU), which are not stabled, are in a pasture on a hot afternoon without sufficient shade for all the animals at the same time. If this deficiency is recorded during an inspection, this means a minimum penalty of CHF 2660.

For this sum, numerous protective measures against heat and solar radiation can be implemented. In any case, it is clearly better invested capital.

Published on www.bioaktuell.ch