THE West Australian Department of Agriculture and Food will provide information on alternatives to mulesing at several of its research station field days this month.
In April the department made a decision to stop surgical mulesing on its research stations in order to understand the managment issues and provide sheep producers with practical and effective information on alternatives.
Research officer Rob Woodgate said the goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative options and ensure the "highest standards of animal welfare."
"These include appropriate shearing and crutching times, the selective use of jetting agents and breeding and selection for less wrinkle, less dags and effective worm and scouring control,” Dr Woodgate said.
Dr Woodgate said the field days would provide sheep producers with the opportunity to ask questions and see first hand the alternative management practices that had been introduced by the department.
"Research stations north of Perth have started crutching, jetting and shearing to protect sheep from flystrike,” he said.
“Further south, fly activity is just beginning and the current management is being aimed at minimising dags, with close monitoring of all sheep a crucial activity.
“Each lamb flock is also being scored for breech wrinkle off shears to determine the variation in each flock and appropriate culling levels.”
Information on mulesing alternatives and viewing the first progeny group of un-mulesed lambs will be available on:
- Thursday, 9 October, Wongan Hills Research Station Field Day
- Tuesday, 14 October, Badgingarra Research Station Field Day
- Thursday, 16 October, GSARI Research Station Field Day (Katanning)
- Tuesday, 21 October, Mt Barker Research Station Field Day
The Mt Barker Field Day will provide more information on the Australian Wool Innovation funded research on ‘Breeding for Breechstrike Resistance’.
More information go to www.agric.wa.gov.au/mulesing
