New Zealand agricultural history. No 8. Importing exotic sheep breeds

 Scrapie suspected at Mana Island quarantine station

 Confirmation by international expert Dr J.T. Stamp

Burning of carcases at Mana

By Dr Clive Dalton

Shock-horror at Mana Island. 

 Scrapie

A report in Surveillance Vol 5:4 1978 by MAF veterinarian Dave Collins reported that a clinical case of Scrapie was confirmed in an East Friesian ewe on Mana Island on 30 September 1976.  

 This triggered the following recommendations by a special technical committee set up to deal with the emergency:

• All the East Friesians should be destroyed because they were closely related and came originally from the same flock in the UK.  Finn sheep from the same property in UK, together with their purebred progeny and F1 crosses on Mana should also be destroyed. This was done.
•  The possibility of lateral spread of the disease to other exotic sheep and their crosses could not be ruled out, so the remaining sheep in quarantine on Mana and at Crater should be kept in quarantine for 5 more years.
•  If another Scrapie case occurred during this extended quarantine period, all sheep, which had been in direct or indirect contact with infected sheep would be destroyed.

 These first sheep (total of 300) were slaughtered and their carcases burned on Mana.               Photo by Ken Seecombe

More bad news - more Scrapie

But things got worse.  The disease was not eliminated with the slaughter of the East Friesians and some Finns on Mana, as it reappeared again that year (1978) in one of the remaining Finns. As a result the entire flock of 1900 head on Mana was slaughtered.

There were too many to contemplate building a funeral pyre, so they were  deep buried in a pit on the west side of the island.  All tags were removed from the carcasses before burial.

Wallaceville 2013 - Up for lease! A disgrace!
Photo: Allen Heath

John Dobbie remembers this well as he and the other Genetics technical staff of Tim Harvey and Ian Malthus ended up in the thick of it.  Another Finn ewe started to sicken John says late on a Friday, when public servants of course were heading home for the weekend.  

 So John had great difficulty finding someone in MAF Animal Health Division with the authority to move the sick sheep off the Island to be sent to Wallaceville Animal Health Laboratory in Upper Hutt, and he instructed Don Cameron who was OIC of Mana, to keep going up the bureaucratic pyramid till he found someone who would make a decision on the sheep’s fate – even if he had to end up with the Governor General!

Confirmation of Scrapie 

Veterinary pathologist Alan Julian who was on the Wallaceville staff at the time confirms that only the sheep’s brain arrived at Wallaceville, so the sheep must have breathed it’s last gasp on Mana.  Alan confirmed from examination of brain tissue that it was Scrapie without a doubt. 

Alan said that MAFTech didn’t like this news of course and demanded more proof, so the Chief Veterinary Officer George Adlam enlisted the services of Dr J.T. Stamp (Later Sir John), Director of the Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh and a world authority on Scrapie. 

 
 Dr J.T. Stamp's arrival

Stamp was flown to New Zealand at government expense and MAF Head Office veterinarian Dr John Hellstrom remembers 'the great man' and a whole entourage of vets led by Adlam, being helicoptered to Somes Island and then to Mana Island with media in hot pursuit. 

This was red hot news! There were those who couldn't believe the disease had appeared after all the time in quarantine, but this was the nature of the disease. And there were those who were keen to shout - 'Didn't I tell you what would happen'!  

Photo: Dr John Hellstrom.  Words and Pictures photo 

'Och Aye' - it's Scrapie

Section of brain tissue showing vacuoles (holes) confirming Scrapie.  
Photo: Alan Julian who did the initial diagnosis

 MAF Head Office veterinarian Dr Peter O’Hara remembers having arranged a whole row of microscopes set up at Wallaceville with slides of brain tissue for Stamp to examine, and the good doctor declaring an ‘Och Aye’ after looking at each one. 

 There was no doubt it was Scrapie and Stamp’s unequivocal advice to Adlam was to slaughter all the sheep on Mana Island and Crater, and never run sheep again on these areas.

Alan Julian remembers Stamp as a canny wee Scot with a great sense of humour who enjoyed a wee dram.  The killing and burial of the flock on Mana started on 17 August 1978.  The photo below shows the pit dug, ready for the carcases on the cliff edge on the west side of the island - facing Australia!  
 

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Photographic records

Memories from Ken Seccombe

Ken Seccombe in his 

LO Days

I trained as a Livestock Instructor in the old Department of Agriculture, which subsequently changed to Livestock Officer (LO) and joined the MAF Animal Health Division Training Unit in Palmerston North at the end of 1975 as L.O. (Technical Training).

There were two vets in the Unit - Peter Trim and Terry Cook with Don Thomson as Divisional LO (Technical Training) and me. We also had admin staff and a graphic artist.

The Unit was tasked with technician training for the Tb. and brucellosis eradication schemes as well as exotic disease training for vets and LO's.

The Training Unit directed by Peter Trim developed resources for extension activities which included audio visual aids such as OHP transparencies and 35mm slides (video was not yet in common use).

My existing interest in photography was put to good use in building the Training Unit's slide library. The Unit didn't even have a camera to start with and I remember using my own Minolta SLR to take 15,000 slides in my first year.

Given this background, it was logical that I was included in the LO team sent to Mana Island to dispose of the East Friesian flock in 1976, with the primary objective of eliminating the source of Scrapie, but the secondary purpose was to test and record the methods of disposal.

I was the ‘official’ photographer and I recorded each step involved in the slaughter (by captive bolt pistols), transport, and stacking of the carcasses, building the funeral pyre and the lighting and burning of the pyre until the ash was buried. In addition to 35mm slides I took some Super 8mm film on a camera I borrowed from the Flock House Audio Visual Unit.

The slides were used extensively for training purposes; the movie film less so due to a lack of Super 8mm projectors. I recall some attempt to convert the film to video through the Flock House tele-cine chain but I don't think it was very successful.

In 1978 I was again sent to Mana for the disposal of the remaining flock as due to the much larger number, the decision was made to bury the carcasses, and again I recorded every step from digging the trench to covering the carcasses.

TVNZ was permitted to send a camera crew over to record some of the activities and their footage should still be in their archives. I remember conning a ride on their helicopter to get some aerial shots of the site.  From Mana Island I went to Rotorua and observed and recorded the slaughter and disposal of the Crater Block sheep.

In 1980 I resigned from MAF to set up my own training consultancy. I've often wondered what happened to all the training resources, including the slide library after the Unit was disbanded. I only hope that someone was savvy enough to ensure this irreplaceable piece of our agricultural history wasn't discarded!

Photo by Ken Seecombe after hitching a ride on TVNZ chopper
 

Bush on Mana in 2015.  Photo by Jim Hammond

Wetland area on Mana in 2015.  Photo by Jim Hammond

Storage sheds on Mana in 2015. Storage sheds.  Photo by Jim Hammond

New Zealand agricultural history. No 10. Importing exotic sheep breeds

Lands and Survey Crater Block quarantine station

Collection of data from sheep breeds

Scrapie confirmed

Slaughter and burial of sheep

By Dr Clive Dalton

Data from Crater

The Crater flock  of 5192 ewes waiting for their slaughter. 
Photo by Ken Seecombe

 The data that were initially obtained on the exotic sheep breeds from the Mana Island quarantine station, and then the extra data that were being collected from the sheep at Crater, certainly excited the scientists. The Finn had boosted lambing percentage beyond belief, and the East Friesian and Oxford had given lamb growth and carcass a massive lift too.

Dr Roland Sumner

Despite wool not being a priority for the importation, Dr Rowland Sumner MAF’s specialist wool scientist on the staff at Whatawhata collected plenty of data at Crater.   He recalls taking a team down to Crater in 1977 on his return from a Ph.D. in Australia, and mid-side clipping over a 1000 exotic hoggets. 

There were six staff and six sets of clippers going with Roland measuring the size of the patch the wool came off, and then calling out the dimensions of the patch to the records technician. As this was only done once, the data collected was of no real use in the end, and was trashed after the sheep were slaughtered.

Slaughter at Crater

Things had been going well at Crater with sheep numbers multiplying and geneticists getting good data about what the breeds could contribute to the industry.  But as soon as the bad news from Mana got to the technical staff at Crater (Tim Harvey, John Dobbie, Ian Malthus, Sid Keane, Rob French, Bruce Trust and Denys Guyton), there was massive panic and disappointment.  It was hard for everyone to take in after all their hard work, but the axe had to fall on all the Crater sheep.

The big crater at Crater

The exotics final resting place - dug by the Ministry of Works.  
Photo by Ken Seecombe

 Slaughter and burial of the 5192 sheep at Crater was done over the 15, 16 and 17 August 1978 by MAF Animal Health Division Livestock Officers under MAF vets’ supervision.

Ian Malthus said he and Tim Harvey built a raised double race with a walkway between them for the stunners to operate from. After all the sheep in the race were stunned by captive bolt, they were rolled on to a waiting truck for delivery to the mass grave. 

Slaughter race.  Photo by Ken Seecombe

The guys stacking the truck slit each sheep’s throat with a knife, to make sure they were dead – a messy and dangerous job with kicking bodies, blood spurting and sharp knives.  The Ruakura Genetics technical staff then had the next job of opening up the sheep to count the number of lambs in utero and position of presentation.  All tags were removed as part of this exercise.
Dr Neil Clarke assures me that a scientific paper was published from these data.

Ian Malthus said that the race worked so well that AHD filmed and measured it all, with the intention of building a mobile version that could be quickly sent anywhere in the country if needed.  I wonder where are these plans are now in MPI, when (not if) they were ever needed again?

Hamilton Regional Veterinary Officer (RVO) Frank Williams controlled the work of Animal Health Division (AHD) Livestock Officers, and provision of all materials and facilities needed for the slaughter. Sam Jamieson as Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) was in overall control from Wellington.  

 It would have been interesting to have heard Sam’s views when all this slaughter was going on – as it must have been very tempting for him to be dining out on a ‘what did I tell you’ – and plenty of sad Och Ayes!

Moving slaughtered sheep. Photo by Ken Seecombe

Former Livestock Officer (LO) Dave Clapham from the Hamilton MAF office was part of the slaughter team directed to Crater along with colleagues Dave Scott, John McCandlish, Grant Litchtwark, Alan Cato with Colin Latham as their slaughter supervisor.  

Brian Fraser as the Seniour LO in the Hamilton office used to officially visit the mayhem, but Dave says only got in the way and never did any work! The LO working day was from 8am to 5pm day and Dave said that was enough for anyone. They were accommodated in Rotorua at the Queen’s expense and they needed it!

David Clapham

Dave remembers a problem that because of the raised race the sheep were held in for stunning, the LOs had to work at an angle which must have had an effect on the angle the bolt went into the top of the sheeps’ heads. and hence the effect of the stun. So he remembers a complaint coming down to Colin Latham from the Ruakura Technical team that some sheep were not being completely killed and were still kicking when they had to be opened up by the Ruakura technicians to count the lambs. 

This was not just nasty – it was seriously dangerous.  So from then on, the LOs had to cut the throats of all sheep immediately after stunning which slowed up the job, and greatly added to the mess.

Dave being an ex-front row forward was no wimp, by he admits after the first day or so of the misery, the job got to him with all the blood around – and he wasn’t alone.  But he says it was the camaraderie of being in a group with his mates, and a bit of good humoured banter that kept them going.

Ian Malthus remembers that the Crater technical staff were officially not allowed near the slaughter, and only weighed the animals immediately before slaughter. They were also banned from any involvement with the LO staff, but one or two of them broke the rules and watched some of the gruesome work, even lunching with the LOs afterwards.

John Dobbie recalls the slaughter as an awful experience.  Anybody like John and Tim Harvey who had worked with sheep all their lives, and who don’t mind having to kill one or two sheep for the house or the dogs – but the prospect of facing the death of thousands and seeing them being pushed into a big and very bloody hole and heaped up by a bulldozer, was not a nice experience or memory to this day.

John remembers the physical difficulty of pulling each ewe on to its back to get at the belly, then cutting her open to expose the uterus and collect the data both on the side of the hole and down in the hole. The job was totally exhausting and very demoralizing for everyone after so much expectation from the project.

Photos shows ewes being opened up to count lambs in utero and ovulation rates from their ovaries. Photo by Ken Seecombe


 There was also concern by MAF research staff about what would happen to their jobs now this major project, which would have given work for years, had literally been buried?

All I can add after hearing from the folk who did all this traumatic work is - God help us when (not if) we get Foot and Mouth disease and have many millions of animals to slaughter, as there are no Livestock Officers left with the skills needed in the MPI new structure .  There is no way we could  cope!

Pinus radiata Crater
Now no more pasture grows on Crater as no livestock will ever be allowed to graze there.  Pinus radiata rule supreme. 

You have to wonder what will happen over time.  Some future archeological dig will get a surprise and hopefully they’ll come to the right conclusion when they find 2000 skulls with holes in the top of them!

Crater's Radiata pines a couple of years after the sheep.  Photo by Ken Seecombe

Sheep Farm Husbandry - Meat; Grading; Slaughter; Home kill

Meat from sheep: the law; grading; slaughter; home killing

By Dr Clive Dalton

Sheep meat image problem
Beef producers are fortunate as regardless of age, their animals all produce “beef”. Sadly for sheep farmers where we don’t talk about “sheep meat” as a generic term, there are three products to market - lamb, hogget and mutton.

• Lamb poses no problem as it already has a “young” image that is easily embellished by adding words like “fresh, spring, Canterbury and New Zealand”.
  
• But what about hogget and mutton? Hogget is hidden under “lamb” (see glossary), but so far nobody has come up with an attractive marketing name to improve the image of mutton.
  
• Focus groups of shoppers see mutton as being old, frozen, tough and worst of all – fat! This is unfortunate, as now with modern processing, some very high quality lean meat cuts are produced from carcasses of older sheep.
• The main messages coming back from consumers are that they don’t want fat for health reasons.
• And they don’t want large “joints” of meat – the traditional Sunday roast that Granny cooked has gone. This is the age of small ovens and convenience foods for busy people so now 95% of lamb is cut to specification and exported packaged, labeled and ready for cooking.
  

Meat and the law
After over 100 years in the meat exporting business, a mass of legislation has grown up in New Zealand to protect producers, processors and exporters, so farmers need to be aware of this fact and where necessary comply with it. Remember the customer is always right! So there is:

• The Meat Act 1981
• The Biosecurity Act 1993
• The Animals Product Act 1999
• The Biosecurity (Ruminant Protein) Regulations 1999
• The Biosecurity (Animal Identification Systems) Regulations 1999
  

When are animals ready for slaughter?
This is always a big concern and can be tricky because of the sheep Carcass Classification or Grading System used in New Zealand, and you would be wise to become familiar with it and seek good advice before selling anything. Here are some basic points:

• The grading system places carcasses with similar characteristics into groups or classes.
• It is designed to pay farmers for what the meat company considers the export market wants, and not pay (or even penalise) them for what is not wanted such as over-fat animals.
• It allows meat to be purchased sight-unseen, and provides a channel for consumer requirements to get back to producers so they can change things if needed.
  

Meat fit for human consumption

• After slaughter and processing, every sheep carcass whether for export or the domestic market is checked by a meat inspector from “Asure (New Zealand) Ltd” on behalf of the New Zealand government by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, to make sure it is fit for human consumption.
  
• Any carcass that fails to pass inspection is condemned and rendered down for blood and bone fertiliser.
• After passing inspection, the carcass is weighed while still warm, and graded by a meat grader employed by the meat company and regularly audited by AusMeat.

Lambs off to meat works. Careful handling to avoid bruising and a stress-free journey is important to maximise returns.

Meat grading

• Farmers are paid on carcass weight and grade.
• There are two weights recorded at the meat plant – hot carcass weight (HCW) and cold carcass weight (CCW) after a period in the chiller. Farmers are paid on HCW recorded straight after dressing and CCW is used when export meat is sold.
• Meat graders from the meat company then assesses the maturity, sex, fat cover and muscling of the carcass.
• Fat is assessed by the “GR measurement” and is the fat depth taken at the 12th rib and 11cm from the mid line of the carcass with a sharpened ruler pushed into the meat. In other major meat exporting countries they use an electronic probe to assess fat and meat content which was invented in New Zealand but not used here. The reasons remain a mystery!
• There are 7 fat classes for lamb from devoid of fat at one end, to excessive at the other which has to be trimmed (with added expense) before export. Carcasses that are too thin for export and damaged go into a “manufacturing” grade.
• The general rule is that as carcass weights go up, then so does fat content. The search is always on for animals that confound this rule.
• Beta lamb is a special class of milk-fed lamb less than 7.5kg carcass which is moderately-to-well muscled with an even but not excess fat cover.
• Hoggets. There is a separate “hogget” grade (defined by teeth eruption) for carcasses based on weight and fat cover.
• Rams. There is only one class covering all weight ranges with no GR specifications.
• Muscling is only assessed on a limited range of sheep carcasses.
  

Typical meat schedule prices
Here’s an example of a typical Meat Schedule published by meat companies or available from independent websites, for a particular week for North Island lamb for the Y low-fat grade and the MX1 mutton grade. For South Island stock, take off $1.50/head/lamb.



Key points from the table

• It lets you see what prices are this particular week, and how they have changed.
• The skill is to predict what’s going to happen in the weeks ahead and whether you should buy or sell, taking into account the weather, pasture growth, what’s happening in the US and European economies, changes in the exchange rate, saleyard rumour and downright lies!
  
• There’s a challenge for a smart young IT person to write some software for a pocket PC to predict all this– but it would take a lot of the fun out of it.
  

When to sell?

• This is the hard part or the challenging part - depending on your attitude.
• So knowing all the different criteria involved in each grade, you now have to predict which particular combination will make most return.
• A typical decision would be whether to sell on this week’s schedule, or by looking at recent schedule trends, reading market reports and using stock agent or saleyard information, hang on for a bit longer.
• If you do this, the stock will put on more weight for which you will get paid, but it may also mean they get fatter and could even get overfat and grade T where excess fat has to be trimmed off before export and you would get less per kg.
• But the penalty per kg may not have much effect if you have produced many more kg of carcass. Remember the extra time on the farm and the extra feed eaten would have to be taken into account too.
• So can you see why it would be wise to consult with a meat company meat buyer or farm consultant to seek guidance on all this. It’s very much like the stocks and share market.
  

Killing out or dressing percentage

• The meat company pays you for the weight of the carcass, so now comes the question of how much of the live animal you sent to the meat plant ended up as a carcass.
• From the newly-killed sheep the following are removed or trimmed:
• Pelt
• Head including tongue
• Feet
• Internal organs including all digestive, respiratory, excretory and reproductive organs.
• Mammary system and cods (udder and scrotum)
• Skirts both thick and thin (abdominal wall)
• Tail
• Aorta – all tissue
• Neck trim – removed with pluck (trachea and lungs) and any tissue contaminated by blood or ingesta.
• So you are left with the weight of the animal after its carcass has been “dressed”.
• The terms Killing Out Percentage (KO%) or Dressing Percentage are used and are calculated by dividing the hot carcass weight by the live weight and multiplying this by 100 over 1.
  

[(Hot carcass weight)/(Live weight without fasting)] x [100/1]

• If you want to predict the HCW from liveweight before the animal leaves the farm, use this formula:

• HCW = (Liveweight kg x 0.473 – 1.92) x 1.045

The standard is taken as 43% for a 13.5kg hot carcass.
Here’s a ready reckoner table to help solve this mystery:

• It’s important to remember that if you weigh stock before they leave the farm, they will vary greatly in the amount of “fill’ or gut contents they have, and this may come as a big surprise when you see the KO%.
  
• The longer you empty stock out by leaving them on a bare paddock or yard before slaughter, the less the loss will be. See table below for the factors that can affect KO%.

Warning
These are broad estimates of minimal likely factors which may not all act independently. So watch you don’t double count them, e.g. in dry seasons light lambs may be leaner and also have full fleeces.

• Meat company buyers who come to your farm are very experienced at looking at live animals and predicting their carcass weight. However, having an on-farm live weight is a great help for both them and yourself, and at least reassures you that you are not being ripped off (if you dared to doubt the buyer!).
• The killing sheets from the meat company give you the final true picture including the killing charges. This is always interesting but sometimes frustrating to see on these sheets what defects like bruising and old injection abscesses may have cost you, especially if these were not of your doing!
  

Presentation of sheep for slaughter

• Again because of legal requirements, meat companies have strict standards about stock accepted for slaughter, so they meet the very strict standards set by the overseas markets. As a result the companies require an “Animal Status Declaration” (ASD) form similar to that required for sheep sold at the saleyards or transferred between owners after January 1 2006.
• So in summary:
• One form travels with the stock from the old to the new owner.
• The new owner keeps the form as they own the animals plus 1 year.
• One form is retained by the seller or supplier. It must be kept for 1 year.
• One copy is kept by the organising agent.
• The copy received by the processor must be kept for 4 years.
• If you have any pangs of frustration when filling this in, just remember we have no choice as sheep farmers are in the food business, and red meat is a health food. You’ve got to believe it!
• The question asking if the animals were born on your property and if not have you had them for 60 days or more is very important here. If you have just purchased the stock, you should have obtained an Animal Status Declaration form from the previous owner.
• If you didn’t, then “the worst case situation” applies which means the meat company cannot slaughter them for a 60-day withholding period. This can cost you extra feed and they may also get overfat.
  

Presentation grades
Meat companies also have two or three “presentation grades” for acceptance of stock for slaughter. Here are the key issues on these:

• Dags and dirt. Sheep should have no dags and have clean fleeces. Dags are a big health and hygiene hazard.
• Emptied out. Sheep should be emptied out (in yards or on a bare paddock) for a minimum of 4 hours to reduce the risk of contamination with faeces which can then get on the wool and then the carcass when the pelt is removed.
• Wool blind. Sheep should be able to see so may need to be eye-wigged before acceptance at the meat plant.
• Free of distress and injury. Distress caused by transport and injury can affect meat quality.
• Washing. Stock should be clean and free from dirt prior to slaughter and if they are not, then the meat company will have to wash them. Hopefully they will only require one wash but they can be washed twice if necessary. Then they have to be given time to dry prior to slaughter and this is also stressful for the sheep.
• Wool length. Wool should not be more than 4cm long which equates to approximately 0.7kg. Short wool is preferred in winter as it dries more quickly.
  

Black fibres
This is an interesting processing problem which arises because black sheep have black fibres! Then after processing if any of these black or coloured fibres have adhered to the carcass –they can be easily seen whereas stray white fibres cannot.

So be aware of this if you keep pigmented sheep. It’s still a problem but nothing like what it used to be, thanks to big improvements in processing equipment.

Identifying sheep before sending to the works
When you send sheep for slaughter to a meat plant, it’s important for everyone that they are clearly identified to save time and reduce cost. Here’s the basis of some acceptable and well-understood codes used by farmers and processors. The basis of it is to use standard coloured raddle on standard parts of the sheep shown in the table below.

You can use any combination of these such as BH for blue head and YR for yellow rump. If you have different mobs, use contrasting colours and not yellow and orange for example. Put enough raddle on to last, but not too much as it has to be scoured out of the wool after slaughter.

Transporting sheep to slaughter
Prime lambs for slaughter are a quality export product so remember the following:

• At least a week before transport, draft out stock for slaughter into their new groups to give them time to settle and sort out their new social order.
• This is to avoid stress which affects the pH of the meat, which then reduces shelf life when sold as a higher-value chilled product in supermarkets rather than just frozen.
• Ideally meat should have a pH of around 5.5 and it’s acceptable up to 5.8. This will produce good red meat that will be excellent to eat. In a range from 5.8 to 6.2, the meat begins to be unacceptable and tough. Above 6.2 and up to pH of 7.0, the meat will be relatively tender but will go a dark colour and will spoil quickly and have little flavour on cooking. Dark meat when displayed in a supermarket has little customer appeal and shoppers assume it is “going off”.
• After sorting or any vet treatment, put stock on good pasture to build up their glycogen levels.
• On the day of transport, muster them quietly and let them empty out on a bare paddock or yard with water for at least 8 hours without disturbance. This will keep them cleaner in the truck and reduce the effluent that may contaminate the highway.
• If the transporter is late - don’t let your stock be sacrificed by rushing them, in a bid to make up lost time.
• Load stock quietly without sticks or dogs and only minimal use of an electric probe if needed. Check for any protruding nails or bolts that will damage pelts and bruise meat when loading and fix these before the truck arrives.
• Ensure the loading ramp is safe and the truck can back up squarely to it, leaving no gap for legs to get down and cause injury so they cannot be sent for slaughter.
• By law, animals must be able to take their full weight on all four feet to be acceptable for transport. Any animal that cannot will require a veterinary certificate before the truck operator or meat works will accept it.
• A meat processing plant does not accept defective stock or what used to be known as “mercy kills” such as stock with broken legs. Such animals now have to go for pet food.
• All stock must also be accompanied by the correct documentation before the truck driver will pick them up.
• Only use reliable transport operators who will give your stock a quiet ride to the meat plant. If transport staff are rough with your stock, don’t use them again and tell the company why. You have been preparing a high quality product for perhaps 4-12 months and to have it ruined by poor handling on its last day is unacceptable.
• Make sure the truck is clean before your stock are loaded - it is supposed to be.
  

Home killing on the farm

• It’s very important to have your home killing done by a licensed “home kill service provider” Operators are required to be licensed under the Animal Products Act 1999 and can provide their service on their own licensed premises or on your property.
  
• The welfare standards for home killing must conform to those given under the Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare 2006.
• Home killing of livestock is subject to legal restrictions because of concerns that home-killed meat (which has not been inspected by an approved government inspector in a licensed slaughtering facility) may get into the export meat trade and threaten market standards.
• Our export markets view this as a risk, and farmers who kill sheep for home consumption need to fully appreciate this. The risk is not so much with those who understand and stick to the law, it’s the illegal operators who are the worry and those who are tempted to buy “cheap meat”, some of which is of very suspect origin and without doubt is a human health risk.
• “Home kill” is the slaughtering and butchering of your own animals, either by yourself or by a licensed home-kill butcher for your own consumption which includes your family and household.
• A “family” normally includes parents, children and grandparents and does not include an extended family living elsewhere.
• A “household” are the normal occupants of a house and does not include an institution or tourist accommodation.
• Only animal owners who are actively engaged in the day-to-day maintenance of an animal, or keep animals of the same kind for a period of 28 days, may use home kill. In other words – someone making a serious attempt to farm them and not just dealing in stock.
• Home killed meat cannot be sold, raffled, or bartered for goods or services. It would not even be wise to give it away.
• You can feed home kill meat to your staff if they are regular employees, and they can feed it to their families. You cannot feed casual workers or contractors or your vet, accountant or bank manager, and you cannot feed home kill to paying guests.
• It’s very important to use a home kill butcher with a good reputation for producing top meat. A freezer full of tough meat is not a good prospect, nor is the nagging concern that you may think you didn’t get all your own sheep back from the butcher!
• It is very important to realise that under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 all animals must be slaughtered in a humane way without causing any pain or stress to them or their flock mates.
• Some operators will bury the offal on your farm or will take it away for disposal in an approved site. This will be part of the charge.
• Anyone offering home-kill services is required to be listed under the Animal Products Act 1999 as a “homekill service provider”. They can provide their service at their own licensed home-kill premises or on the owner’s property. The welfare standards for home kill animals should conform with those given under the Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare 2006.
• Check with MAF for the latest regulations and for regulations to provide meat for Marae and ethnic and religious groups.
• Realise the potential hazards with home killing of meat. You would do well to consider sending a sheep off the farm to a licensed slaughter facility to be killed and processed. Then at least you have no human safety concerns, animal stress or food safety issues to be concerned about.
• If you kill your own sheep – see information on euthanasia and slaughtering.
• Before you fill the freezer, check to make sure it’s reaching the correct temperature and tape the plugs into the socket. Also lay some rat poison near it as they love the plastic on the cable and you don’t want to come back from holiday and find a freezer full of nice pink water with your meat floating in it!
  

Curing sheep skins
If you want to cure a sheepskin, see the recommended further reading list for a good recent reference. (Martin 2004).

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.