Scenario 1

Livestock carried by the school:

• 6 wethers/steers- grazing in paddocks with ample pasture
• 12 laying hens- enclosed house with good ventilation.

Both the poultry house and paddock have automatic water systems in good repair and the hens have an automatic feeder that is filled up on Friday afternoons with the capacity to provide adequate feed for the number of hens until Monday morning.

This would be considered a low maintenance school farm in terms of monitoring, as feed and water is available with minimum human interaction over the weekend or holidays. ‘Appropriate monitoring’ over a weekend for this school could be one visit Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning by a responsible person to ensure the water systems are filled and the animals are standing/moving appropriately.

The level of monitoring may change as seasons change or unexpected weather events occur. If pasture availability varies and the wethers or steers require supplementary feeding then monitoring will need to be increased.

Scenario 2

Livestock carried by the school:

• 6 wethers/steers- in a paddock with minimal pasture, being supplementary fed with hay and/or grain
• 12 laying hens- enclosed house with good ventilation.

Wether/steer paddock has automatic water system in good repair. Hen house has split drums for water and gravity fed open feeder that is filled up on Fridays.

This would be considered a moderate maintenance school farm in terms of monitoring, as feed and water requires attention on a daily basis for both the grazing livestock and hens. ‘Appropriate monitoring’ over a weekend for this school could be once a day visits by a responsible person to ensure that supplementary feed is available for the grazing livestock and the water system is filled. The hens will require water drums to be checked and refilled or cleaned if fouled and feed is still available. All animals are observed to be standing/moving appropriately.

The level of monitoring may change as seasons change or unexpected weather events occur. If pasture availability varies and the wethers or steers require changes in the supplementary feeding provided then monitoring will need to be adjusted.

Scenario 3

Livestock carried by the school:

• 6 steers in yards being finished off for show on grain
• Day old chicks in a brooder.

Steers in yards have automatic water system in good repair. Day old chicks have small gravity fed feeder that is filled up on Fridays and a small gravity fed water system.

This would be considered a high maintenance school farm in terms of monitoring, as the animals are being kept in more intensive systems, the steers are on a grain diet and the chicks are young. Feed and water requires attention on a twice daily basis for all animals. ‘Appropriate monitoring’ over a weekend for this school could be twice a day visits by a responsible person to ensure that grain is fed to the feed lotted steers, there is adequate ad lib hay and ensure their water system is filled. The day old chicks will require their water system to be cleaned and refilled and feed to be topped up. All animals are observed to be standing/moving appropriately.

Whenever animals are kept in intensive systems there is increased risk for the animals, particularly during times of high temperatures. This means that monitoring needs to be increased to help avoid

Scenario 4

Livestock carried by the school:

• 8 ewes during lambing season- grazing in paddock with ample pasture.
• Ewe paddock has automatic water system in good repair.

This would be considered a moderate maintenance school farm in terms of monitoring, as ewes will need to be checked for signs of distress during labour and for lamb viability. ‘Appropriate monitoring’ over a weekend for this school could be once a day visits by a responsible and experienced person to ensure that ewes in lamb are not showing signs of dystocia (lambing which takes more than one hour after the rupture of foetal membranes). Water systems will be checked to ensure they are full.

Please note: this scenario could be a high maintenance monitoring school farm if your flock has a history of dystocia, or if a ewe requires assistance during lambing, she will need to be checked twice a day for the next few days to ensure there are no complications such as retained placenta.