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Prof. Andrew Fisher: I'm a professor here at the Faculty of Veterinary
Science. I've worked with animal welfare for over 20 years.
The five freedoms represent one of the best concepts we have in animal
welfare. They represent the goals that we should strive for in ensuring the
welfare of animals in our care. I believe that it's important for farming
industries to engage with animal welfare and demonstrate their performance
in animal welfare.
Freedom from hunger and thirst means for feedlot cattle providing a diet
that meets all their nutritional needs and providing water of sufficient
quality and sufficient quantity.
Geoff Cornford: Cattle are just like us. We don't like drinking dirty
water, and neither do cattle. And so therefore, it's really important to
have a constant and clean supply of water for them.
Tony Batterham: It's not just clean water that needs provided. It's enough
clean water that needs to be provided, and livestock staff are very
meticulous about making sure that every pen is provided with good quality
water every day.
Geoff Cornford: Most feedlots store about a week's worth of water on hand
at any one time, and it's distributed to cattle in troughs in each pen.
Those troughs are cleaned two or three times a week, and they're generally
checked three or four times a day.
Most feedlots have a number of practices or steps in which they monitor the
feed that they buy and the quality of that feed and the storage of that
feed. So we can be sure that the cattle are getting the most consistent and
safe feed that we can provide.
We use predominately sorghum, wheat, barley, cottonseed, hay, silage, and
most of the grain is grown within 100-150 kilometers of this feedlot. And
that's the same with most feedlots in Australia.
Prof. Andrew Fisher: Cattle need a diet that has adequate components of
protein, of energy, and very importantly of roughage.
Brad Robinson: Rations that we formulate through a consulting nutritionist
and they are designed to make the animals' nutrition requirements.
Tony Batterham: Nutritionists play a key role in the health and well-being
of feedlot cattle. They're involved from day one in the provision of a good
quality ration to cattle in their first week on feed and their last week on
feed.
Brad Robinson: Our feeding program is designed to make sure that our cattle
always have adequate access to feed at any point in the day.
Geoff Cornford: As you imagine in a drought in some situations producers
may run out of feed. So in a feedlot there is an insurance policy for want
of a better word, to ensure that those cattle don't suffer a nutritional
deficit, and they're able to continue to grow as they naturally would.