“Calf club is part and parcel of rural life and I know people are looking forward to parading their pet animals from the farm,” Mycoplasma bovis eradication director Geoff Gwyn said in a letter to teachers and students.
“But because M bovis is now in New Zealand we’re asking everyone to be extra careful when our calves get close to other calves.”
Packs have been sent to more than 1000 rural schools by MPI, providing tips to make calf days safe for rural communities.
“Bringing animals from different herds together poses a relatively low risk of disease spread but with precautions in place, hazards can be reduced and fun events like these can still go ahead,” he said.
The tips include holding calves on the day, transport to and from the event, parading calves and National Animal Identification and Tracing Act compliance.
During the event the calves have to be kept in pens and two metres away from each other.
They must have to be have individual food and water containers and their own milk.
Calves from different herds should be transported to and from the events separately.
MPI told schools it is their responsibility to remind everyone to comply with Nait so calves must have readable Nait ear tags.
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