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CODE OF GOOD AGRICULTURE
PRACTICE - LITHUANIA
5. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
5.1. INTRODUCTION
Animal husbandry is a sector of agriculture that
covers breeding of cattle, poultry and fur-bearing animals, their genetic
improvement, growing and use to receive animal production. The animals should be
grown using ecologically clean, producing little waste or no waste, energy
saving, cheap and most environmental friendly technologies.
Nutrient cycling in animals differs depending on fodder, animal species and
keeping conditions. Annual nutrient metabolism in a cow that produces 5000 kg of
milk per year is shown in Figure 5.1.
 Fig.
5.1. Annual metabolism of nutrients in a cow that produces 5000 kg of milk per
year.
In a good farm the determined highest animal density per farm should not be
exceeded, and the barn has to be established so that a healthy environment would
be provided for the animals. In order to preserve fertilizing value of manure
and to reduce nitrogen losses from manure, feeding of animals has to be well
balanced, manure storage established, fields properly fertilised and ploughed as
soon as possible after spreading of manure.
5.2. HIGHEST RECOMMENDED ANIMAL
DENSITY
The highest recommended animal density in a farm
is determined according to the amount of manure nitrogen. The amount of
livestock manure applied to the land of a farm each year, including manure left
on fields after grazing, should not exceed the equivalent of 170 kg of nitrogen
per hectare of utilised agricultural area on average.
In order to simplify calculations of the amount of nitrogen accumulated in
livestock manure, it is agreed to use the term animal
unit (AU).
One animal unit is equivalent to 100 kg of nitrogen ex storage in manure per
year including nitrogen left on pastures during grazing period.
Approximately such amount of nitrogen reaches the soil from one cow that
produces 5000 kg of milk per year. Annual amount of nitrogen applied on farmland
per year from one animal including nitrogen left on pastures during grazing
period is given in Annex 5.1.
Coefficients for calculation of animal units, based on the amount of nitrogen
applied on farmland (Annex 5.1), are shown in Annex 5.2.
5.1
Animal density in a farm should not exceed 1.7 animal units per hectare of
utilised agricultural land.
EU Council Directive concerning the
protection of water against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural
sector (91/676/EEC).
The animal density on a farm is determined by dividing the number of animal unit
on the farm by the area of agricultural land. An example of animal density
calculation is given in Annex 5.3. If there are more animals on farm than
allowed according to manure, then the farmer has to purchase extra land or to
sell manure surplus for other farmer who has too few animals.
5.3. ANIMAL WELFARE AND HEALTH
STATUS
5.2
Every animal shall be kept, fed and treated according to its species, age,
physiology and behaviour. The owner of animals must constantly take care about
their health, feeding, adequate care and appropriate environment. Animals
shall be protected from suffering, cruel behaviour and other negative impact.
Republic of Lithuania. Veterinary law.
1991 12 17 LRAT No. I-2110. V.
Republic of Lithuania. Law on animal
care, housing and use. 1997 11 6 LRAT No. VIII-500. V.
Stockmen have to consult veterinary specialists about the questions of animal
health and to follow their recommendations and instructions. It is needed to
render veterinary assistance to sick or injured animals. Only veterinary
surgeons and persons with special training have the right to treat animals and
perform operations. In order to avoid spreading of infectious diseases, stockmen
must allow and help veterinary specialists to apply all needed preventive
measures.
For better animal health and welfare it is needed:
 | to feed animals with feed of high quality
only;
| to protect animals from big stresses, e.g.
not to transport them over long distances for a long time;
| to allow animals to be outside at least few
hours every day;
| the means of transport used for the
transportation of animals shall be suitable for the purpose and protect the
animals from shocks and abrasions. During long transportation animals shall
be given food and water. Different type, sick or injured animals shall be
transported separately;
| for animal identification only official tags
shall be used, but no docking of ears, branding and other methods that cause
pain;
| cattle can be dehorned, but only under an
anaesthetic;
| male pigs under the age of two weeks may be
castrated by person other than veterinarian if he has special training. The
castration of elder pigs should be performed only under an anaesthetic and
only by veterinarian specialist;
| in slaughterhouses prior to slaughter animals
shall be treated in such a way as to cause rapid unconsciousness and
slaughtered according to the methods approved by the State Veterinary
Service and using instruments adopted for particular animal species;
| animal owners and stock-keepers shall be
constantly checked by medical doctors; they should regularly attend seminars
or training courses where they would learn how to behave with animals. |
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Always remember - man is god for
domestic animals !
5.3
It shall be prohibited to feed stimulating substances to animals in order to
improve their productivity, capacity for work and sport results, except for
those substances that are allowed by the Government and its authorised
service.
Republic of Lithuania. Veterinary law.
1991 12 17 LRAT No. I-2110. V.
Some of the stimulating substances used for longer time may harm animal health
and reach human organism by the way of livestock products. Veterinary surgeons
and animal care inspectors provide information about the use of such substances.
Intensive use of growth promoters and antibiotics may cause serious health
problems for animals and humans.
Antibiotics are not always necessary if the proper management is applied, like
improved livestock breeding, keeping animals under optimal conditions and
feeding with high quality feed that is balanced according to animal needs.
Growth promoters including hormonal preparations should not be used.
5.4. DISPOSAL OF ANIMAL
CARCASSES
An animal owner has to report to a veterinary
surgeon after an animal has died. The carrion shall be isolated from people,
other animals and insects. The skin shall not be removed and carcass shall not
be cut. An animal owner shall inform
without delay the State Veterinary
Service about sudden animal diseases and deaths of great extent.
5.4
With regard to the instruction of state veterinary surgeon the animal
carcasses, aborted embryos, damaged skins and furs, waste of slaughtered
animals and other animal waste have to be fired, buried or brought (according
to veterinary requirements) to animal waste processing companies.
Republic of Lithuania. Veterinary law.
1991 12 17 LRAT No. I-2110. V.
The state veterinary surgeon having evaluated circumstances will specify the
most appropriate way of processing or disposing carrion. If an animal has died
not of a contagious disease the waste processing company shall be informed or a
permit to process the waste in another way shall be obtained.
5.5
As animal carcasses could be used as raw material for processing companies
producing feeds, pharmaceutical or special purpose products, persons having
such waste shall inform the processing company and keep it before the
collection under veterinary sanitation requirements.
Veterinary rules on annihilation and
processing of animal waste and placing produced products on the market
(Project).
EU Council Directive concerning the
disposal and processing of animal waste and its placing on the market
(90/667/EEC).
There are two state companies in Lithuania (Kaisiadorys Utilisation State
Company and state company 'Rietavas veterinary sanitation') that process
majority of animal carcasses and wastes from slaughterhouses. Waste processing
company shall collect the waste as soon as possible upon information of it.
Collected, kept or transported animal carcasses are marked according the
procedure established of the State Veterinary Service. After the animal
carcasses have been collected the place where they have been kept shall be
cleaned and disinfected.
In exceptional cases the State Veterinary Service can issue a permit to bury or
to burn the carcasses, as follows:
| upon establishment or suspecting spreading of
an infectious disease;
| if carcasses or other animal waste are in
place which is difficult to reach;
| if a waste processing company can not take
this waste temporarily;
| if it is too expensive to transport this
waste to a processing company. |
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5.6
The carcasses of game birds and animals as well as carcasses of dogs, cats,
piglets, rabbits, sheep or goats, lambs under four weeks and other small
animals or their parts can be buried in the places established for this
purpose and permitted by the State Veterinary Service or in private plots.
Veterinary rules on annihilation and
processing of animal waste and placing produced products on the market
(Project).
In such a case carcasses shall be buried deep enough to prevent carnivorous and
birds from digging them up and to avoid the danger of contaminating ground
waters or polluting nature. Before the carcasses are buried they shall be
sprayed with disinfectant. Other requirements for burial site:
| be at least 500 m apart from settlement;
| be at least 250 m apart from any well,
borehole or spring that supplies water for human and animal needs;
| burial pit has to be of such depth that after
burying of the carcass there would be at least 1 m of soil layer above it;
| when first dug, the bottom of the hole must
be dry and free of standing water;
| it is not allowed to throw dead animals to
rubbish-clamps, dung-yards and compost sites. |
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In exceptional cases and under supervision of
responsible institution carcasses can be used for research purpose, fed to the
zoo and circus animals, fur animals and hunting dogs.
Body of animals that died because of dangerous for humans and animals infectious
diseases can be buried with all skin and internal organs according to indication
and supervision of the State Veterinary Service.
5.5. SELECTION OF PLACE FOR
BARN AND DESIGN
5.7
Place for construction of livestock-farm (barn) is selected according to
sanitary, zooveterinarian, environmental and fire-prevention norm
requirements.
Special conditions of forest and land
use. GR 1992 05 12 resolution No. 343. V.
Rules on design of agricultural
buildings, confirmed by LRAF and LRBU ministries 1997 07 11 order No.640/247.
Western wind is dominant in our country;
therefore, it is suggested to build barns to the east of dwelling house or
settlement. Sanitary distance from the barn to dwelling house is 30 m when herd
is up to 50 cows or 100 pigs, and 50 m when more livestock is stored. The
sanitary distances may be reduced during reconstruction or expansion of the
existing barns if it is co-ordinated with Public Health Service.
5.8
Designing barns in farmsteads within settlements or small towns the shortest
sanitary distances to dwelling house and between farmstead buildings and
neighbouring constructions are determined under guidance of construction norms
regulating design of farmsteads in towns and settlements.
Rules on technological design of animal
buildings, confirmed by LRAF and LRBU ministries 1997 07 11 order No. 640/247.
Territory of livestock-farm has to be compact
and location of the buildings has to be determined by technological processes.
The typical placement of barn, feed and manure storage in a farm is shown in the
Figure 5.2 and Figure 5.3.
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Fig. 5.2. Littered barn with feed
storage, manure pad and urine reservoir: 1- barn; 2- feed storage; 3-
manure pad; 4- urine reservoir; 5- gutters for urine outflow. |
| Fig. 5.3. Non-littered barn with
feed storage and manure storage: 1- barn; 2- feed storage; 3- slurry
reservoir; 4- pit for pumping over of slurry; 5- ventilation pipe. |
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Storage places that may spread pungent ant
unpleasant odour (manure storage, silage trenches, etc.) should be built leeward
from other buildings. Feed storage should be located in a higher place than
manure storage.
Minimal zooveterinarian distances between animal farms and other buildings are
given in Annex 5.4 and minimal distances of animal farms in the aquifers
protective zones - in the Annex.5.5.
5.9
Lithuanian Republic normative acts do not allow building new animal husbandry
buildings, manure storage and silage storage places and expanding the existing
ones in the following zones:
- protective
zones of communications and electricity supply lines;
- sanitary
protective zones of roads, railways and their facilities, and airports;
- protective
zones of main gas and oil pipelines and their facilities, fuel supply bases,
gas stations and solid fuel shops;
- protective
zones of health resorts;
- zones
of the territory of historical and cultural monuments, protected landscapes;
- sanitary
protective zones of water bodies (watering places).
Special conditions of forest and land
use. GR 1992 05 12 resolution No. 343. V.
If the already existing animal husbandry
buildings are closer than allowed then production scale can not be expanded and
further exploitation should be co-ordinated with Regional Department of the
Ministry of Environment, Public Health Service, local State Veterinary Service
and other interested institutions. In such exceptional case exploitation is
possible only if sufficient precaution measures exist that let to ensure
protection of environment.
5.6. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
AND CONTROL ON FARMS
5.10
Farms that use more than 10 m3
of water per day have to get License for use of nature resources. Control
(monitoring) of environment is compulsory on big farms where annual production
of 500 AU is planned and some times on other farms, if it is prescribed in the
License for use of nature resources. Monitoring of liquid manure watering,
field drainage systems and surface water is compulsory when the size of a farm
is 200 AU and more.
The order of rendering of licenses for
nature resources use, for use of nature resources limits and for settling of
permitted environmental pollution norm (Lithuanian). LAND 32 - 99. V., - 1999.
Environmental requirements for manure and
sewage handling on livestock-farms (Lithuanian). LAND 33 - 99. V., - 1999.
Republic of Lithuania. Law on
environmental monitoring. - V., 1997.
During the monitoring it is needed to evaluate
and forecast impact of physical, chemical and biological factors on surface and
ground water, quality of grown plants, soil and atmosphere. Regulations for
environmental monitoring are determined by services of the Lithuanian Ministry
of Environment. The farms themselves finance environmental monitoring. Analyses
are made by laboratories that have certificate for such analyses and monitoring
handed by the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment.
Data on the amount of water used, manure and slurry storage and composition
(amount of DM and NPK, pH) are assembled during the monitoring. Besides that,
data on household effluents, slaughter effluents and meat processing run-off
quantity and quality should be assembled as well as surface and ground water
quality and load should be monitored.
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