Module 3 Question 13.

Determine the methods of record keeping of the treatment of animals and the filing system in your facility. Report on the process by which one determines the applicability to use the treatment for similar animals.

A while ago when technology weren’t so prudent & still very confusing to everyone the WLC had a paper filing system in a drawer cabinet that they used for record keeping that filed things like: Animal name/Species, Owner, Arrival date, Weight, Habitus, Temperature, Pulse, Urination, Defecation, Vomiting, Appetite, Food/diet, Feeding method & Medication. This filing system works well, but has a view flaws:

ê This filing system uses paper & lots of space.

ê Because it is paper it can become damaged & old through the elements.

ê It takes up your time so search for specific information.

ê If something like a fire burns all the records & there are no backup files you could lose years of information!

ê It takes a lot of effort & time to update it constantly!

Today however we use another record keeping method called VET Master. This is a computer program that has all the functions you need to keep any record of animals:

Animals personal details:

ê There is a patient number.

ê The patients name.

ê The type of specie it is.

ê The breed of animal.

ê The patient’s gender.

ê The status of the animal: Deceased/alive.

ê Any color markings.

ê Age of animal.

Other criteria

ê The previous & current owner’s details.

ê Any treatment that the animal has been given or should get.

ê The animals weight

ê Any critical warnings about this animal, is it dangerous?

ê Are there any follow ups?

ê The body score from 0 to 5? (general health)

ê Where the animal is being kept.

ê Any hand rearing information.

ê And an image for identification.

VET Master makes it much easier to keep record of any animal for the staff. They can now refer back to any recorded information to see how previous species was raised & if it worked good or not. So now they can follow the same method like with the previous animal. E.g. We had a 2 Day buffalo calf that died, now we can refer back to what went wrong for the next calf that we get. Vet Master is much easier to obtain that paper work & you can make backups incase the computer seizes.

Agenda minutes 19.10.2011

Agenda

Captive animal management: level 4

SAQUA: 48435.

· Feedback on training.

« The current student are finishing their course this week & they are working very hard on their POE;s.

« They have all written their Evalunet tests & each was found competent.

« They wrote the final exam yesterday & 3 of them was found competent except for one student whom will be re-writing his test tomorrow on the 19 of August.

« The assessments on the course are completed by 2 of the students, but the other 2 student still have a few outstanding assessments.

« The new group of students will be starting the course tomorrow on the 20 of August.

· Feedback on research project.

J I am currently collecting photos & making a photo gallery of aardvark evidence of on the farm to see where you can most likely find this animal.

· Presentation of assignments(s).

© Working on Module 3, completed Question 1-13

© Did research on lactating females

© Researched rotational grazing.

© Did a count of the vegetation in the WLC to see what the carrying capacity is.

· Handout & discussion of new assignments.

v Have to complete Module 3’s outstanding questions before next Wednesday.

v Starting on Module 4 next week Wednesday.

v Planning assessment dates & times for this month.

· Research for new assignments.

{ Do more research on carrying capacity.

{ Do research on some more courses that can be given at Sonela.

{ Get information on the new lion boma being built from my manager.

module 3 Question 10

Determine issues related to the storage of food items and list potential solutions.

Meat storage issues:

· Meat needs to be kept cool & dry to keep it from going off & to keep various bacteria from developing on it which can be harmful to humans & animals.

· Meat needs to be used as soon as possible because it gets old & dries up very quickly. You waste a lot of money throwing old meat away where you could have used it.

· If the meat is not stored in a sealed off freezer it gives pests like rodents time to eat what they can & they could pass of their diseases to the meat.

· Meat that is opened to air can attract flies which lay larvae in it. Meat with maggots it is a health risk for the animals.

· Always store you’re meat separately from other food items like fruit & milk this could cause cross contamination.

Solutions:

é Always ensure that you have a big enough freezer to keep all you’re meat cold & fresh.

é Never buy a over load of meat that you aren’t going to use in about a week’s time, If you do make sure you use it in one or another way as not to waste it.

é Always make sure your freezer is sealed very good, Make routine checks to establish that it is sealed off good to keep out pests.

é Ensure that all the staf knows where all the storage item are kept to ensure no cross contamination.

Fruit & vegetable storage issues:

¶ Fruit & vegetables have a longer shelf life when kept cool;

¶ Fruits & veggies can be susceptible to pests like, Rodents, Mould & flies.

¶ Once again buying an over load of stock & having it rot is a waste of money.

Solutions:

J Keep these items in the perfect temperature. If it is to hot they will shrivel up, get over ripe or just rot, when it is freezing they will get frozen & once frozen all the nutrients will be lost.

J Keep all you’re fruit & veggies closed away from any pests & do regular checks to make sure there are no entry points for pests.

J Buy just the right amount of stock each month & and use it accordingly.

Dry food storage issues:

© Items like Denkavite powder, Pig row powder, Game pellets or mielies tend to have a longer shelf life so you don’t have to worry too much about it going off or getting old too soon.

© Mould or fungus could be a big problem when items like these get wet or moised.

© Pests like Rodents & mealworms love to eat these food items, it can become invested with bacteria or larvae & become uneatable for the animals.

Solutions:

§ Buying too much of this food stock is not a problem because it will not expire that quickly as meat or fruits.

§ Always ensure that the food items are in a sealed off holder or area to keep it dry & cool.

§ Keep the foods away from pests by sealing it off or putting out poison for the rodents to keep their numbers down.

Milk Storage issues:

Ø Milk doesn’t have a long shelf life when opened & not completely sealed from airborne bacteria. Open milk can get sour within a matter of a week.

Ø Warm milk gets sour so much faster because bacteria grows faster in high temperatures.

Ø Cross contamination is also a big risk to your animals.

Solutions:

µ Keep your milk closed as much as you can, rather than keeping milk in a bucket you can keep it in 2l bottles which is sealed off with a cap.

µ Keep milk cold as possible, it can be just cold or even frozen.

µ Keep milk away from foods with harmful bacteria like meat products by separating the different products.