STANDARD 6 | Air transport of livestock
6.7.1 - Goats must have been weaned at least 14 days prior to sourcing for export, unless the exporter has approval under Standard 6.1.17 to export livestock with young at foot.
6.7.2 - Goats must not be sourced for export unless they have become conditioned to being handled and to eating and drinking from troughs for a minimum of 21 days.
6.7.3 - Goats must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have a liveweight of more than 14kg. Goats less than this weight must not be sourced for export or exported, unless the exporter has approval under Standard 6.1.20 to export miniature or light weight breed livestock.
6.7.4 - Goats must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have been assessed by a competent stock handler against the goat body condition scoring in Table 33, and have a body condition score of 2 or more but less than 4 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
Table 33 Goat body condition score
Score | Long ribs (A) | Short ribs (B) | Backbone (C) | Eye muscle (D) |
1 | Individual ribs can be felt very easily; cannot feel any tissues over the ribs. | Short ribs are prominent; it is easy to feel between them. The muscle mass extends two-thirds or less of the way along them. | Bones are raised and sharp; it is easy to feel between them. The muscle mass extends two-thirds or less of the way along them. | Feels noticeably dished. |
2 | Individual ribs can be felt very easily but slight amount of tissue is present. | Ends of short ribs feel square; it is easy to feel between them. The muscle mass extends to the end of the short ribs. | Bones are slightly raised and can be easily felt, with noticeable dishing between them. | Feels straight or slightly dished. |
3 | Individual ribs can be felt easily but some tissue is present. | End of short ribs are rounded; it is still possible to feel between them. | Bones are raised and the ends are rounded; it is still possible to feel between them. | Feels slightly rounded. |
4 | Individual ribs can still be felt but tissue is prominent. | Ends of short ribs are rounded; it may be possible to press between them with pressure. | Bones are slightly raised; it is possible to feel them but not between them. | Feels well rounded. |
5 | Individual ribs can be felt or just felt; tissue is very prominent and may be fluid. | None or only one or two bone ends nearest the rib cage may be felt. It is not possible to press between them. | Some bone ends may still be felt or backbone may be recessed in fat and difficult to feel. It is not possible to feel between bone ends. | Feels very well rounded. |
Source: Greenwood et al., 2001
Figure 6 Visual aid for assisting with body condition scoring of goats
Source: AUS-MEAT
6.7.5 - Female goats sourced for export as feeder or slaughter animals must be individually pregnancy tested using ultrasound within 30 days prior to export, by a competent pregnancy tester who must certify in writing that the animals are not detectably pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number or attestation to experience and skill in pregnancy testing of goats, signature, the mob's identification and the date of the procedure.
6.7.6 - Female goats sourced for export as breeder animals must:
- be pregnancy tested using ultrasound foetal measurement by a competent pregnancy tester; and
- be certified in writing by the competent pregnancy tester as either not detectably pregnant or pregnant and if pregnant include the number of days pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number or attestation to experience and skill in pregnancy testing of goats, signature, the individual identification number of the animal and the date of the procedure. Certification is valid for 60 days for not detectably pregnant goats, from the date of procedure; and
- be no more than 100 days pregnant at the scheduled date of export, unless otherwise provided in a last third of pregnancy management plan approved in writing by the department.
6.7.7 - Goats with horns must only be sourced for export or exported if:
- the horns would not cause damage to the head or eyes of the animal or other animals; and
- the horns would not endanger other animals during transport; and
- the horns would not restrict access to feed or water during transport; and
- unless otherwise provided in a long-horned livestock management plan approved in writing by the department, the horns:
- are no longer than 22cm with tips that are no more than 20cm apart; or
- have tips that are further than 20cm apart, but the horns are no longer than 15cm and are blunt.
6.7.8 - Goats must be penned in accordance with the minimum aircraft crate pen area requirements shown in Table 34. For weights between those shown in Table 34, the minimum pen area per head must be calculated by linear interpolation.
6.7.9 - When calculating pen space allocation, the pen area per head must be increased by 10%:
- for goats with more than 25mm of hair (not cumulative with b)); and
- for goats with horns in excess of Standard 6.7.7 d) (not cumulative with a)). These goats are to be penned separately.
Table 34 Minimum aircraft crate pen area for goat exported by air
Liveweight (kg) | Minimum pen area (m2/head) |
15 | 0.093 |
16 | 0.098 |
17 | 0.103 |
18 | 0.107 |
19 | 0.112 |
20 | 0.117 |
21 | 0.122 |
22 | 0.127 |
23 | 0.131 |
24 | 0.136 |
25 | 0.141 |
26 | 0.146 |
27 | 0.151 |
28 | 0.155 |
29 | 0.160 |
30 | 0.165 |
31 | 0.170 |
32 | 0.175 |
33 | 0.179 |
34 | 0.184 |
35 | 0.189 |
36 | 0.194 |
37 | 0.199 |
38 | 0.203 |
39 | 0.208 |
40 | 0.213 |
41 | 0.218 |
42 | 0.223 |
43 | 0.227 |
44 | 0.232 |
45 | 0.237 |
46 | 0.242 |
47 | 0.247 |
48 | 0.251 |
49 | 0.256 |
50 | 0.261 |
51 | 0.266 |
52 | 0.271 |
53 | 0.275 |
54 | 0.280 |
55 | 0.285 |
60 | 0.309 |
65 | 0.333 |
70 | 0.357 |
75 | 0.381 |
80 | 0.405 |
85 | 0.429 |
90 | 0.453 |
95 | 0.477 |
100 | 0.501 |