Animal Health Technician
KZN
Total years of experience :18 years, 4 Months
Advise game farmers on dietary management.
•Conduct dietary field trials.
•Advise farmers on weed management and poisonous plants.
•Liaison with personnel working with animal kitchen and feed stores.
•Giving extension to farmers and training farmers.
•Managing and servicing my area, my farmers both livestock and game farmers, advising them on nutritional and management tips for sustainable livestock.
•Liaising between the department, clients (farmers) and companies manufacturing animal feed.
•Improving farming management and practises in my area.
•Sealing and unsealing trucks, issuing transport permits so that animals are transported in a way that meets the standards set.
•Controlling budget at ward level.
•Visiting game and livestock farms for disease investigation purposes.
•Managing the database for all my farms e.g. names of farms and owners, census of all animals, laboratory results.
•Liaison with pathologist when investigating nutritional disorders.
•Record keeping- reporting months work, log sheets for vehicles, recording on source documents vaccines and drugs used in a month, diseases reporting for notifiable disease collecting drugs that are needed for my area, according to the census of my area and season and administering them for diseases prevention.
•Advising my managers on what is needed by farmers, what to order. Strategising about proper methods and means to improve livestock and wildlife farmers.
•Liaising with local private veterinarians, other departments and animal health technicians from other areas.
•Arranging and organising mass campaigns and farmer’s day in my area.
•Assisting veterinary public health component with meat examination during game harvesting months.
Receiving day-old chicks.
•Ensuring that ambient temperature is correct.
•Ensuring that feeding troughs and waterers are at the correct height and are enough.
•Ensuring that all hygiene and biosecurity measures are adhered to.
•Ordering feed for the whole farm (in advance and according to the stage of the birds).
•In house daily recording and record keeping.
•Liaising with hatcheries, abattoirs and laboratory.
•Organising for catching time.
•Ensuring that all the houses are in sync in terms of temperature calibration, uniformity of equipment and growth
•Weighing of birds regularly and adjusting the feed according to the weight.
•Vaccinating birds according to age and treating should there be diseases.
Matric certificate Training and Achievements •Participated in Primary Animal Health Care programme, initiated by Afrivet for Animal handlers, both by receiving training and by training my clients in