e-mail: hihealth.admin@btconnect.com
HI Health has two levels of membership. All participants must join of Level 1 (Health Planning) before progressing to Level 2 (Disease Eradication and Accreditation) or may join both Levels at the same time.
The reason for this is there are bio-security checks within the health plan that your vet will check ensuring Level 2 rules aren’t being abused. This enhances the credibility of your accreditation as we know from experience a percentage of the membership will break the rules though not always deliberately.
We are the only health scheme available that offers health planning and disease accreditation in the same package.
All HI Health members have the opportunity to advertise their high health status stock on the website, and special sales of known status cattle have been held. Newsletters are also sent on a regular basis to keep the membership informed of relevant information.
Level 1 membership is £20, £30 or £50 (+ VAT) per annum depending on the number of livestock units.
Level 2 membership is £50 (+ VAT) per annum.
Print Level 1 Membership Application Form
Print Level 2 Membership Application Form
LEVEL 1 MEMBERSHIP
Level 1 involves the annual production of a Health Plan for your cattle/sheep enterprises in conjunction with your own veterinary surgeon. This will evaluate the present level of health and bio-security measures being practised on your holding at that time and to recommend any improvements that may be needed.
The health plan is of standard format as defined by HI Health’s Technical Committee and was recently upgraded thanks to sponsorship from “Intervet” to meet all benchmarking requirements within the SEERAD Land Management Contract Menu Scheme. It also satisfies QMS health plan and bio-security rules.
It is produced with the aid of IT software that is supplied to veterinary practices free of charge.
While participating in Level 1 members have the opportunity to screen test
ten animals for each of the four diseases covered by Level 2, but any subsequent
testing has to be done through Level 2 membership to qualify for accreditation.
LEVEL 1 - HEALTH PROGRAMME
RULES
1. Membership
a) All farmers within the scheme must belong to Level 1 regardless of how
they might subsequently develop their individual high health programme.
b) Transparency is an essential part of this programme; identification of
the unit will at all times include the CPHH number and identification of
individual animals must use the official ear tag number.
2. Advisory Visit & Quality Control
a) Members are required to have one advisory visit per year to review herd
health.
b) This visit will be made by the farmer’s own veterinary surgeon.
c) In addition, in the long term our intention is that a proportion of members
will receive a visit by an independent inspector as an assurance of the integrity
of the HI Health Scheme.
3. Herd Health Plan
a) Members are required to agree the details of an annual herd health plan
with their veterinary surgeon.
b) A record of the visit and derived health plan must be made using the standardised
visit record and health plan (using either computer or paper format).
c) The record of the visit must be sent to the HI Health Office by the veterinary
surgeon for inclusion on the HI Health Database.
d) Members will be encouraged to use their medicine book for recording all
animal treatments.
e) Membership of a quality assurance scheme such as QMS/Freedom Foods/other
acceptable QA scheme is strongly recommended to the membership of HI Health.
4. Veterinary Surgeon
a) The veterinary surgeon will draw up the health plan using the standardised
visit record with the objectives of improving productivity of the cattle
and sheep enterprise; improving basic bio-security; improving cattle and
sheep welfare and minimising the risk of human disease through best practice.
b) All questions must be answered as indicated.
5. Provisional Register
Where a farmer is found to have a serious disease problem at the initial
visit the inspecting veterinary surgeon may recommend to the HI Health
Technical Committee that he be placed on a “Provisional” membership
register. He will remain on the register until such time as a subsequent
inspection can confirm that the problem has improved sufficiently for the
farmer to be admitted to full membership of the scheme.
6. Herd Management
a) Where advised, full farmer members will be required to make changes to
improve disease management. Failure to do so may result in placement of
the member on the provisional register list.
b) In the event of significant deterioration in health status between annual
inspections and after discussion with the veterinary surgeon, an inspection
by the independent quality assessor referred to in rule 2 may be required
and a report made to the Technical Committee.
7. Technical Committee
a) Failure to obey the rules of HI Health Level 1 will be referred to the
Technical Committee who have the authority to recommend to the Board of
HI Health that a member should be placed on the “Provisional Register” or
expelled.
LEVEL 2 MEMBERSHIP
Level 2 targets four of the major endemic cattle diseases in Scotland: BVD, IBR, Leptospirosis and Johne’s Disease. It is a mirror image of both PCHS and Herdcare operating under exactly the same CHeCS rules. Therefore members can change from one scheme to another if they wish, without affecting their accreditation.
All laboratory testing is carried out by BioBest Laboratories of Edinburgh.
For herd tests our programme can produce labels for tubes from BCMS records. For example for a Johnes test, labels and data sheets can be produced for all animals over 2 years old. Should a label is left unused at the end of the test, an animal has either been missed or recently sold, a check that adds to test credibility. These labels and data sheets have been proven to save veterinary time and the chore of hand writing rows of cattle ear tag numbers.
Testing regimes are explained in the “Cattle Testing” section of this site.
Membership of Level 2 is £50 (+ VAT) per annum.
LEVEL 2 - SUMMARY OF RULES AND BIO-SECURITY MEASURES
HI Health Level 2 seeks to identify herds free from certain diseases and to offer a control programme for those herds in which those diseases have been identified. The rules are mandatory for herds in the Accreditation and the Screening and Eradication programmes.
1. A herd is defined as cattle that are under a unified management system, have one holding number and intermingle periodically throughout the year. If a member has one holding number but the herd is divided into multiple groups, they pay one membership but screen each group individually. If a member has more than one holding number they pay membership per holding.
2. Farm boundaries must prevent cattle from straying off or on to the farm, and must prevent nose-to-nose contact over fences or walls. Double fencing with a space of at least 3 metres between their cattle and neighbouring cattle of a poorer or unknown status is preferred. Where this is not possible a suitable alternative must be agreed between the member, his veterinary practitioner and CHeCS.
3. Purchased cattle that are of an inferior health status either from within or out-with the scheme MUST be quarantined in suitable facilities for the required length of time and tested by the appropriate test as specified in the CHeCS rules. We strongly recommend that all incoming stock be quarantined regardless of health status.
4.
a) Quarantine facilities should not allow nose to nose contact (3 meter gap).
b) Quarantine facilities should not allow animals to have the same air space
(IBR only).
c) Drainage or dung storage should not be shared with other cattle and the
dung or drainage should not be spread on pastures until all animals in the
isolation facility have passed the required tests.
5. Equipment, livestock trailers and handling facilities that are shared with herds of lower or unknown status must be cleaned and disinfected before used by health scheme cattle. Particular effort should be made to clean and disinfect equipment likely to be contaminated with blood (e.g. hoof knives, instruments for castrating, disbudding or dehorning). Veterinary surgical equipment must not be shared between farms unless sterilised before use.
6. Blood samples can only be collected by a veterinary surgeon, someone designated by a veterinary surgeon (who is neither the owner nor an employee of the owner), or a milk recorder in the case of milk samples. Where the herd uses more than one bulk tank, representative samples must be taken from each tank and tested separately.
7. Cattle that are exhibited at shows or sales that are non-accredited must be quarantined and tested accordingly before being re-introduced to the herd.
8. In the event of breakouts or break-ins the animals should be quarantined immediately, and the incident reported to your veterinary practice who seek advice regarding the risk and damage limitation strategy.
9. Embryos and semen should be from donors of certified disease free status. (BVD & IBR).
10. While eradicating disease and disposing of infected animals, members must adhere to veterinary advice regarding quarantining and movement direct to slaughter.
11. Limit farm access to those people deemed essential and either provide disposable overalls and foot covers to ensure all clothing is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the wearer comes onto the farm. Delivery and pick up points should be sited away from cattle buildings. Where possible drivers should remain in their cabs.
12. Use piped mains water rather than natural water sources whenever possible. Limit animals access to water that has flowed through another farm. Animals must preferably not have access to water that has flowed through a farm that have a positive Johne’s disease or Leptospirosis herd. (Leptosprirosis and Johnes).
13. Because they constitute a potential health hazard, if possible sheep should not be housed in the same building as cattle and dung from sheep sheds should not be spread on fields to be used for cattle grazing. (BVD, Leptospirosis and Johnes).
14. Purchased feed and bedding may constitute a risk of introducing infection, therefore it is important to use reputable suppliers. Colostrum from a herd with inferior health status should not be brought into a health scheme herd.
15. Prevent access of vermin and wild life to feed, bedding stores and other livestock whenever possible.
16. Island/Regional Status. The whole island quarantine facilities will be instituted and maintained to the satisfaction of CHeCS. Any herd which imports any cattle from out with the island/region, will be subject to such additional screen test as deemed necessary by CHeCS. This screening will take the form of annual blood/milk screening instituted one month after the arrival of each batch of imported cattle on the farm after release from quarantine. Any other herds put at risk because of an import must be screened as advised by CHeCS. All other herds not considered to be high risk must be sampled every two years as per annual herd check. (BVD).