Background

The Australian chicken meat industry is facing an unprecedented period of biosecurity threat. Understanding the industry’s level of preparedness to manage disease incursions is vital.

Animal welfare always remains a high priority for industry. Good welfare includes ensuring flocks are kept healthy during routine production, however, the increased risk of exotic disease overseas means the exposure to flock health challenge and therefore animal welfare outcomes require research into available options to prevent and manage flock welfare in the event of exotic disease are paramount for further exploration.

This Request for Quote is seeking a scoping study/systematic literature review that explores available medications to be administered via drinking water to assist in sedation or euthanasia of poultry on a mass scale in the event of an emergency disease outbreak that optimise animal welfare outcomes and are suitable for mass application on-farm.

The scoping study should contain detail including, but not limited to:

• Products that can be administered to broiler and broiler breeder layer birds via water including agent delivery and palatability
• Pharmodynamics/pharmokinetics i.e., how rapidly the agent is absorbed and distributed and impact upon clinical response (such as time to sedation, duration of effect)
• Products that will produce sufficient sedation that ventilation shutdown and additional heat can be applied with minimal animal welfare consequence
• Feasibility of registration in Australia for sedation of commercial poultry or off-label use under veterinary direction
• Environmental impacts of use and disposal of treated birds and wastewater
• Safe storage, on-farm handling and availability in Australia

The indicative timeframe of completion of the project from commencement is a maximum of six months.