ASI Discusses New VFD Protocol at 2017 Convention
You may have heard, but on January 1, 2017 new federal rules were enacted which affect those raising sheep in the US. The Veterinary Feed Directive (or VFD), requires that antibiotics commonly used to treat diseases in humans are not incorporated in food and water given to meat animals raised in the United States unless a written VFD order is obtained from a local veterinarian.
If the grain and other sheep food you feed your flock have contained these antibiotics in the past, or if you've added antibiotics as supplement to your flock's food supply, you don't necessarily have to change what you feed your flock. Those drugs that shepherds have traditionally used will still be available in the United States ... the new rule simply requires that you obtain a written VFD order from a local veterinarian to continue feeding your flock as you have in the past.
If you don't supplement your flock or add antibiotics to the food or water your sheep consume, this rule won't affect you.
If the grain and other sheep food you feed your flock have contained these antibiotics in the past, or if you've added antibiotics as supplement to your flock's food supply, you don't necessarily have to change what you feed your flock. Those drugs that shepherds have traditionally used will still be available in the United States ... the new rule simply requires that you obtain a written VFD order from a local veterinarian to continue feeding your flock as you have in the past.
If you don't supplement your flock or add antibiotics to the food or water your sheep consume, this rule won't affect you.
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