Meerburg, BG; Bonde, M; Brom, FWA; Endepols, S; Jensen, AN; Leirs, H; Lodal, J; Singleton, GR; Pelz, H-J; Rodenburg, TB and Kijlstra, A (2004) Towards sustainable management of rodents in organic animal husbandry. NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 52 (2), pp. 195-206.
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Summary
From 26 to 28 May 2004 an international seminar was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, about current knowledge and advice on rodent management on organic pig and poultry farms in Western Europe. This paper summarizes the discussions. Rodent management is necessary to protect the food production chain from health hazards to livestock and humans.Some organic farmers prefer biological rodent control, but since rodents can also transmit diseases this bears certain risks for the production of healthy livestock and safe food. Effective rodent management requires a thorough understanding of the biology of the pest species concerned. These can be divided into two groups: field rodents, such as voles, and commensal rodents like house mice and rats. The objective of managing field rodents is to minimize livestock exposure to these vectors, and to regulate their populations in case their density is expected to grow dramatically. Infestation of livestock facilities with commensal rodents can be prevented, but once they are present, their eradication must be aimed for. General elements of rodent management are (1) the prevention of rodent infestations through strategic actions such as modifying the habitat or rodent proofing of the buildings, (2) monitoring their appearance and population density, and (3) rodent
control measures. A number of possible management actions is described to provide a basis for examining the measures’ social acceptability, their economic and environmental impacts, and their efficacy.
EPrint Type: | Journal paper |
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Keywords: | rodent control, organic farming, Toxoplasma gondii, rodenticides, food safety, population ecology |
Subjects: | Animal husbandry > Production systems Animal husbandry > Health and welfare |
Research affiliation: | European Union > QualityLowInputFood > Subproject 4: Livestock production systems |
Deposited By: | Meerburg, Dr. B.G. |
ID Code: | 10061 |
Deposited On: | 26 Mar 2007 |
Last Modified: | 12 Apr 2010 07:34 |
Document Language: | English |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Peer-reviewed and accepted |
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