Deaths in sheep exported by sea from Western Australia--analysis of ship Master's reports

Mortality reports were studied for 181 shipments of live sheep from Western Australia to the Middle East and Singapore in 1985 and 1986. Samples of pelleted feed for 93 shipments were analysed for quality. Overall death rate in the 6.46 million sheep exported in the period of the study was 2.18%. In sheep bound for the Middle East, most of the deaths occurred during the voyage (overall rate 1.7%, range 0.4-4.4% per shipment), although substantial mortality was recorded during discharge (rate 0.4%, range 0.0-1.8%). There were few deaths during loading (rate 0.07%, range 0.0-0.8%). Deaths in sheep bound for Singapore were almost 10-fold lower than those sent to the Middle East. Several findings suggested that ship design and management may contribute to mortality. Death rates were invariably low on some ships and often high on others. Death rates were nearly always higher in enclosed decks than in open decks on 4 vessels, and point epidemics of mortality were observed in several shipments. Temperature and relative humidity measured on the ship's bridge were not closely related to daily death rate. Antibiotics estimated to cost $226,000 were used during 33 voyages in 1986 and were considered of dubious efficacy on shipboard mortality. Analysis of feed pellets used on ship showed that the quality of the diet was within the range set by draft national standards for pellets used in the live sheep export industry.