DOC - Daily Observation Card

The Daily Observation Card © (‘DOC’) Application was developed as a veterinary extension tool in support of effective Primary Animal Health Care (‘PAHC’) by the livestock caretaker. PAHC is the good management practices, undertaken on an ongoing daily basis by the livestock caretaker, that are required to maintain health and production in livestock. Studies have shown that the technical ability of the livestock caretaker is often the biggest constraint on production and, as such, PAHC interventions look to address this specific constraint.

Given PAHC is an ongoing daily activity, only the livestock caretaker can perform the PAHC function and so identify the first signs of disease and initiate treatment in partnership with their veterinary professional.

Structured daily observation of livestock is the first step in PAHC. This application provides the livestock caretaker with the methodology to be used in conducting a comprehensive structured observation of livestock, and detailed information on each observation point and how to interpret and respond to what they are seeing.

DOC was created by Dr Danie Odendaal and developed further in collaboration with Veearts Netwerk (V-Net) and Afrivet Training Services (ATS), hereafter called the Developers. Healthy animals are a basic requirement for profitable production. Understanding the factors that maintain health and the observable signs of health are essential tools in maximising production in livestock. DOC provides the livestock caretaker with a structured and logical system to evaluate the health of the animals under their care on an ongoing daily basis and enables the caretaker to identify and understand the first signs of disease so as to action early treatment or seek professional veterinary assistance.

It is critical to be able to describe all the signs of health and disease accurately when seeking remote technical support from a veterinary professional. DOC provides this structure and teaches the user what to look for and what the visible signs of disease tells us about the animal in question. By including examples of what the different observation points and signs of disease tell us about what is going on inside the animal, DOC provides relevant information to the case in question, enhancing learning and improving decision making.