8 Oct 2018
John Hanrahan runs a large scale, farrow-to-finish unit in Granagh, Co. Limerick. Three generations of the family – including his brother and his wife – are all involved in the business, as well as their neighbouring dairy herd.
The last four years has seen some big changes. Following an outbreak of ‘flu’, they adopted an ‘all-in, all-out’ system, alongside an improved cleaning regime.
At the same time, the farm started using the IDAL needle-free vaccination gun to help avoid the possible risk of transferring disease from animal to animal. As a result, John saw an improvement in productivity and – over time – the farm became antibiotic free.
“It didn’t happen automatically; it took two years to get to that level,” John explained.