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Time-off-water and spelling periods for transported animals

Changes to the Livestock Act 2008

From early April 2024, new biosecurity laws will apply to the livestock and agricultural industries in the NT.

Read about these changes.

The land transport standards (LTS) specify how long you can leave transported animals without water, and how long they must be spelled for once that time limit is reached - eg: after 48 hours without water cattle over six months old must be spelled for 36 hours.

Read more about livestock welfare and LTS.

The table below lists the time off water and spelling periods for stock covered by the LTS: cattle, buffalo, camels, horses, goats, sheep and pigs.

Species	Class	Maximum time off water (hours)	Mandatory spell period (hours)
Cattle	Cattle over 6 months old	48	36
	Calves 1- 6 months old	24	12
	Lactating cows with calves at foot	24	12
	Cows known to more than 6 months pregnant, excluding the last 4 weeks	24	12

Buffalo	Adult buffalo over 6 months old	36	24
	Buffalo 1-6 months old	24	12
	Lactating buffalo with calves at foot and buffalo known to more than 7 months pregnant, excluding the last 4 weeks	24	12

Camels	Camels over 6 months old	48	24
	Camels 1- 6 months old	24	12
	Lactating camels with calves at foot	24	12
	Camels known to more than 9 months pregnant, excluding the last 4 weeks	24	12

Horses	Horses over 6 months old	24	12
	Lactating mares	12	12
	Foals less than 6 months old	12	12
	Mares known to be more than 7.5 months pregnant, excluding the last 4 weeks	12	12

Goats	Goats over 6 months old	48	36
	Kids under 6 months	28	12
	Goats known to be more than 14 weeks pregnant, excluding the last 2 weeks	24	12

Sheep	Sheep over 4 months old	48	36
	Lambs under 4 months old	48	12
	Ewes known to be more than 14 weeks pregnant, excluding the last 2 weeks	24	12

Pigs	Pigs	24	12
	Lactating Sows and Piglets	12	12
	Weaners	12	12

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