Whether deworming, hoof treatment, or antibiotic administration — anyone treating livestock must document it completely. The Animal Medicines Ordinance (TAMV) stipulates in Art. 28 that animal keepers must maintain a treatment journal. This journal is regularly checked during inspections — and gaps can have consequences.
What Must the Treatment Journal Contain?
The TAMV requires the following details for each treatment:
- Date of treatment
- Identification of the animal (ear tag or group identification)
- Diagnosis or reason for treatment
- Medicinal product used (trade name)
- Dosage and route of administration
- Withdrawal periods for milk and meat
- Name of the person administering treatment (animal keeper or veterinarian)
- Reference to the veterinary prescription (e.g. from the veterinary medicine agreement, if medicines were dispensed in advance)
In addition, supporting documents such as veterinary prescriptions and medicine delivery notes must be retained. The treatment journal and associated documents must be kept for at least three years (TAMV Art. 29).
Common Mistakes with Paper Records
In practice, the same problems appear repeatedly with handwritten treatment journals:
Incomplete entries. Under time pressure, only the medication is noted — without dosage, withdrawal period, or animal number. At inspection, key details are then missing.
Illegible handwriting. What was scribbled quickly in the barn is barely decipherable weeks later. Inspectors must, however, be able to follow the entries.
Forgotten entries. The treatment happens in the barn, the journal is on the kitchen table. By the time you get around to adding the entry, the detail has been forgotten — or the entry is overlooked entirely.
No withdrawal period overview. Especially with several treated animals, it is difficult to keep track of when each animal is cleared again for slaughter or milk processing.
How Digital Solutions Help
A digital treatment journal resolves most of these problems automatically:
- Completeness: mandatory fields ensure no information is missed. You cannot finalise a treatment until all relevant information has been entered.
- Immediate recording: carry out the treatment in the barn and document it directly on your smartphone — no catch-up entries required.
- Withdrawal period tracking: the system automatically calculates when the withdrawal period expires and shows you at a glance which animals are still on hold.
- Inspection readiness: during an inspection you can export the journal as a structured report — clear, complete, and readable.
Herdy: Your Digital Treatment Journal
With Herdy's health module you record treatments in a TAMV-compliant manner directly on the farm. The app offers:
- Predefined medications with stored withdrawal periods
- Individual and batch treatments (ideal for deworming the whole herd)
- Export as PDF or CSV for inspections and your veterinarian
- Clear overview of all active withdrawal periods
The treatment journal is part of Herdy's comprehensive herd management and is seamlessly linked to your animal data. This way you have health information, pedigree, and TVD data all in one place.
Summary: Compliance Does Not Have to Be Complicated
The TAMV requirements are clear — and with the right tool they are also easy to meet. A digital treatment journal saves time, reduces errors, and gives you the confidence to be prepared for every inspection.