Responsible use of antibiotics in livestock

Read our advice on how to use antibiotics responsibly on farm. You’ll find information on understanding resistance, and strategies to prevent health issues.

The use of antibiotics in livestock is regularly reviewed – please be aware that risk categorisation may change at any time. The key priorities for responsible use are:

• To avoid the use of highest-priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs), only using when no other antibiotic would be clinically effective
• To avoid the routine use of preventative or prophylactic antibiotics

Antibiotics can be very effective for certain treatments but are not always the answer. Find out when it is appropriate to administer antibiotics.

Find out more about how antibiotic resistance occurs, spreads, and continues to be a major global threat.

The golden rule for using antibiotics and anthelmintics in all livestock is: as little as possible, but as much as necessary. Read our tips on preventing health issues without antibiotics.

If you would like to order a hard copy of Using medicines responsibly, please contact publications@ahdb.org.uk or call 0247 799 0069.