WeCAHN Smallholders Network

Animal health and surveillance information for smallholder/small-scale producers of poultry, swine, cattle, sheep and goats, and their veterinarians

WeCAHN Smallholder Animal Health and Surveillance Information

Smallholder or "backyard" producers face unique challenges in maintaining and promoting the health of their animals. The WeCAHN smallholders network is made up of producers, veterinarians, researchers and extension workers sharing information and experiences to improve the health and welfare of smallholder animal production in western Canada.

WeCAHN supports smallholder producers, and the veterinarians who serve them, in a variety of ways: updates on emerging issues, timely infographics and reports on important topics, and podcasts, for both producers and veterinarians. For full access to these materials, please join us.

Veterinarians are also invited to subscribe to WeCAHN listservs in which the questions of non-specialist veterinarians serving smallholder clients are answered by swine and poultry experts. To subscribe, please contact us

WeCAHN Smallholders Network Reports

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Upcoming events

Small flock poultry

The British Columbia (BC) Poultry Health Network has many upcoming events in person and online! Registration is required, and the links to register are on the Coming Events page of the website.

  • Ask A Poultry Veterinarian: May 14th, 2025 7 PM PST - online
  • May 2, 2025 – Poultry Euthanasia Training in Alexandria, Quesnel, BC
  • Small Flock Poultry Health & Biosecurity Workshops
    • May 3, 2025 in Alexandria, Quesnel, BC
    • May 4, 2025 in Prince George, BC
    • May 5, 2025 in Smithers, BC
    • May 6, 2025 in Terrace, BC
    • May 7, 2025 in Vanderhoof, BC
  • May 17, 2025 – Poultry Day in Saanich, BC
Small flock sheep and goats

Optimizing Sheep Nutrition: A virtual management series. Six virtual sessions (May 6, May 13, May 20, May 27, June 3 and June 10) for a fee. Register on the webpage of the Michigan State University ANR Events Management System.

Small herd swine

University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Allen D. Leman Swine Conference September 20 to 23, 2025 in St. Paul, Minnesota

What's new with smallholder animal health

Government of Alberta Small-Scale Swine Disease Investigations

Government of Alberta Small-Scale Swine Disease Investigations

The Government of Alberta has launched a small-scale swine disease investigations project for producers who have 10 or fewer sows or who market 100 pigs or fewer per year. This project can help producers directly or private veterinarians who refer cases from small-scale swine producers.   

The goal is to conduct surveillance on federally and provincially important diseases like African swine fever (ASF), salmonella, influenza, porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), porcine delta coronavirus (PDCoV) and transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE). There is no fee for submitting pigs for testing; however, project criteria must be met, and producers are responsible for the cost of getting the pigs to the laboratory. 

Learn more about the criteria and other details.    LINK

Saskatchewan Small Holder Swine Health Surveillance Program

Saskatchewan Small Holder Swine Health Surveillance Program


The Small Holder Swine Health Surveillance Program project is funded in part by the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The program provides free post-mortem examination of non-commercial swine to veterinarians, producers and owners in Saskatchewan through Prairie Diagnostic Services (PDS) in Saskatoon. The program covers the cost of necropsy, histopathology and other testing deemed appropriate by the PDS pathologist on a case-by-case basis.  LINK

Western veterinary practitioners accepting small scale producer clients

Name: Dr. Christina Lyn
Email: christina@greenbeltvet.com
Phone:
Address: Greenbelt, Kamloops
Province: British Columbia
Name: Dr. Andrea Lo
Email: info@royalvethospital.com
Phone: 403-452-9444
Address: Royal Veterinary Hospital, 108-500 Royal Oak Dr. NW, Calgary
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Carling Matejka
Email: carling@fenvet.com
Phone: (587) 602-4442
Address: Fen Vet, Airdrie
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Michelle Woodruff
Email: drmichelle@woodruffvetservices.com
Phone: (780) 339-2131
Address: Woodruff Veterinary Services Ltd, Tomahawk
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Nicole Desautels
Email: drnicole@animalcarecentre.ca
Phone: (403) 901-1800
Address: Animal Care Centre, Strathmore
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Karen Liljebjelke
Email: karenkatdok@gmail.com
Phone: 403-797-4267
Address: Cremona Veterinary Clinic, 4342 Township Rd 301A, Cremona, AB T0M 0R0
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Brian McOnie
Email: bwmconie@gmail.com
Phone: (250) 549-3533
Address: Creekside Animal Clinic, Vernon
Province: British Columbia
Name: Dr. Ernie Miciak
Email: emiciak@yahoo.ca
Phone: (780) 586-2509
Address: Westrose
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Wendy Quist
Email:
Phone: (780) 927-4500
Address: Frontier Veterinary Services, Fort Vermilion
Province: Alberta
Name: Dr. Harv Domoslai
Email: harvdom@icloud.com
Phone: (306) 384-7676
Address: Corman Park Veterinary Services, Saskatoon
Province: Saskatchewan
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Latest additions to WeCAHN Smallholder Surveillance Programs and Projects

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Latest additions to WeCAHN Smallholder Animal Health Surveillance library

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Premises identification is important

The identification of premises consists of providing information about a specific location (i.e. contact information, location, type of agricultural and agri-food operation on the site, and animal species kept). Once the information has been received and validated by the provincial or territorial government where the premises is located, a unique identification number is provided for this specific location. This premises identification number is then used when reporting the receipt or departure of animals from this premises. Premises identification is a way of linking livestock and poultry to land locations and is critical to support disease control activities and for managing animal health emergencies.

For more information, or to register your farm, following are the provincial premises ID websites:

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Graphic emerging issues

Small scale swine resources

Information on small scale swine production
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Small scale poultry resources

Infographics and reports on small scale poultry production and animal health
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Small scale small ruminant resources

Small ruminants infographics and reports
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Small Scale Animal Health Podcasts

Updates on current topics in smallholder production and animal health
LISTEN TO PODCASTS