Numnuts acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals

Numnuts, created by Senesino founder Robin Smith to alleviate pain during ring marking in lambs, will now be distributed alongside Dechra's flagship wound care and anaesthetic product Tri-Solfen.

The Numnuts tool uses a rubber ring to cut off blood supply, while using an injection mechanism at the same time to deliver local anaesthetic NumOcaine.

It was developed in collaboration with Meat & Livestock Australia Limited with funding from Australian Wool Innovation and is backed by science from CSIRO.

Since the startup's inception it has received multiple awards.

Dechra's business unit head for farm animals Ben Austin said the company was committed to "setting and maintaining the gold standard for pain relief in farm animals."

"Numnuts embodies this dedication, offering a practical compassionate solution that elevates the welfare of our beloved livestock," he said.

"With Numnuts in our product offering, we're taking a significant stride towards enhancing the standard of care in the industry."

Mr Austin said the acquisition had been 24 months in the making and was great news for the industry.

"There is a little bit of a transition with the product being historically purchased online and now being available through rural retailers," he said.

"That will make it a little bit more accessible for the farmer.

"We are focusing on growing the awareness of overall animal welfare underpinned by high quality pain relief options.

"We will be looking to grow the overall uptake now that it is accessible across Australia via rural resellers."

Mr Austin said Dechra Pharmaceuticals' team will now be promoting the product to both consumers and rural retailers.

"We will be looking to incrementally grow the awareness of the product and of pain relief in general," he said.

"Numnuts is a really good fit in the crossbred lamb market where they are using rubber rings for castration and tail docking, so it's going to play a big part there.... we're looking at targeting that market.

"With the change in generation and bigger consumer awareness, more farmers now truly believe in the benefits of using a pain relief product for their livestock for either surgical or non-surgical operations on their animals."

Dechra Pharmaceuticals will distribute the product in Australia and New Zealand, while UK distribution will remain with the product's original parent company, Senesino.