7 top tips for effective sheep worm control
© Tim Scrivener Anthelmintic resistance is on the rise, so knowing your farm’s status is crucial to effective worm control. Here’s seven top tips to effective worm control.
1. Check the Weight – Millions of pounds worth of wormers are wasted every year because farmers underestimate the weight of sheep. This speeds up the development of resistance.
See also: Get to grips with effective worm control
2. Quarantined – Resistance to anthelmintics can be brought in with purchased sheep. The correct quarantine treatments are essential for all in-coming sheep to remove resistant worms.
3. Adult Sheep – Mature sheep that are fit and healthy have immunity to most worms which means that the times when adult sheep need to be wormed are very limited.
4. Use FECs – You can check if you have resistance on your farm simply and cheaply by taking dung samples for faecal egg counts (FEC) pre- and post-drenching. Talk to suitable qualified persons at your local AHDA outlet for more information.
5. Timing – Most farmers who use FECs to monitor worm burdens use less anthelmintic without any loss in flock performance. In many cases, lambs actually do better because they are treated at the right time.
6. Know Your Parasites – If you know which internal parasites you have on the farm, you can target them more effectively and with the most appropriate product. This significantly reduces the chances of developing resistance on your farm.
7. Pasture Management – Drenching sheep and then putting them straight on to clean pasture increases the risk of anthelmintic resistance developing on your farm. Delaying the move or leaving some sheep untreated will reduce this risk.