Scops updates sheep wormer advice sheet
© Tim Scrivener A key support tool for sheep worming decisions has been revised, giving farmers the latest product information to manage internal parasite control sustainably.
The Sustainable Control of Parasites (Scops) group has added information on new veterinary products in the market to the Know Your Anthelmintics Groups guide.
This follows the environmental considerations that were added to the guide last year. These reflect growing interest in healthy pasture invertebrate communities, which naturally contribute to parasite control.
See also: Why keeping ewes in tip-top condition can help save on wormers
Gloucestershire sheep farmer Kevin Harrison uses the Scops guide on a regular basis to make decisions about his flock, remind himself which group a wormer belongs to, or check other details.
“It lists all the currently available wormers, flukicides and combination products, with the wormers usefully colour coded into the white, yellow, clear, orange and purple groups that we sheep farmers are familiar with.
“I also find it to be a useful tool to have to hand when I’m speaking to my vet or animal health adviser,” he said.
The information is free to access from the Scops website.
Spring nematodirus threat
As well as the anthelmintic guide, Kevin said he would follow the Scops nematodirus forecast again this year to stay ahead of the hatch.
He said the nearest monitoring station to his farm near Bath was Lyneham, about 20 miles away.
“I keep an eye on what colour [code] that is and bear in mind that my farm is at slightly higher altitude, as that means the threat will be slightly delayed on my farm.”
He said when the dot for Lyneham turns red (high risk) or black (very high risk), it will prompt him to check and treat lambs with a group one white wormer, to which Nematodirus battus is susceptible.