DRENCH your cattle now to avoid parasite problems
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As we go through autumn and into winter, and hopefully start to get some green grass, now is a good time to evaluate your animals' parasite control program.
All livestock can be exposed to parasites by eating grass.
The larval or immature stages of many parasites live on the grass, so the animal swallows them when it bites some grass.
Once they have been swallowed, the parasites mature in the gut of the animal to a fully-grown worm.
These adult worms then pass more eggs in the animal's manure, to recontaminate the paddock. The eggs hatch into the larvae that are eaten by the animal and the cycle continues.
An animal can tolerate a certain number of parasites in its stomach or intestines, but large numbers of parasites can make animals sick, or even kill them.
One of the best examples of worm problems at this time of year is in heifers, just before and after the birth of their first calf.
Heifers can be infected by a parasite known as the brown stomach worm, or ostertagia ostertagi, the previous spring.
When the larvae of this parasite reach the heifer's stomach they can go into a period of "hibernation" in the stomach lining.
If there are only a few of these parasites, this need not be a big cause for concern.
However, the problem is that some heifers can have more than 50,000 of these hibernating parasites in their stomach lining.
When the autumn or winter rains come, all of these sleeping parasites "wake up" and emerge from the stomach lining at the same time.
This sudden emergence of parasites leads to tremendous damage to the stomach lining and in severe cases can lead to death.
As these parasites mature they also reduce the animal's ability to get adequate nutrition from its diet. This means the heifer does not get enough nutrition for herself, let alone her calf.
The problem is compounded by the fact the heifer has only just cut her first adult teeth, so is not able to harvest grass as efficiently as an older cow when the grass is very short, as it will be this autumn.
To avoid first-calving heifers having problems with parasites it is important that they receive an effective drench over the summer or early autumn months.
There are three main types of drench you can use for cattle: the white or benzimidazole group; the clear or levamisole group; and the mectins or macrocyclic lactone group.
The most reliable of these, to get maximum control of brown stomach worm over summer and autumn, are drenches from the mectin group - this includes anything that has abamectin, doramectin, eprinomectin, ivermectin or moxidectin as its active ingredient.
The active ingredient is normally listed underneath the product name on its label, in very small writing. These products are available as pour-on, injection or via oral drench.
All of the mectins kill a very high percentage of the brown stomach worm, whereas some products from the other drench families may be less reliable.
Whenever you are applying a drench to an animal, you should ensure you are dosing it to the correct weight.
Ideally this means weighing the animal or at least having someone who is able to estimate the weight accurately, possibly your stock agent or veterinarian if you don't have a lot of experience doing this.
Using the correct dose reduces the risk of parasites developing resistance to the drug and ensures the animal gets the right amount of drug to kill the parasites.
Any cattle that have not received a drench over summer and are in poor condition, or are less than two years of age, are highly likely to develop parasite problems during the coming autumn and winter.
Consider drenching your cattle now, to reduce problems later.
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