Pre lambing fluke and wormer

[paul&mandy]

Bit of a background. Last yr we didnt dose pre lambing. We then went on to loose a load of ewes with lambs at foot and it was unknown. Fec come back good. Pms inconclusive then we bit the bullet and dosed all the ewes with cydectin triclomox off our own backs and it pretty much stopped deaths in it's tracks within the week.
It's been so wet this winter and ewes been under water. I'm thinking to dose them at the same time as heptavacing them.
But what with?
Last dose was about June last yr with triclomox. All 1 crop ewes or older. Shearlings get treated differently due to age and housed to lamb.
Would combinex be a good product?
I'd like to fec again but it's such a tiny example of 1300 ewes do we just do them now as an annual clean up especially with grazing some very wet land?

 

[DrDunc]

Fluke doesn't show up in fecal egg count until the adult stage. By then the liver is buggered

If the fec is clear of all else, and you've had a fluke problem in the past, then I'd dose them with something fluke specific like flukiver. No need for a broad spectrum wormer this time of year is they've no burden, you're only encouraging resistance

User to be hellish for fluke hear until I started trying to break the fluke breeding cycle. The eggs hatch into something that is a parasite to snails on wet ground. These parasites then breed something that latches onto grass, which the sheep then eat. These things burrow into the liver, grow, then start shedding eggs to infect snails and start the cycle again

I now try to winter sheep on ground that was free of mouths the previous summer. The theory being if there's no eggs being shed to infect snails in the summer, the grass isn't infested in the autumn and winter, even if it's soaking

Went from having to dose every 6 weeks, to one annual broad spectrum wormer (like combinex) in the autumn

That's my tuppence worth anyway

 

[neilo]

Closantel (Flukiver/Solantel) will kill adult fluke with little resistance. It will also clear out any heamonchus that has overwintered in the sheep.

There shouldn’t be any need to use a broad spectrum wormer in adult ewes (apart from for heamonchus), but I would still do any lean ewes and shearlings tbh.

 

[puppet]

Interesting but not surprised that the advice changes every few years. Reduce lamb worm burden by dosing ewes at lambing, then told it doesn't seem to make any difference, recent health plan back to worming.
Fluke worth it to reduce amount on land but only a wormer to thin ewes here too.
Clean ground helps but not always easy to have enough fields

 

[JockCroft]

Just grabbing lunch, after sorting out dose/vac/pour on for weekend.
Using RycobenSC for fluke and worm, its a bigger dose to cover fluke. Touch wood getting off with twice year treatment. Have found it to be fairly easy on sheep.
Pour on for lice and multi vit/min for a boost before starting turnips.

Don't like any handling within 4 weeks of lambing so better be no cock ups over weekend.

 

[AftonShepherd]

Just grabbing lunch, after sorting out dose/vac/pour on for weekend.
Using RycobenSC for fluke and worm, its a bigger dose to cover fluke. Touch wood getting off with twice year treatment. Have found it to be fairly easy on sheep.
Pour on for lice and multi vit/min for a boost before starting turnips.

Don't like any handling within 4 weeks of lambing so better be no cock ups over weekend.

I always wonder how effective the active chemical in the likes of Rycoben can be against fluke when it's withdrawal period is so much shorter than Closantel or Triclabendazole.

 

[ladycrofter]

They can't claim it If it hasn't been verified. I think withdrawal times have to do with how quickly the animal metabolises the drug out of its system. Think human vitamins, we've no retention for C but A sits in the liver for a long time, theoretically possible to do harm If too much.

 

[ringi]

I always wonder how effective the active chemical in the likes of Rycoben can be against fluke when it's withdrawal period is so much shorter than Closantel or Triclabendazole.

The fluke only needs to be killed once, it does not need the chemical to remain for many weeks.

 

[Qman]

I used Supaverm this year pre lambing. It contains Closantel which is good for fluke. Some wormers that claim to kill fluke don't work as well, especially the 3 day withdrawal ones.

 

[Moors Lad]

I always wonder how effective the active chemical in the likes of Rycoben can be against fluke when it's withdrawal period is so much shorter than Closantel or Triclabendazole.

Not sure how relevent the w/d time is BUT a better job is done with Closantel and Triclabendazole, and remember the w/d time of Cydectin Triclamox is 31 days as opposed to straight Triclabendazole at 56 days - however I`d only use it for fluke if the w/d time was critical as it won`t help your potential problem of wormer resistance, so best avoid using unless you need that short w/d time... (these are only my opinions, please note!). Plus it`s a very expensive way to treat fluke with Triclabendazole. I have a feeling at this time of year Closantel is the flukicide of choice - it helps prevent resistance developing to Triclabendazole and I think there is less immature fluke at this time of year (for which Triclabendazole is the active of choice...)- once again, please note ONLY my opinions!!

 

[muleman]

Done ours with supaverm.
Like to keep on top of the fluke and important to worm them also I find, it's for the lambs good as much as the ewes, it just cleans the pastures up and lessens the worm burden for when the lambs are born and start grazing.
Works well here this system.

 

[Wood field]

What’s the general opinion on cydectin Triclomox?
I’ve moved more towards straight flukes or wormer after having dosing with Combinex once and it having no effect
A few neighbours swear by Triclomox but I know for certain neither do fec counts

 

[Optimus]

I used Supaverm this year pre lambing. It contains Closantel which is good for fluke. Some wormers that claim to kill fluke don't work as well, especially the 3 day withdrawal ones.

Done ours with supaverm.
Like to keep on top of the fluke and important to worm them also I find, it's for the lambs good as much as the ewes, it just cleans the pastures up and lessens the worm burden for when the lambs are born and start grazing.
Works well here this system.

It's what I use on the ewes we house in January an will do the rest that are still outside next week with it too.

 

[Jonp]

I did a pre-lambing FEC, both for worms and fluke on the ewes and hogs. Zero for both, cost £36. So saved on time and money not having to dose. Appreciate it's easier with a small flock in fields rather than a big flock over open ground.

 

[muleman]

What’s the general opinion on cydectin Triclomox?
I’ve moved more towards straight flukes or wormer after having dosing with Combinex once and it having no effect
A few neighbours swear by Triclomox but I know for certain neither do fec counts

What's a fec count please?

 

[Wood field]

What's a fec count please?

Worm egg count in poo , something my neighbours don’t think necessary, because dad wormed them four times a year and so did grandpa

 

[neilo]

What's a fec count please?

As above, ‘faecal egg count’ is a count of the number of worm eggs in a poo sample. While it’s certainly not an exact science, if there is a high count then the sheep has a belly full of adult worms laying eggs. If there is a zero or very low count, then the sheep has only a small number of adult worms, and won’t be shedding many eggs.
Worming sheep with a very low FEC is just a waste of wormer (& labour), doing nothing but accelerating the development of worm resistance in your flock.

The only worm species that it’s not a useful guide for is nematodirus, which can come from a big hatch of worm eggs in the right weather conditions, causing a huge number of immature (that haven’t reached egg laying stage) larvae attacking lambs’ guts at once.

It’s another useful tool in the box.

 

[muleman]

As above, ‘faecal egg count’ is a count of the number of worm eggs in a poo sample. While it’s certainly not an exact science, if there is a high count then the sheep has a belly full of adult worms laying eggs. If there is a zero or very low count, then the sheep has only a small number of adult worms, and won’t be shedding many eggs.
Worming sheep with a very low FEC is just a waste of wormer (& labour), doing nothing but accelerating the development of worm resistance in your flock.

The only worm species that it’s not a useful guide for is nematodirus, which can come from a big hatch of worm eggs in the right weather conditions, causing a huge number of immature (that haven’t reached egg laying stage) larvae attacking lambs’ guts at once.

It’s another useful tool in the box.

I've never tested but nematodirus and fluke are the ones that give us trouble so have to keep on top of the dosing.

 

[Wood field]

I've never tested but nematodirus and fluke are the ones that give us trouble so have to keep on top of the dosing.

We never but got a bit of a freeby off our vets.
Mrs now looking into getting the gear to do it ourselves

 

[Jonp]

We never but got a bit of a freeby off our vets.
Mrs now looking into getting the gear to do it ourselves

Isn't the fluke test more difficult to do yourself? Vets send sample off to a lab but do the worm tests themselves.