Another first lamb dose & fec test

[hubbahubba]

I havnt dosed lambs yet. I did jag ewes with cydectin la when leaving the shed and I am lead to believe it should keep the pasture cleaner of worms? Or is this incoŕrect?

So lambing started 25th March. I have moved farm and trying to hold of with dosing as often. Now I am seeing a few lambs with dirty bums especially in one lot of 120 ewes. I am wondering to fec how many lambs should I pull dung out? 6 lots of about 200 lambs in each. By testing say 10% does this give a 100% result?

Or would I be silly as now there up to 11 weeks old just to go in and dose with a white wormer without fec test?

On another note I would always clik the lambs too at this time but there is not many trees about and it's far windier at the new farm so hopefully there should be less flies about this summer. I am not planning to clik the lambs I just hope it doesn't bite me on the arse later in the year. Sound Ok?

 

[Woolless]

10 roughly equal sized samples from each mob should be fine but the more sampled, the more accurate. I would FEC test, will give you an idea of risk for next year too.

Regarding Clik, how woolly are your lambs? I never fly treat Easycare or Texel x lambs (Texel tup sheds, not all lambs do but bare breeches normally). Hampshire x lambs all treated, so I now realise what an expensive business it is! We are a pretty exposed site and I had a Hampshire x ewe struck at the weekend.

 

[alwayslearning]

Be too dear to click lambs at that age corvect if your nervous.
Too late for nemo I would think so forget white wormer.
Fec 10 random lambs and dose/don't dose with yellow depending on fec results

 

[Tim W]

Be too dear to click lambs at that age corvect if your nervous.
Too late for nemo I would think so forget white wormer.
Fec 10 random lambs and dose/don't dose with yellow depending on fec results

Not too late for nemo--- explosion in numbers here in last few days

 

[Woolless]

Not too late for nemo--- explosion in numbers here in last few days

Plus one. Gave first dose of white drench to a mob on Saturday following positive fec. More than likely another lot to dose this weekend.

 

[GreenerGrass]

Why did you use cydectin LA. I'd review the use of it, short term it will work well, but you are creating a worm resistance time bomb. You also shouldn't need to routine worm your ewes.

 

[hubbahubba]

Why did you use cydectin LA. I'd review the use of it, short term it will work well, but you are creating a worm resistance time bomb. You also shouldn't need to routine worm your ewes.

My vet advised me to use it at turnout. It will probably just be a one year thing but I do believe my lambs have kept cleaner by doing so.

 

[alwayslearning]

Not too late for nemo--- explosion in numbers here in last few days

Good to know

 

[Woolless]

My vet advised me to use it at turnout. It will probably just be a one year thing but I do believe my lambs have kept cleaner by doing so.

The local vets advise the same and it will work. However, I know Trevor Cook was dead against it and I have avoided it for the resistance issue @GreenerGrass mentions.

 

[Tim W]

My vet advised me to use it at turnout. It will probably just be a one year thing but I do believe my lambs have kept cleaner by doing so.

They will no doubt do well ---but beware, a local farmer I know with 1400+ ewes has used it for a number of years and last year for the first time recorded resistance issues , so where do they go now ? Their historical resistance to bendazoles now coupled with resistance to ivermectins leaves very little choice

 

[neilo]

Cydectin LA certainly worked very well here, for the 2 years I used it at lambing, and meant that I needed to drench the lambs less (well, I missed one drench out, but then I don't worm routinely anyway). However, I have practically stopped using it as it is creating near perfect conditions for building resistance.
For the last 2 years I have still used it on my in-lamb ewe lambs, which run with my single bearing ewes from lambing through to weaning. Those single bearing ewes haven't been wormed at all. My theory, is that the eggs shed from the ewes will be diluting any potentially resistant ones from the tegs. Since I have stopped drenching those single bearing ewes, they have definitely been a bit daggier though, as a mob.
I don't necessarily agree with the theory of not drenching ewes at lambing, unless perhaps if they are kept extensively, at low stocking rates, or on clean pasture. I do neither, and feel it must be sensible to reduce the pasture burden for young lambs significantly by clearing the ewes out at that time.

 

[hubbahubba]

Well that's 4 lots of dung taken to the vets. £4 per test so we will find out later what is needed.

I brought one lot into the pens but the other lots I just waited for lambs to crap in the field and gathered it up. Is this how people do it? Had the dog catch a few with dirty arses. Some of them were several fields away from the pens.

 

[jemski]

Yes if they aren't coming in I push them into a corner and get the dogs to hold them while I will them to crap... [emoji16]

 

[hubbahubba]

So the results go as:

Field 1 - zero worms
Field 2 - zero worms
Field 3 - 100 eggs per gram regular gut worms
Field 4 - 100 eggs per gram of nemo worms

Field 2 is the field that has a few dirty lambs in it. Think they could be struggling for enough milk and guts not digesting the grass properly. Although if there bad I do catch them dose and spray.

Just going to wait and retest later. How long to wait? Vet said not to think about dosing till at least 200 eggs per gram.

 

[jemski]

So the results go as:

Field 1 - zero worms
Field 2 - zero worms
Field 3 - 100 eggs per gram regular gut worms
Field 4 - 100 eggs per gram of nemo worms

Field 2 is the field that has a few dirty lambs in it. Think they could be struggling for enough milk and guts not digesting the grass properly. Although if there bad I do catch them dose and spray.

Just going to wait and retest later. How long to wait? Vet said not to think about dosing till at least 200 eggs per gram.

Definitely dose the ones with nemo with a white wormer.

 

[Woolless]

So the results go as:

Field 1 - zero worms
Field 2 - zero worms
Field 3 - 100 eggs per gram regular gut worms
Field 4 - 100 eggs per gram of nemo worms

Field 2 is the field that has a few dirty lambs in it. Think they could be struggling for enough milk and guts not digesting the grass properly. Although if there bad I do catch them dose and spray.

Just going to wait and retest later. How long to wait? Vet said not to think about dosing till at least 200 eggs per gram.

I would agree with your vet about field 3 but the field with nemo probably needs dosed. Having said that, I sampled a field which had 100 epg nemo last weekend but haven't dosed them yet as needed to do another mob with a 250 epg count (plus heptavac and clik) and not enough time to do both. They still look ok and I'll resample with a view to worming this weekend.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Yes if they aren't coming in I push them into a corner and get the dogs to hold them while I will them to crap... [emoji16]

I follow the f ckers around the field and wait for one to crap. Then keep my eye on it and make sure I pick up the fresh shite and not a stale old one.

It's easier to do it first thing in the morning as they shite when they first stand up.

 

[cotswoldcs]

Cydectin LA certainly worked very well here, for the 2 years I used it at lambing, and meant that I needed to drench the lambs less (well, I missed one drench out, but then I don't worm routinely anyway). However, I have practically stopped using it as it is creating near perfect conditions for building resistance.
For the last 2 years I have still used it on my in-lamb ewe lambs, which run with my single bearing ewes from lambing through to weaning. Those single bearing ewes haven't been wormed at all. My theory, is that the eggs shed from the ewes will be diluting any potentially resistant ones from the tegs. Since I have stopped drenching those single bearing ewes, they have definitely been a bit daggier though, as a mob.
I don't necessarily agree with the theory of not drenching ewes at lambing, unless perhaps if they are kept extensively, at low stocking rates, or on clean pasture. I do neither, and feel it must be sensible to reduce the pasture burden for young lambs significantly by clearing the ewes out at that time.

What do you drench ewes with pre-lambing Neil? We used Cydectin LA once 3 years ago and was very impressed with it. I'm considering using every 4-5 years just to keep the worm burden under control. I rotate between and clear and yellow drench for the ewes and this is generally the only time they get done.

 

[Tim W]

I would say that a ewe that needs worming is a failure --- regardless of the grazing system

They should have established enough resistance by then to do without
Trouble is that hardly anyone measures/selects for parasite resistance ---terminal sire breeders are probably the worst due to the low negative correlation between growth and resistance . Every time they select for good growth you select for poor resistance ---select for growth with no check on where you are going with resistance over many years =sheep very susceptible to worms

Surely the best and cheapest way to reduce pasture worm burdens is to have ewes that naturally hoover up the worm eggs?

 

[DB67]

What would folk recommend for lambs as second worm dose end of June..cydectin or a levaside? Do they both do the same job?