Heamonchus ! Advice & experience wanted.

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
It seems that we, along with several folk in the area, have got a heamonchus challenge from somewhere (nothing comes on here without Zolvix, so how did it get here? :scratchhead: ). Everything has been grazing roots and off (contaminated?) grass since New Year, so not shedding any more eggs there at least.

A good bunch of the ewes are as fat as feck and scanned well, but the (biggest) group that were tupped on a particular field have gone to sh*t in a matter of weeks. Scanning numbers and empties are a lot worse from that group and condition is poor, and falling. Mob FEC sample1200 epg.
I had the Charollais ewes through for pre-lambing boluses & jabs today, and nearly half of those are going the same way, in a group that I'd removed all the leaner ones from a month ago (those were 1000 epg at the time and responded quickly when wormed/housed/fed). They had a mob fec of 1500 epg and I tested a particularly squitty individual at 2850epg.:eek:
All ewes have been crutched, done with clear drench this week, apart from a few of the fatties, and lean ones pulled out from the Charollais mob to put in a separate field. Hopefully sorted out and can regain condition before lambing on good fodder.

On a separate block we have 230 ewe lambs that have done the same thing since the rams came out, with 3 dieing about 10 days ago. Mob FEC was 1300epg and I went through them with Zolvix to guarantee a clear out. They were different lambs within a couple of days so it's done the job, but not looking forward to scanning and a lot of crutching to do!

80 rams have just come back from (clean) tack grazing and onto stubble turnips, and have a zero FEC, so thankfully dodged it.

As I understand it, heamonchus primarily winters in the sheep and pasture contamination is killed off by frost. By 'doing the right thing' and leaving fit/single bearing ewes unwormed every year, have I been inadvertently allowing numbers to build up over time? Those singles are always summered on the parkland fields where the worst affected ewes were tupped. All ewes are off pasture here for at least 3 months every winter, so theoretically I should be able to break the cycle by cleaning the ewes out?

My plan is to inject everything with Cydectin 2% at lambing as a one off, something we haven't done for quite some time, to try to hoover up and reduce the little barstewards that might get through the winter on pasture, and all effected ewes have been wormed now, whilst still on roots.

I know some of you folks have experienced the problem before and would be interested to know how you manage it. Several local farms have had an issue this year, despite it being practically unheard of round here (my very good sheep vet says he hasn't had to deal with it since he qualified 25 years ago, and will have to read up on it again!), so maybe down to weather conditions in recent years/climate change?

Is there anything more I can do?
 
Last edited:

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
It is definitely weather dependent.
We always have problems after long droughts and then a warm wet spell in late summer.
I wouldn't use Zolvix as this is a blood sucking worm and the damage it causes is to take the blood out of the sheep and cause anaemia.
Best to use a flukicide like Closantel or Monepantel.

Are you absolutely sure it is Haemonchus as I have never known it to occur this late (or early).
It normally effects the younger ewes worst as they have never built up any resistance to it.
 

Tim W

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
It's a bugger , that's for sure ---give me a bell? I can commiserate & share depressing stories 🥃

We have the little sods on a block of land with triple anthelmintic resistance & the only thing i can use to sort them is a new generation wormer or a Cydectin drench
I haven't tried the flukicides yet but it's in the plan for this year @Frank-the-Wool

I do FEC on a 7 to 10 day interval in peak season and find the ewes can go from 100epg to 2500 epg in a few days ---one day they are bouncing and 3 days later are sluggish
It really messes the lambs up if they get hit as youngsters
Key things i have learnt so far are;
  • Watch the flock closely---they deteriorate fast
  • You can treat ewes on an individual basis by looking for signs of anaemia
  • If the lambs get hit they will take ages to recover
  • I think that once you have them they will be difficult to get rid of ---it's more a matter of managing the problem
Good luck!
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
my biggest problem worm wise...took yrs to fully diagnose....was a pre cursor for orf in many cases

late summer onwards....wet weather as 'splashing' aids spread

i worm ewes with ivermectin autumn then once housed but my problem seemed to largely disappear once i moved from rotational grazing to set stocking :scratchhead:

little 'trick' i've found is housing batches of lambs for 24 hrs post worming where possible:)

now use mvf orange mineral licks which they love which i think helps keep them in good nick and is still a lot cheaper than the 'fire brigade' tubby buckets i was on before:rolleyes:
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
It is definitely weather dependent.
We always have problems after long droughts and then a warm wet spell in late summer.
I wouldn't use Zolvix as this is a blood sucking worm and the damage it causes is to take the blood out of the sheep and cause anaemia.
Best to use a flukicide like Closantel or Monepantel.

Are you absolutely sure it is Haemonchus as I have never known it to occur this late (or early).
It normally effects the younger ewes worst as they have never built up any resistance to it.

My vet was thinking it might be down to the drought we had here until October ( bugger all Autumn flush as a result), then we had a short spell at 20 degrees late on. Could have hatched out any manner of worm species I guess, but yes, certainly younger ewes hit hardest and adults shouldn't have been knocked so hard by 'normal' strongyles?

The ewe lambs could certainly have been a mix of worm species, hence choosing to use Zolvix as a clear out drench. Closantel would only have killed the heamonchus, or that was my thinking anyway.
 
A bunch of Welsh ewe lambs here got dosed with combinex at Christmas and a fortnight later started sh!tting themselves to death( literally). Jabbed with cydectin la last week and it appears to have steadied the ship
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
It is definitely weather dependent.
We always have problems after long droughts and then a warm wet spell in late summer.
I wouldn't use Zolvix as this is a blood sucking worm and the damage it causes is to take the blood out of the sheep and cause anaemia.
Best to use a flukicide like Closantel or Monepantel.

Are you absolutely sure it is Haemonchus as I have never known it to occur this late (or early).
It normally effects the younger ewes worst as they have never built up any resistance to it.
Only used to get it in the late summer/autumn here but get odd cases anytime of year know, mentioned it to the vet and they said it was getting more common anytime of the year
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Did all my late lambs / hoggs cant remember when :oops:will have to look it up with Flukiver owing to bad report(s) from the abattoir because of the timing i shouldve used Tricla but its worked out ok as it happens to have sorting Haemonchous as well :unsure:
The Obvious thing is that The winters are milder and mid summers to wet for longer spells than ever there has been , will be far different game in the future i think,not good either.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
It seems that we, along with several folk in the area, have got a heamonchus challenge from somewhere (nothing comes on here without Zolvix, so how did it get here? :scratchhead: ). Everything has been grazing roots and off (contaminated?) grass since New Year, so not shedding any more eggs there at least.

A good bunch of the ewes are as fat as feck and scanned well, but the (biggest) group that were tupped on a particular field have gone to sh*t in a matter of weeks. Scanning numbers and empties are a lot worse from that group and condition is poor, and falling. Mob FEC sample1200 epg.
I had the Charollais ewes through for pre-lambing boluses & jabs today, and nearly half of those are going the same way, in a group that I'd removed all the leaner ones from a month ago (those were 1000 epg at the time and responded quickly when wormed/housed/fed). They had a mob fec of 1500 epg and I tested a particularly squitty individual at 2850epg.:eek:
All ewes have been crutched, done with clear drench this week, apart from a few of the fatties, and lean ones pulled out from the Charollais mob to put in a separate field. Hopefully sorted out and can regain condition before lambing on good fodder.

On a separate block we have 230 ewe lambs that have done the same thing since the rams came out, with 3 dieing about 10 days ago. Mob FEC was 1300epg and I went through them with Zolvix to guarantee a clear out. They were different lambs within a couple of days so it's done the job, but not looking forward to scanning and a lot of crutching to do!

80 rams have been just come back from (clean) tack grazing and onto stubble turnips, and have a zero FEC, so thankfully dodged it.

As I understand it, heamonchus primarily winters in the sheep and pasture contamination is killed off by frost. By 'doing the right thing' and leaving fit/single bearing ewes unwormed every year, have I been inadvertently allowing numbers to build up over time? Those singles are always summered on the parkland fields where the worst affected ewes were tupped. All ewes are off pasture here for at least 3 months every winter, so theoretically I should be able to break the cycle by cleaning the ewes out?

My plan is to inject everything with Cydectin 2% at lambing as a one off, something we haven't done for quite some time, to try to hoover up and reduce the little barstewards that might get through the winter on pasture, and all effected ewes have been wormed now, whilst still on roots.

I know some of you folks have experienced the problem before and would be interested to know how you manage it. Several local farms have had an issue this year, despite it being practically unheard of round here (my very good sheep vet says he hasn't had to deal with it since he qualified 25 years ago, and will have to read up on it again!), so maybe down to weather conditions in recent years/climate change?

Is there anything more I can do?
Youve spelt it wrong :sneaky:
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
As you know we've had plenty of problems with it here Neil.
Have been using Solantel or Cydectin in spring in the ewes. Solantel has the added bonus of also having a persistency in its action. However we (my vet and I) have queried how effective it is against inhibited worms during winter.
I have dosed some ewes with solantel and some with cydectin in a group as a way of trying to minimise resistance build up.
Happy to chat further as Tim says if any help but will keep an eye on the thread and pitch in with any further thoughts. (And hopefully learn something)
High egg counts very typical, but interestingly when we've cultured them and identified species, whilst haemonchus is definitely present, it's not necessarily a large proportion of the worm burden. I guess it has lowered their immune system, allowing others to also take hold.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
no conciliation to all permanent pasture farms but on a mixed farm... :unsure:

and i bet stopping the parkland would help

Not really an option to ‘stop’ 16th Century parkland with loads of 4-500 yr old trees dotted about (ideal lambing paddocks👍).;)

Very limited as to what land can go through an arable rotation too, with much of it designated as ‘pp’ on our tenancy agreement.
We all have to farm with what we have access to, as best we can. If it could all be ploughed, previous tenants would have done it years ago!
 
Last edited:

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Most older ewes will develop resistance, it is normally first lambers and sometimes second that go down and of course lambs.
It is very likely that we will get to complete resistance of all common wormers.
Best to use Closantel or similar if you have a problem.

Australia has total resistance and now use a vaccine, Barbervax, which was actually made by Moredun. It took one scientist almost a lifetime to make.
It works very well but does have to be used more than once in a season.
It is not licensed for use here yet and is actually manufactured in Australia. It is also used now in South Africa and I believe will be in South America as well.

If there is enough demand here then I am sure it can be licensed for use.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Most older ewes will develop resistance, it is normally first lambers and sometimes second that go down and of course lambs.
It is very likely that we will get to complete resistance of all common wormers.
Best to use Closantel or similar if you have a problem.

Australia has total resistance and now use a vaccine, Barbervax, which was actually made by Moredun. It took one scientist almost a lifetime to make.
It works very well but does have to be used more than once in a season.
It is not licensed for use here yet and is actually manufactured in Australia. It is also used now in South Africa and I believe will be in South America as well.

If there is enough demand here then I am sure it can be licensed for use.
The vaccine has to be used as regularly as a wormer according to a vet in our practice with experience of it.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Fact is there might come a time when some permanent ground will have to have a break from stock and only a stocking ground that has had a year or 2 s break.
Don't shoot the messenger on that one ,times are going to change in more ways than one.

and if that meant less arable crop area arguably better to keep relatively more sheep or that they have more priority on land use anyway, especially if the sheep were the persons bigger interest.
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
We had it in bought in ewes an lambs a few years back, never seen lambs die like it, feckin terrible experience, vet said zolvix and dectomax and B12 jab, an repeat in three weeks I think it was, can’t remember if we zolvix them again at that time, I’ve tried to forget the whole experience!!🤦🏻‍♂️
 

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