I was recently called by a farmer who had a bunch of lambs which were not thriving. Despite being born in March, and having plenty of grass during the warm summer, the farmer was having great difficulty in getting lambs near finishing weight. The lambs had also received a considerable amount of creep feed over the previous two months.
After visiting the farm, we discussed how the lambs had been managed to date. The lambs appeared thin and lacking in body condition, some were scoured and their coats were poor.
The field that the lambs had been in appeared to be well managed with good quality grass of about 3in to 4in long. We discussed the worm management on the farm – the lambs had been wormed occasionally during the summer when the farmer thought they needed it.
During the visit, we discussed what we could do to find out what the problem was and what type of laboratory tests could be used.
We decided initially to take the low-cost option of faecal sampling for worms, before moving on to any more expensive laboratory investigations.
Faecal analysis showed the presence of worms, including Nematodirus, which is usually a problem in the spring or early summer.
We decided to dose the lambs for worms and minerals and move to clean pasture which had not been grazed by sheep over the previous couple of months. This resulted in a rapid improvement of the lambs and a return to weight gain.
It is likely that in this case, the pasture which the lambs had grazed since weaning had become so heavily contaminated with worm larvae, that it was preventing the lambs from thriving.
In this situation, lambs will not thrive on the contaminated pasture even if they are dosed repeatedly.
In addition, cobalt and other minerals may become deficient as the grazing season moves on, which can have the effect of increasing the lambs susceptibility to worms.
We decided to implement a worm management plan on this farm for next year, which will involve regular monitoring of lambs through routine weighing and faecal egg testing.
This should allow the farmer to monitor his lamb thrive and prevent the buildup of harmful worm larvae on pasture through the use of strategic dosing when faecal egg tests indicate it is warranted.
This policy should also help to manage the potential issue of anthelmintic resistance or wormer failure on the farm.
*John Gilmore is a practising vet and managing director at FarmLab Diagnostics, an animal health testing laboratory in Elphin, Co Roscommon. www.farmlab.ie.
I was recently called by a farmer who had a bunch of lambs which were not thriving. Despite being born in March, and having plenty of grass during the warm summer, the farmer was having great difficulty in getting lambs near finishing weight. The lambs had also received a considerable amount of creep feed over the previous two months.
After visiting the farm, we discussed how the lambs had been managed to date. The lambs appeared thin and lacking in body condition, some were scoured and their coats were poor.
The field that the lambs had been in appeared to be well managed with good quality grass of about 3in to 4in long. We discussed the worm management on the farm – the lambs had been wormed occasionally during the summer when the farmer thought they needed it.
During the visit, we discussed what we could do to find out what the problem was and what type of laboratory tests could be used.
We decided initially to take the low-cost option of faecal sampling for worms, before moving on to any more expensive laboratory investigations.
Faecal analysis showed the presence of worms, including Nematodirus, which is usually a problem in the spring or early summer.
We decided to dose the lambs for worms and minerals and move to clean pasture which had not been grazed by sheep over the previous couple of months. This resulted in a rapid improvement of the lambs and a return to weight gain.
It is likely that in this case, the pasture which the lambs had grazed since weaning had become so heavily contaminated with worm larvae, that it was preventing the lambs from thriving.
In this situation, lambs will not thrive on the contaminated pasture even if they are dosed repeatedly.
In addition, cobalt and other minerals may become deficient as the grazing season moves on, which can have the effect of increasing the lambs susceptibility to worms.
We decided to implement a worm management plan on this farm for next year, which will involve regular monitoring of lambs through routine weighing and faecal egg testing.
This should allow the farmer to monitor his lamb thrive and prevent the buildup of harmful worm larvae on pasture through the use of strategic dosing when faecal egg tests indicate it is warranted.
This policy should also help to manage the potential issue of anthelmintic resistance or wormer failure on the farm.
*John Gilmore is a practising vet and managing director at FarmLab Diagnostics, an animal health testing laboratory in Elphin, Co Roscommon. www.farmlab.ie.
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