September seasonal focus

Spring has sprung. For some, it feels like there hasn’t really been a winter. Its been uncharacteristically warm, and this presents a whole separate set of circumstances that may not be present at this time of the year.

All winter parasite control measures should have been completed. Remembering to keep focus on the judicious use of chemistry that is effective on the target parasite.

Tick alert!

1. Paralysis ticks (Ixodes holcyclus) have been reported in higher than usual numbers for winter in coastal New South Wales, due to the mild temperatures. Take care with young stock, as a single tick can paralyse and kill calves, kids or lambs (as well as dogs). These ticks are spread by native animals such as bandicoots, so are seen more in bushy paddocks (lot of trees and scrub) compared to cultivated areas.

• Cattle ticks (Rhipicephalus microplus) numbers are about to explode in the annual ‘spring rise’, especially in Southeast Queensland.  These ticks spread tick fever and have developed resistance to most of the common tickicides, with triple-resistant ‘Ultimo’ ticks now common. The best way to manage them is to check for resistance by submitting ticks to the Queensland Biosecurity Lab. See TickBoss for details.

• In our August seasonal update last month we issued a reminder to keep an eye out for bush ticks (Haemaphysalis) in the eastern states and in southwest WA. These ticks will be active from now on and start to infect cattle with Theileria infection, which can be deadly. Monitoring for the ticks, and a treatment will keep tick numbers lower. If you are in an area with known Theileria, give some consideration to the timing of your calving and if there is any room to adjust and beat the tick life cycle.

A quick reminder for those shearing, to ROTATE your chemical GROUPS when applying a lice treatment this year. Don’t fall into the trap of using the same group with a different looking drum.

With the warmer conditions, keep monitoring for sheep blowflies. Whilst now may seem a little early, it’s not too early for many to start monitoring of sheep for signs of flystrike. Flystruck sheep have already (mid-August) been reported from places as far south as Central Victoria. The risk of flystrike increases once the temperature is above 17°C, wind speeds are moderate (<30 km per hour) and sheep fleece remains moist from rainfall for a few days.

Use the FlyBoss tools to help you plan your course of action – here is the link for FlyBoss tools. https://flyboss.com.au/tools/

Last outlook, we posted a reminder to think back to what happened last year, what management and product(s) worked well, and importantly, what didn’t work – ask why this was the case – was it poor application, adverse weather, resistance, or a combination of all?

Don’t forget to maintain a vigilant monitoring program for worms. Barber’s pole worm now occur in many areas not seen previously – and keeping an eye on worm egg counts, as well as the species of worm present (this can be done with a larval culture) will help you be on the front foot with the worms this season. In areas with very short pastures, thin-necked intestinal worm (Nematodirus) is worth keeping an eye out for in your young stock.

Serious problems tend to be in young sheep in cool regions or after dry periods when sheep graze short, green feed. Heavy infections can cause diarrhoea in lambs. These worms do not cause any specific lesions in the lining of the intestine, although there may be mild inflammation. Barber’s pole worm has been reported from Western Districts of Victoria over the winter and are showing up in some areas where not usually seen until it is warmer – this is due to the mild weather conditions – don’t make any assumptions about what species of worms are present – test, don’t guess!

Don’t forget your weaner sheep should always be treated at weaning and put onto some high quality and worm free pasture. Keep monitoring to ensure no rapid build-up of worm numbers in these susceptible sheep.  

Whilst it seems that there is never a dull moment, and no two seasons are the same – applying some consistent monitoring will help stay ahead of the parasites and minimise the impacts of parasites on your livestock.