October Seasonal Focus

As the weather continues to warm up and remain wet in so many areas nationally (refer to Fig 1), the key messages remain firm – preparedness will give you an upper hand in the parasite stoush that’s brewing.

Flooding across many areas can exacerbate the internal (and external) parasite problem as animals are often boxed into larger mobs, or run at higher stocking rates, which may cause stress – which can be problematic if some animals have high levels of worms on board. Vigilance is required here, and monitoring WECs is critical.

Keep an eye out for coccidiosis if you are affected by flooding and your mobs are in smaller paddocks running at higher stocking rates, or confined – as this parasite can take off and cause problems in damp, conditions with high stocking rates/overcrowding, and stress events.

Check this article out about coccidiosis.

Worms this month

👉 Test – don’t guess! Keep testing and do some larval differentiation tests to monitor the type of worms you are dealing with. This is important when selecting an appropriate product to treat with. This is important to know especially to determine when barbers pole worms are starting to get going.

👉 If you are weaning lambs – it pays to do a WEC on the ewes prior to weaning to see what level of burden they are carrying and plan a course of action for weaning time. This will ensure you are not flying blind.

Weaners should be drenched with an effective drench at weaning time (this is about the only time you will hear ParaBoss suggesting to drench without the aid of WECs – the count you do on the ewes will help you know what species you are dealing with)

Prepared weaning paddocks with low worm numbers on the pasture will help with keeping weaners going forward; however, if you are not sure of the worm situation in the paddock, keep testing – remember – test, don’t guess!

Visit wormboss for the latest information on worms in all species of livestock.

Flies this month

👉 Fly treatments will be subject to the rain that falls – so do not treat and forget! With chemical resistance increasing, vigilance is the key to keeping the fly situation under control. Remember to consider chemical groups and rotate to decrease the impact of chemical resistance. This applies to all livestock species. Visit flyboss for more information on flies.

Ticks this month

👉 Consider treatment options if you are in a tick area. Also, take the time to brush up on the tick-borne disease theileriosis. An important disease spread by bush ticks. If you haven’t seen it, catch up on all you need to know about this disease via the ParaBoss webinar on the topic, or follow this link for more information.