FECRT (Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test)

You have now all heard the good reasons and benefits for getting some drench data on your farm. Now is the time to get a test done. I think we are going to get one good shot this year. Lambs at weaning usually have high egg counts and weaning is the most convenient time for you to hook out 100 un-drenched lambs for us to test at this time. In this years FECRT's we are adding Startect, a new "novel active", free of charge.

So if you have not heard from myself, Sarah Beaumont or your territory manager about getting started with a pre-count, please get in contact.

Dave Robertson BVSc BSc

Abortion Vaccines - Dave Robertson BVSc

The Veterinary Centre diagnosed a number of sheep abortion out breaks this year. The majority of cases tested positive for campylobacter with some toxoplasma. There is very little than can be done when a farm is in the middle of an abortion storm and losses of between 20% and 30% of a lamb crop is not uncommon. In some cases losses can be as high as 70%. Such losses are not just financially crippling but have a significant emotional toll as well.

Both diseases are present on most farms in Otago. A national survey of flocks showed 100% of farms have toxoplasma on farm and around 75% if farms have had exposure to campylobacter.

The risk of disease is highest in hoggets and two tooths, but we see many cases in mixed aged ewes as well, especially when bought-in lines are mixed.

In light of this vaccination is cheap insurance against a disaster.

Toxovax provides one shot for life. Ewes should be vaccinated prior to their first mating, as either hoggets or two tooths.

Abamectin Toxicity in young lambs

For most farmers the first drench of the new lambs will still be a few weeks away. However it is a good time to remind clients of the potential toxicity of abamectin to young stock.

Avoid using abamectin containing drenches (Matrix/Switch/Coopers Alliance) in the following scenarios.

• Pre weaned lambs
• Lambs less than 20kgs in weight.
• Dehydrated, weak or ill thrift young lambs

If drenching in any of these scenarios stick with Arrest or Scanda selenised as your best combination option. However as soon as lambs pass these milestones you can include the worm killing power of abamectin in your lamb drenching plan.

And a note on selenium toxicity.......

In young lambs it is important to stick to prescribed selenium dosage. In selenised or hi mineral products there will be 1 dose of selenium included in each dose of the drench or vaccine. It is not safe to double dose selenium to lambs such as giving a selenised B12 and a selenised oral drench. The risk of selenium poisoning is much greater than with older animals regardless of dose to weight ratio.

Scabby Mouth - Andrew Muir BVSc

As tailing approaches so does the most practical opportunity to vaccinate against scabby mouth. Outbreaks observed in the past 12 months confirm it is still present and extremely challenging and labour intensive to treat.

• Scabby mouth infects animals through breaks in the skin resulting in raised red lesions and scabs. Infections can occur anywhere on the body with the mouth, feet, udders and poll of rams being very common. Lamb infection results in significant effects on weight gains.
• Lambs are most susceptible over the first summer so tailing is the most practical time to vaccinate. Do not use the vaccine on farms that are free of the disease.
• The best place to give the vaccination is the inside of the back leg unless fly treatments are being used,  in which case the inside of the front leg should be used.
• The vaccine is given by scratching the skin to form a cross, but do not scratch so firmly as to draw blood. A blue dye is added to the vaccine so you can see where it has been applied.
• Check the vaccination area of 20 lambs 7-10 days after vaccination to ensure that it has taken. A take is a raised whitish line surrounded by an area of inflammation.
• Keep the vaccine in a fridge until it is used and only take enough for the day. During use keep it in a chilly bag out of direct sunlight.

Long Acting (LA) Ewe Anthelmintic Products

LA ewe products are commonly used pre-lambing, and have many advantages for both EWES and LAMBS,including;

•  Improved ewe condition – through increased feed efficiency and improved appetite.
•  More milk and less bodyweight lost during lactation.
• Less dags and improved lamb weights.
• Significant benefits for twin bearing 2-tooths.

The production benefits of LA ewe products must always be balanced with the risk of drench resistance –their use can increase selection for resistant worms on your property if not used strategically. Using best practice guidelines mitigates resistance pressure and extends the longevity of existing drench actives.

Best Practice Guidelines for SUSTAINABLE LA Product use:

• Use an effective product: The only way to know how effective a drench family is on your property is to perform a Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT). This will allow sustainable product use which will also maximize production.
• Utilise Refugia: Utilising refugia involves not treating selected animals on a property to ensure a balance of susceptible larvae are present on the property. Pick up some ”refugia” tags to clearly identify undrenched animals for monitoring. Faecal Egg Counts: Check if capsules or LA injections are still working on your farm. Our veterinary policy is to test all farms we have supplied capsules or LA injection to, at our cost, around 60 days after administration. If eggs are detected use an exit drench or triple active at the end of the long acting treatment.
• Use a triple combination or novel active (Zolvix/Startect) drench on lambs at weaning.
•  Exit Drench with a novel drench or triple active at the end of the long acting treatment.

Products on the market

Combination Products:

• Bionic: A 100 day combination capsule with continued release of abamectin and albendazole, plus selenium and cobalt. Withholding time 126 days.
• Extender SeCo: A drench capsule which releases albendazole (white drench) for 100 days, plus selenium and cobalt. A priming dose of an effective combination drench must be given to the ewes when capsules are inserted. Withholding time is zero.
• Exodus LA, Cydectin LA: These products contain a long acting form of moxidectin. It is active against Ostertagia for 112 days and Trichs for 42 days after a single injection.
• Cydectin Injection (including Eweguard): A moxidectin injection that is active for 35 days against Ostertagia, and at least 7 days against Trich’s. It is best used 2– 4 weeks pre-lamb. Witholding time is 28 days
• Prolavax Ewe selenised is available available this season. This product combines B12, selenium and the standard clostridial 5 in 1. There are currently no stock shortages
  expected with this stock. Eweguard is also available in all versions with no shortages..

Copper

Copper is an essential trace element required for many functions directly related to the productivity of your stock. There are several reasons why animals become deficient in copper over winter and spring. These include;

• Copper absorption and availability are hindered by soil and plant factors (molybden, sulphur & Iron content)
• Animals may undergo gut lining changes caused by parasitism.
• Many crops that are fed in the winter such as kale are low in copper.
• Copper requirements increase during winter and spring due to the demands of pregnancy and lactation.

Testing Animals for Copper

To test copper in your stock blood samples will identify deficiency, however this will not quantify reserve copper levels. To determine reserve levels liver sampling of 6 animals is required. On farm biopsies are a good option. We also can organise samples to be taken from stock slaughtered through the works

Copper Options - The time to build your stock's copper reserve is now!

By supplementing copper now, your stock will be able to draw down on liver reserves during the approaching deficient period. Supplementation of pregnant animals will benefit the foetus via the placenta.

Contact one of our veterinarians to discuss supplement options and how copper deficiency may be affecting your production. 

Philip S. Hyndman BVSc

Novel Active Drench Families and Internal Parasites in Sheep

We have had a very busy drench testing season with some interesting numbers coming out of the properties tested. Efficacy to the three action families varies widely. Those with all three action families still effective are in a strong position for the future. Those with resistance have had to re-think how to manage the production impacts of paratism on the farm. One farmer commented that he could not imagine farming without this information now. It is not all doom and gloom when resistance is detected. It is an opportunity to re-think current practices and apply alternative parasite management strategies.

Novel active drench families- how can we use them in-light of the lessons learnt?

The current role for Zolvix and Startect is as either a quarantine drench to ensure problems are not imported or as an EXIT drench.

Many farmers are now understanding the benefit of giving an EXIT drench in the Autumn to lambs (or ewes that have had single actives in the spring). The concept is that after repeated exposure to a traditional drench type there is the chance that resistant worms may have accumulated in the gut. Cleaning these out (of replacement ewe lambs or winter trade lambs) prior to the winter with a novel active has good logic and will help maintain the effectiveness of the traditional drenches.

This April-May use a novel active drench (Startect or Zolvix) on remaining lambs before the winter.

Dave Robertson BVSc BSc

Quarantine Drenching of Beef Calves

Quarantine drenching of bought in lambs and ewes is now fairly common practice. With the ease of oral drenching the use of either Matrix (a triple drench) or a novel active helps avoid “buying in resistance”. Unfortunately this practice isn’t as wide spread with farmers who are buying in weaned calves for fattening. While triple combination oral drenches are available (and are the gold standard as a quarantine drench), calves are often of a size that makes it impractical to administer.

So what other options are there?

Firstly we have to consider that a quarantine drench must kill close to 100% of the worms in the calf, otherwise it isn’t achieving its purpose of protecting your property. Recent trial work looked at the use of single active ML pour-ons (such as Abamectin/ Ivermectin). The ML’s are mainly used for their efficacy against Ostertagia, the number one production limiting worm in cattle. In relieving news they still kill close to 100% of Osteragia. However their efficacy against Cooperia, a worm that is highly prevalent in calves (adult cattle acquire immunity to Cooperia at 12-18 months) is much poorer. To effectively kill Cooperia we require the addition of the drench Levamisole.

Therefore quarantine drench options must include both an ML drench component AND Levamisole to be effective. There are two options available:

• „ “Eclipse” (Abamectin + Levamisole) – a pour-on drench
• „ “Eclipse E” (Eprinomectin + Levamisole) – an injection

The injection may be the best option for beef farmers, especially if calves have long coats/mud that can interfere with the uptake of pour-on drenches. It is similar to Cydectin/Exodus that many sheep farmers are familiar with administering. Have a chat to one of our vets to work out the best quarantine drench option for your farming enterprise. 

Should I be drenching ewes?

Should I be drenching ewes?

Reasons for Worming Ewes:

1. For the Ewes’ Sake: If a ewe is worm free, she utilises her feed more efficiently, has an improved appetite, and therefore puts on more condition (or loses less).
2. For the Newborn Lambs’ Sake: A well fed ewe has more energy at lambing time and more ability to deliver her lamb quickly. Lambs from these ewes are born with body temperatures 1 degree Celsius higher, which affects lamb vigour. If a lamb is more vigorous at birth, the ewe is more likely to mother it well, so less starvation/exposure losses.
3. For the Milk Lambs’ Sake: It is possible for a milk lamb to achieve liveweight gains of 300-400g per day. This exceptional figure is approached by having the ewe perform well, with higher milk production and less loss of bodyweight - at weaning the ewe should not be more than 3-4kg below her next tupping weight, or she won’t get to her ideal tupping weight next season.
4. For the Weaned Lambs’ Sake: A better lamb at weaning means earlier lamb drafts and lowers the effective stocking rate.

Products currently marketed

Bionic: A 100 day combination capsule with continual release of abamectin and albendazole, plus selenium and cobalt. Withholding time 128 days.

Extender SeCo: A drench capsule which releases albendazole (white drench family) for 100 days, plus cobalt and selenium. Suitable for ewes up to 80kg. A priming dose of effective drench must be given to the ewes when the capsules are inserted. Withholding time is zero.

Ivomec Maximizer: A 100 day worm drench capsule, with Ivomec as the active ingredient. A single capsule is adequate for ewes up to 80kg. Because ivermectin resistance is so common, we caution the use of Maximizer. Withholding time is 126 days.

Exodus LA, Cydectin LA: These products contain a form of moxidectin injection in a novel base which increases their length of action. It is active against Trichs for 42 days, and Ostertagia for 112 days.

Cydectin Injection: This product contains moxidectin which has a persistent worm killing action following a single injection. It stays active for up to 30 days, but can suppress the egg output of the ewes for much longer. It is best used 2-4 weeks pre-lamb. Withholding time is 28 days for sheep meat.

Eweguard: This product combines Cydectin injection with a 6 in 1 clostridial Vaccination.  2000 dose order.