2 J3 ANIMAL HEALTH Irish Farmers Journal 7 September 2013

2013 Ploughing Match 3Day Show Offer!!!

Visit Our Stand And Place Your Orders!!

AHI PARASITE CONTROL TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

Summer 2013 has been a relatively dry summer; however, unless diagnostic tests (dung samples

or blood and milk samples) from your farm show other-wise, animals should still be treated for parasites when being housed.

Housing is an excellent time to treat animals for par-asites as, once housed, they cannot pick up new worm or fl uke infections until turn-out to grass next spring. Thus, effective anthelmintic (wormer) treatments at or during housing should keep the animals free of worms and liver fluke until they return to pasture the next year.

The target parasites for cattle of all ages at housing are stomach worms, lung-worms, liver fluke, chewing lice, sucking lice and mange. Table 1 outlines treatment options for each of these.

TIPS FOR DOSING: Read the label and instruc-

tions for the chosen products carefully, ensuring that you know exactly what they can and cannot do and set your targets and expectations ac-cordingly.

Weigh a number of ani-mals to ensure that you ad-

minister the right amount. Under-dosing can lead to a build up of anthelminthic resistance on your farm.

Combination products

Table 1: Parasites for treatment consideration at housing

PARASITE ANIMAL AGE SIGNIFICANCE TREATMENTS (check label for effi cacy against various stages of parasites)

Stomach and other gut worms

All ages (immunity increases with each grazing season)

Suboptimal performance

Benzimidazoles* Endectocides*(Levamisole* only effec-tive against adult worms)

Inhibited larvae of stomach worms

All ages Ostertagiosis Type II disease

Some Benzimidazoles* (check label) Endectocides* N.B. Levamisole not effective

Lungworm All ages (commonly fi rst grazing season)

Hoose; Increased risk of viral and bacterial pneumonia

Benzimidazoles* Endectocides* Levamisole*

Liver fl uke All ages Poor growth Low milk yield Poor fertility

Albendazole Clorsulon* Closantel* Nitroxynil Oxyclozanide* Rafoxanide Triclabendazole*

Biting lice All ages Scratching Poor coats

Endectocides* (externally applied)

Sucking lice Mainly young fi rst grazing season

Anaemia Endectocides* Pyrethroids

Mange mites All ages Scratching Dermatitis Poor growthLow milk yield

Endectocides* Pyrethroids Amitraz

Parasite control at housing

should be used appropriately for the target species.

For worms, it is best to use products active against both adult and inhibited larvae

INTRODUCTION

Animal being dosed correctly.

Keeping your animals healthy and performing to their potential

This week, we focus on the importance of animal health for the dairy, beef and sheep sectors.

Autumn is a time of year when tasks such as weaning and housing are carried out. By following the ad-vice outlined by our team of specialists and guest veterinary contributors, you will be better placed to keep your animals healthy and performing to their potential.

Despite a dry summer, there is still a large parasite burden present on grazing swards. On page 2, AHI of-fer tips on dosing and the best products to use when targeting certain parasites.

Cryptosporidium is the second most common cause of diarrhoea in calves up to three weeks after birth, yet

many farmers know little about it. Frank O’Sullivan gives an overview of coccid-iosis and cryptosporidium on page 4.

On page 6, UCD’s Eoin Ryan details how reinfec-tion hoose affects milk pro-duction and the respiratory system in dairy cows by causing persistent cough-ing.

Alan Kelly highlights how to avoid problems such as acidosis in fi nishing cattle when moving them onto high levels of concen-trates on page 7.

David Graham of AHI gives a detailed account of IBR on page 8. Approxi-mately 75% of beef and dairy herds have had expo-sure to the virus and hous-ing is a high risk period for spreading the problem.

On page 10, Nathan Tuffy

outlines simple steps to weaning calves, while Dar-ren Carty gives an example of a health plan for a sheep fl ock on page 11.

The Journal Vet gives in-valuable advice on page 12 relating to the vaccination of animals, from assess-ing the health problems to targeting specifi c products for use.

Finally, on page 15, Paidi Kelly features a Welsh dairy farmer who has been hit with contagious mastitis, costing his business €7,000.

— Alan Kelly

Irish Farmers Journal 7 September 2013 J3 ANIMAL HEALTH 3

Milk yield losses of up to 1kg per day over a 305 day lactation1 Reduced milk butterfat concentration2

with FASINEX® 240

For further information about FASINEX 240 contact: Novartis Animal Health UK Ltd, Frimley Business Park, Frimley, Camberley, Surrey, GU16 7SR. Tel 01276 694402 or in Ireland Tel 051 377201.

FASINEX 240 contains 24% w/v triclabendazole. FASINEX® is a registered trademark of Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland. Advice on the use of this or alternative medicines must be sought from the medicine prescriber. Legal category: LM Licensed Merchant. FAB/12/525 rdp19107 Sept ‘12

1. University of Reading, Department of Agriculture and Food Economics, The Economics of Fascioliasis (Liver Fluke)2. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Technical Note, Dairy, 13th April 2003

240

® 240

Parasite control at housing

of the stomach worm, O. ostertagi.

For lice control, use an externally applied product and if high levels of control are required to treat all the animals in a group, make sure they are not in contact with any untreated animals throughout the winter.

The same is broadly true for mange control but injectable products can also be useful for sarcoptic and psoroptic mange.

If no treatments for ecto-parasites (lice, mange) are given at housing, then stock should be checked a couple of months after housing, as it is generally around this time (Janu-ary/Febru-ary) that any problems with lice or mange appear.

While ac-ceptable levels of liver fl uke control can be achieved with a housing treatment, if infection levels are high and, particularly if animals have picked up a lot of new infec-tions just before they are housed, a more stringent approach may be required.

If the fl ukicide used at housing is only effective in treating older immature liver fl ukes and/or adult liver fl ukes, it is worth checking faecal samples ap-proximately six weeks after housing to see if any liver fl uke eggs are present and to re-treat as appropriate.

An alternative is to delay administration of such products to six to eight weeks after housing, by which time most of the liver fl uke present in the animal will be adult and susceptible to treatment.

If products containing triclabendazole are used at

housing, these should kill early immature and adult liver fl ukes and, therefore, a follow-up treatment should not be necessary. How-ever, while not confi rmed in cattle, resistance to triclabendazole appears to be widespread in sheep in Ireland. Therefore, it may still be worthwhile to check faecal samples for liver fl uke eggs a few weeks after treat-ment.

If treating dairy cows at drying-off or during the dry period, check the latest prod-uct literature for withdrawal

period information to avoid residues in milk in the next lactation.

If cattle are turned back out to pasture over the win-ter, even for a short period following housing, they can then pick up parasites. In

these circumstances, it may be necessary to repeat treat-ment.

Use housing time to re-view your management of parasites in the 2013 grazing period. Review products used, dung sample results and start to plan for the 2014 grazing season. The eco-nomic losses associated with stomach worms and liver fl uke in cattle are very sig-nifi cant. The image of cattle clinically affected with liver fl uke and worms is embed-ded in the mindset of beef and dairy farmers and their

vets. However, clinically af-fected animals are only the ‘tip of the iceberg’.

The sub-clinical compo-nent of parasitic infection, with its potential effect on growth rate, milk yield and fertility is much more costly and lies ‘beneath the surface.’

For more information, see the ‘Parasite Control at Housing’ leafl et avail-able on the Animal Health Ireland website www.anim-alhealthireland.ie. Farm-specifi c queries should be discussed with your own vet.

The sub-clinical component of parasitic infection is much more costly and lies ‘beneath the surface’