Dairy deworming

[Double R Ranch]

Looking into deworming jerseys during dry up and a few dairy heifers. Unfortunately it appears as if you can't use valbazen or ivomec plus (or the off brand) that covers liver flukes which we have had problems with in the past. Anyone have experience worming dairy cows? I am guessing it must be an off label use thing or is there just not any that cover liver flukes that dairy cows can have? We have a 2 month break till milking again so I am hoping to get it done asap so that she has a chance to get out of withdrawal before we are drinking milk again.
Thanks for any thoughts and advice y'all have!

 

[Lucky_P]

Slaughter withdrawal is 27 & 28 days, respectively, for Valbazen and Ivomec Plus.
No approved withdrawal established for dairy cattle, but I'd give either one at dry-off, and have no concerns about residue in milk 60 days out.

 

[farmerjan]

The "warning" for established dairy cattle is to cover any possibilities with a dairy that is selling milk through a bulk tank pickup... cows that might get milked by accident in the tank, whatever could possibly go wrong. (and does) This cover's their butts....
I am with @Lucky_P .... If you are concerned with any milk residual at 60 days dry and then calving, milk an extra week and feed calves with it... But, I would not be concerned if it was my personal cow and she was dry the normal 60 days and then a couple of days of colostrum feeding ...... I do not have the liver fluke problem to deal with.

 

[Double R Ranch]

Slaughter withdrawal is 27 & 28 days, respectively, for Valbazen and Ivomec Plus.
No approved withdrawal established for dairy cattle, but I'd give either one at dry-off, and have no concerns about residue in milk 60 days out.

Thank you so much. That's what I was trying to figure out. Really appreciate the info.

 

[Double R Ranch]

The "warning" for established dairy cattle is to cover any possibilities with a dairy that is selling milk through a bulk tank pickup... cows that might get milked by accident in the tank, whatever could possibly go wrong. (and does) This cover's their butts....
I am with @Lucky_P .... If you are concerned with any milk residual at 60 days dry and then calving, milk an extra week and feed calves with it... But, I would not be concerned if it was my personal cow and she was dry the normal 60 days and then a couple of days of colostrum feeding ...... I do not have the liver fluke problem to deal with.

Thank you. That makes sense. These cows are for person use only. I really was not sure how long the withdrawal could possibly be in milk since the meat withdrawal isn't 60 days. I was surprised to see many things saying not to use on dairy cows and really wasn't sure why. If it was just a lack of testing on them or ?
I wish we didn't have to deal with liver flukes. They are a pain to manage. We rarely have any issues with other parasites but the flukes are a nightmare that won't go away. Not a huge issue in the beef cows, goats, sheep as we can deworm them and just wait the withdrawal periods. I was just confused by the "not for use on dairy cows". Wouldn't matter if we weren't dealing with a limited deworming option for flukes.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Not for use in dairy cows

Aggravating ain't it!

I mean, what do dairies use??

 

[Double R Ranch]

Exactly what I have been trying to figure out. I find it hard to believe dairies don't have issue with liver flukes somewhere. Maybe not? I know there's several dairy safe wormers but nothing that gets liver flukes. It's been frustrating researching.

 

[kenny thomas]

Most dairys now keep the cows inside don't they. No grazing so no worms or liver flukes.

 

[moses388]

Liver flukes are found in beef x dairy cross calves. It has become an issue for feedlots and packers. In the feedlot, liver flukes can make cross bred calves more susceptible to other diseases. At the packer, there is lost revenue and more waste.

 

[Farm Family]

We never dewormed our dairy herd. Never had an issue. I suppose if your area/herd has an issue…those dry cows and young stock is where you would start. I would refer to your veterinarian. Dairies tend to have different bio security and tight/closed herds and/or environments. Most are housed in barns and those that go to pastures are on isolated pastures utilized by their own. Never dewormed, never had an issue.

 

[Lucky_P]

Jan nailed it. The liability associated with possible 'contamination' of a tank, truck,or silo load of milk by someone accidentally putting a treated cow's milk in is such that the drug companies will never test for or give a label recommendation of some drugs for dairy cattle.
Doesn't mean that a drug is not safe and effective...just that they're not going to tell you that you can use it.
I'm a veterinarian, but not a pharmacologist...that said, if you're essentially doubling the time of the slaughter withdrawal, I'd bet the likelihood of any significant milk residue is close to zero. Even fewer repurcussions as this is not a 'commercial' dairy enterprise.

 

[Peace]

We never dewormed our dairy herd. Never had an issue. I suppose if your area/herd has an issue…those dry cows and young stock is where you would start. I would refer to your veterinarian. Dairies tend to have different bio security and tight/closed herds and/or environments. Most are housed in barns and those that go to pastures are on isolated pastures utilized by their own. Never dewormed, never had an issue.

We never did either. It was the bulk tank security issue that all dairys must have. As crazy as it it, any cows treated with penicillin were milked into a separate tank and that was fed to the calves. It often made me wonder if it made the calves more immune to the effects of penicillin. Either way, I wouldn't worry about the transfer after the 30 days, if it gave me some residual protection from liver fluke I don't know how terrible that would be either.

 

[Lucky_P]

It often made me wonder if it made the calves more immune to the effects of penicillin.

No. Animals (cattle, humans, horses, etc.) do not become 'immune' or 'resistant' to antibiotics/antimicrobials.
But... using subtherapeutic levels of those drugs can select for populations of bacteria that have genes that code for resistance to antimicrobials. All the 'susceptible' 'bugs' are killed off, and the ones that have genes for resistance are left to give rise to subsequent generations.