Deworming

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tex452

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I like to alternate deworming my cows with injectable and paste.
Will this help with parasite resistant to dewormer?
I don't care for pour on but my sons love it I think because it is easy.
Does anyone else do this?
 
Pour-ons have a low efficacy. Stick with drench or injetable and only worm those that actually need it. Better yet, get a fecal run occasionally to see if any of your stock really needs it. For decades, horse people taught each other to worm based on a calendar and switch classes each cycle. Now they are dealing with super worms and can't understand why good 'ole ivermectin isn't working anymore.
 
Although I've never done it, I think fecal samples would probably be a real good idea. Think of it as being like soil samples. Helps you spend your money where it's needed.
If you are rotating, I'd think the way to go is several years of either an avermectin type injectable or one of the drenches. After a few years, switch to the other for several. Again, fecal counts would tell you when to switch. I used to rotate spring and fall but got concerned about building a resistance to both types. I switched to Synanthic drench in 2017. I'm using Dectomax injectable this year. Just doing the calves and younger cows unless an older one shows signs of needing it.
Maybe need to follow my own advice on fecal counts.
 
Pour-ons have a low efficacy. Stick with drench or injetable and only worm those that actually need it. Better yet, get a fecal run occasionally to see if any of your stock really needs it. For decades, horse people taught each other to worm based on a calendar and switch classes each cycle. Now they are dealing with super worms and can't understand why good 'ole ivermectin isn't working anymore.
"Averaged across all tests, the reduction in faecal egg count was significantly greater after treatment with moxidectin oral (91.1%) than following treatment with moxidectin injection (55.5%) or with moxidectin pour-on (51.3%). Low efficacies were invariably against Cooperia oncophora. The oral treatments were significantly less variable in efficacy than the injection and pour-on treatments"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304401712004773
 
I'm a firm believer that you have to put it in them for wormer to be effective.
We use injectable Cydecton at turn out and Synanthic oral drench in the fall. Usually do random faecal testing in July.
 
I'm in the fight against Global (de)Worming.
Quit deworming healthy adult cows. Period.
Other than an occasional first-calf heifer that looked thin while nursing her first calf, I didn't deworm an adult cow in our herd in the last 15 years.
After about 2-2.5 yrs of age, most cattle will have developed resistance/tolerance/resilience to worms, and nematode parasites will have no significant impact on productivity for >90% of cows. You'll save a boatload of $$$, too.
When you deworm the entire herd (if you're using an efficacious drug at the correct dosage and route), you're killing off ALL the worms that are still susceptible to that class of dewormer that you're using... so all that's left to lay eggs that hatch out as the next generation of worms on pasture are the resistant ones.
So... if you deworm everything on the place with, say, ivermectin, this spring... all that's left to lay eggs are the ivermectin-resistant worms. Then, when you 'rotate' to a different class of dewormer... say, Panacur/Safeguard, this fall - and deworm everything... well, all that is left to lay eggs are the ones that are resistant to both Ivermectin AND Panacur/Safeguard.
But... if you'd quit deworming all adult cows - or even just 10% of them (targeted non-selection)... you'll preserve some 'refugia'... that portion of the population of worms that are not having selection pressure placed on them for resistance. The worms that make up the refugia still have some 'susceptible' genes that can help to 'dilute' the resistance genes in that breeding population of worms.

Pasture management is important, too. 75% of infectious L3-stage nematode larvae are in the bottom 4 inches of forage, 15% in the next two inches above that, 10% in the next two inches above that... so... the shorter you graze your pastures, the more infectious worm larvae your cattle are exposed to.
 
I'm in the fight against Global (de)Worming.
Quit deworming healthy adult cows. Period.
Other than an occasional first-calf heifer that looked thin while nursing her first calf, I didn't deworm an adult cow in our herd in the last 15 years.
After about 2-2.5 yrs of age, most cattle will have developed resistance/tolerance/resilience to worms, and nematode parasites will have no significant impact on productivity for >90% of cows. You'll save a boatload of $$$, too.
When you deworm the entire herd (if you're using an efficacious drug at the correct dosage and route), you're killing off ALL the worms that are still susceptible to that class of dewormer that you're using... so all that's left to lay eggs that hatch out as the next generation of worms on pasture are the resistant ones.
So... if you deworm everything on the place with, say, ivermectin, this spring... all that's left to lay eggs are the ivermectin-resistant worms. Then, when you 'rotate' to a different class of dewormer... say, Panacur/Safeguard, this fall - and deworm everything... well, all that is left to lay eggs are the ones that are resistant to both Ivermectin AND Panacur/Safeguard.
But... if you'd quit deworming all adult cows - or even just 10% of them (targeted non-selection)... you'll preserve some 'refugia'... that portion of the population of worms that are not having selection pressure placed on them for resistance. The worms that make up the refugia still have some 'susceptible' genes that can help to 'dilute' the resistance genes in that breeding population of worms.

Pasture management is important, too. 75% of infectious L3-stage nematode larvae are in the bottom 4 inches of forage, 15% in the next two inches above that, 10% in the next two inches above that... so... the shorter you graze your pastures, the more infectious worm larvae your cattle are exposed to.
This makes sense.
 
Just think of the $$$ some of the folks on here would save if they weren't deworming every. cow. in. the. herd... twice a year... for virtually no gain... while at the same time speeding the population of worms on the place toward resistance to all classes of dewormers!
You could buy more/better hay/feed!
 
I worm individuals as they need it, I believe there is a hereditary connection to being susceptible to worms but don't have enough numbers to get a clear picture.
 
I worm individuals as they need it, I believe there is a hereditary connection to being susceptible to worms but don't have enough numbers to get a clear picture.
I would also guess that it would be at least somewhat hereditary too. When we had sheep and goats, i heard people say that some breeds were more susceptible to worm problems than others.
 
Goats and sheep are not small cows.
Worms - particularly Haemonchus contortus, the barberpole worm - can and will kill small ruminants, and they do it very handily. Every day.
Other than liver flukes (which I've seen exactly one case of, as I've never lived/practiced in an area where they are present), worms (nematode parasites) do not kill cattle; yes, they may impact growth/productivity, but wholesale death is not a feature of nematode parasitism in cattle. .
 
Goats and sheep are not small cows.
Worms - particularly Haemonchus contortus, the barberpole worm - can and will kill small ruminants, and they do it very handily. Every day.
Other than liver flukes (which I've seen exactly one case of, as I've never lived/practiced in an area where they are present), worms (nematode parasites) do not kill cattle; yes, they may impact growth/productivity, but wholesale death is not a feature of nematode parasitism in cattle. .
Yes, a lot of folks think that they are basically small cattle as far management, but definitely worms are more problematic for sheep and goats. They have different mineral needs.
 
I remember back at some point probably early 90's, reps from companies that sold wormers were pushing the idea of worming a third time around July in addition to spring and fall. Always figured that was too much of a good thing and more about marketing a product.
 
We are like @Lucky_P . We don't routinely worm. If an animal looks thin, has a bad hair coat, or other reason to suspect worms, then they get treated. Make a decision as they go through the chute for preg checks.... the calves also do not get wormed regularly. Over the years we have been selective about keeping animals that don't seem to have worm issues and their off spring.

Also are particular about keeping off spring from cows that are resistant to pinkeye... We see much more of that in animals we buy.... I think they develop a resistance to the "bugs" on our place... and the resulting calves do too. Have a couple cows that seem to have susceptible calves every year , and the calves get pinkeye in one eye... we have been slowly weeding out those kind of cows and do not keep calves from them.

There are breeds of sheep that seem to have a better worm resistance, than other breeds. But a "worm bloom" can kill a sheep or a goat faster than you think....

Also, we use DE in our mineral and any feed that we have made and delivered in bulk.... I have found a big difference in the chickens eating feed with DE and no more worms.... neighbor used to do fecal counts on his cattle and used DE in his custom mineral and after about 2 years, the vet finally said, don't bother, they just don't have worms anymore. He didn't believe in using DE but said after that one farm doing that and basically getting rid of the worm egg count in the fecals, he became a believer and started doing it on his own farm.

We keep a bottle of pour-on ivermectin in the barn to use on the occasional cow.... and for whatever other use we need it for........
 
I have found that more cattle on a smaller area for less time will do wonders to control the effects of worms.
I use a 35-45 day rotation usually with 2-5 days in a section or area. About 20 years ago I stopped the worming
ritual and started culling anything that did not maintain condition with the ration supplied.( I do not abuse my stock)

We try to calve in April for 45 days, wean in Oct or Nov and market in March the following spring. The steers will run
850-925 with heifers proportional. I like to creep feed the calves about 30 days before weaning so they will go to the
bunk when they are brought into the yard. I tell you this as I did not want someone to think that I had stopped
worming and left the cattle in the same pasture all summer. If you run grassgrubber cows then by all means worm them!
 
We also rotation graze our cattle as much as possible considering we have alot of rented pastures. It really does help to control the worm problems. Our calving window is not as tight as we want, but some of that is our fault for not getting bulls in and out when they should be.
We will start feeding a little so the calves learn to come in and go to the bunk with momma, and then when we wean, we will leave 2 or 3 cows with the calves for a week or 2 so the calves can follow them in and they don't feel so "abandoned" ..... tried fence line weaning and it was a nightmare. But then not all our places have good fences either....This seems to work real good, and then when we do take the few "babysitter cows" out, it is only their couple of calves doing much hollering and they will follow the already "weaned" ones and it stops. Usually when we wean, the cows that get left with the calves are open, or short bred, so it doesn't hurt them to still have a calf on them like the rest that are further along and need a break. And for the few that come up open, they get left there with the weaned calves until we are making a trip to town and they take a trip.
 
Agree with the ivermectin for the lice and warbles... we seldom see either anymore. Like I said, we do not routinely worm but will use it when the situation calls for it. Agree with @Silver , it does good for different things and is a good tool to have in the medicine box!!!!
 

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