Parasite Prevention on your Lifestyle Block

Parasites thrive in warm, moist conditions, making the transition to summer a high-risk period for heavy parasite burdens. Young stock, exposed to these parasites for the first time, are particularly vulnerable to parasitism. 

Top tips for parasite prevention:

1. Drench young stock: Begin drenching lambs, kids, calves and cria at around 12 weeks of age. Continue every 28 days over summer and into early autumn. From May onwards, we strongly recommend faecal egg counting to deterimine if further drenches are needed. Our team can guide you through the faecal egg counting process and explain how it helps combat drench resistance (similar to antibiotic resistance, but for worms).
2. Choose a combination drench: Use an oral drench containing at least two active ingredients - ideally three. Combination drenches reduce the risk of resistence as the actives work in different ways to kill worms. Ask our vet team for advice on the best drench for your animals.
3. Manage grazing: Over summer, parasites tend to concentrate at the base of grass to avoid drying out. Avoid grazing too low to reduce parasite intake.
4. Implement refugia: Leaving some adult stock undrenched (e.g. a portion of your ewes if you also have lambs) maintains a low output of drench-susceptible worm larvae in the pasture. This dilutes resistant worms and is known as refugia. Contact us to discuss how to best manage refugia on your property.
5. Dose drench accurately: Always dose drench according to the weight of the heaviest animal in the mob. If there is significant weight variation, separate animals into 'heavy' and 'light' groups and dose each group accordingly. For example, if the heaviest animal weighs 30kg and the lightest weighs 22kg, drench all stock in the group for 30kg.

Important: Before drenching, ensure your drench gun is calibrated correctly. Administer 10 doses into a measuring jug to check the total volume matches the expected dose. If it's inaccurate, bring your drench gun to us for servicing or consider replacing it. Any drench dispensed into a clean jug can be poured back into the container to avoid wastage.