WORMING CATTLE
All young cattle which are on pasture from approx 8 weeks of age are prone to picking up worms. In young cattle they are particularly prone to Nematodirus early in the season with Teladorsagia(Ostertagia) being more prevalent later on in the grazing season. Worm burdens can range from being undetectable to severe diarrhoea, weight loss and even death. The relatively low cost of wormers means that it is very cost effective to keep your cattle free of worms to ensure optimal growth rates. There are many wormers available in different forms, which all have different duration of actions. Because of this we can choose the most appropriate wormer according to how often we want to dose the cattle. When cattle go to grass for the first time in the year we usually do not need to dose for 3 weeks because it takes this time for the worms picked up to become adult and start producing eggs. It is a good idea to worm constantly over the summer as a lapse can soon allow worm burdens and pasture contamination to develop with resulting impact on performance.
When the cattle are housed they need dosed for worms once, and then they should not pick up any more when not on grass. At this stage we need to dose with a wormer that will kill all dormant (encysted) worms in the animal as well as the active worms, therefore most wormers except Levamisole will be appropriate. There are some resistance developing in worms in some areas to the white drenches, this means that drenching with these white drenches may not kill the worms in the cattle if the worms on your farm are resistant.
It is usually not necessary to worm cattle after their second grazing season. There are some cases however when it may be necessary. If there are large numbers of young lungworm on the pasture then all ages of cattle will be susceptible to irritation of the airways with coughing and occasionally sickness. We see this presentation occasionally in dairy herds, where many cows begin coughing. These cattle need wormed and if they are dairy cattle then to save milk its best to use Eprinex.
Young adult's approx 3-4 years who have had a very thorough worming history may never have had worms develop in their body, they will therefore not be immune to the worms and will still be susceptible to worms like younger cattle.
Old cattle or poor cattle with compromised immune systems will be susceptible to worms, so to aid their recovery they should be wormed as well as treating the underlying cause.

FLUKE
Fluke affect cattle livers, and disease can range from undetectable to life threatening. Signs range from ill thrift to diarrhoea, weight loss and fluid build-up, especially under the jaw (Bottle jaw), the disease can progress to death. Cattle need dosed for fluke, if the disease is advanced then response can be slow due to the amount of liver damage already sustained. All cattle should be wormed at least once per year if they spend the winter in the house, and more often over the winter if they are out wintered. The cost of dosing cattle is greatly outweighed by the financial loss of even low grade fluke infection. There is great variation in the age of fluke which the various fluke doses will kill. Therefore it is important to delay dosing of cattle for the appropriate interval according to which product you plan to use.



Albendazole - Valbazen, Ovispec, Endospec
Oxyclozanide - Nilzan
Nitroxynil - Trodax
Closantel - Flukiver, Supaverm
Triclabendazole - Fasinex, Combinex.

VACCINATIONS
Clostridial vaccines which protect against Blackleg, Blacks disease, Tetanus etc are very effective and cheap. Cattle generally do not take Blackleg after 2 years of age, however they never become immune to Blacks or Tetanus so it is a good idea to use a combined vaccine from an early age. The earliest age to vaccinate cattle is 12 weeks old. The optimum time of the year to vaccinate is in the spring before the cattle go out so that they are protected from the first day of the grazing season, the first time cattle are vaccinated they require two injections separated by 4-6 weeks.

Infertility - common causes of infertility in cattle include Leptospirosis (Lepto) and BVD (BovineViral Diarrhoea virus). These diseases have many presentations from repeat breeders, to early embryo loss to abortions later in the pregnancy. Occasionally calves can be born at term either dead or weak and die some time later. Sometimes deformed calves or calves which take persistent diarrhoea later in life are born. The rate of Lepto infection in dairy herds is over 90%, and the rate of BVD infection is approximately 90%, this means that most herds are infected and should be vaccinated to protect pregnancies and the health of the cows.
A less common cause of abortion is Salmonella, this may cause sickness which can be severe, diarrhoeas which can be severe and bloody, and abortions. Occasionally abortions can occur in large numbers (abortion storms). All these can be prevented by vaccinating.

Pneumonia - there are many organisms responsible for pneumonia, and environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, ventilation and stocking density all have major influence on the incidence and severity of pneumonia. There are 3 major viral causes of pneumonia, PI3, IBR and RSV. And one major bacterium called Pasteurella. These organisms can be vaccinated against. There are no vaccines which cover all the organisms in one however there are vaccines for them all. The more we vaccinate for the better the chance of reducing or preventing pneumonia. Some important ways to use vaccines more effectively include:
-If we can have the cattle fully vaccinated before housing then the vaccines will work best if they are given while still at grass to give maximum time to develop immunity. This is important when using for example Rispoval 4, which should be used by giving the first injection in approximately August, the second in September so that immunity has developed well at housing.
If we are buying cattle from the market then there is not enough time to allow the slower acting intra muscular vaccines from working, so intra nasal (up nose) should be used as these are rapidly effective. All cattle in the herd should be vaccinated to protect them from potential infection from the new arrivals.

CALF SCOURS - Scours in young calves are commonly caused by E. Coli, Rotavirus, and Coronavirus. These can be effectively controlled by boosting the quality of the colostrum the calf receives by vaccinating the mother between 1 and 3 months before calving.
Other causes of scour include Coccidiosis, Cryptosporidiosis (Crypto) and Salmonella. Coccidiosis can be controlled with either feeding Deccox or a drench. Crypto can be controlled with Halocur drench. Salmonella is dealt with above.

LICE - This is usually a problem in cattle in the house, young calves can have life threatening louse burdens, older cattle will sometimes have significant louse burdens or even mange which can all impact severely on performance. Treatment is simple with either Spot-on for all including milk producing animals. Some louse products are also wormers, so these can be applied at housing.

BOTULISM - This is an increasing problem in our area and Northern Ireland in general. Due to its unpredictability of onset and its high death rate the only real solution to its control is vaccination. The new vaccine course is 1 dose every 1 - 3 years. It is important the cattle get vaccinated several weeks before the risk period to be fully protected. Again the best time to vaccinate cattle is in the spring while they are still in the house.

WORMING SHEEP
Sheep are susceptible to gut worms (Teladorsagia, Trichostrogylus, Nematodirus, Haemonchus etc), lung worm (Dictyocaulus, Muellerius), and tapeworms (Monezia, Taenia etc). These worms can all cause substantial economic loss and even severe disease and death. An accepted worm control policy is essential on all farms. We will start when the ewes are ready to lamb. Adult ewes should not become ill with a large worm burden, however at and after lambing they do produce some worm eggs which will not do them any harm but will "contaminate" the pasture for their young lambs. It is advisable to worm ewes as close to lambing as possible without causing them undue stress and harm.
Lambs will need wormed from approximately 6 weeks of age, when they are starting to eat grass. Lambs and young sheep will need wormed throughout the season for as long as they are out. If lambs are put in the house they will need wormed when they go in with a wormer which kills all stages of worms including encysted (dormant) stages. There are some resistance developing in worms in some areas to the white drenches, this means that drenching with these white drenches may not kill the worms in the sheep if the worms present on your farm are resistant. There are guidelines now on worming sheep aimed at slowing down the development of resistance in worms to wormers; these can be got from the surgery.

FLUKE
Fluke are more common in the winter months, however the prevalence of fluke depends on the weather and pasture type, with wet conditions favouring them. Sheep can have various fluke burdens, from undetectable to severe rapid death. Chronic fluke presents as ill thrift and weight loss, progressing to sickness and death. There are times when so many young fluke are eaten in a short space of time that the liver is severely affected; this can lead to sudden death. Each farmer will know the prevalence of fluke on their farm, however as a guideline sheep and lambs will need dosed in September, November, January and March/April if they are out-wintered. If sheep are housed over the winter they will need dosed at some stage after housing and the interval between housing and dosing will depend on the product used, see the table in the cattle section on fluke products to see how long to wait after housing.
Some sheep flocks may need dosed more often than this depending on the type of ground they are on and the weather.

COCCIDIOSIS
Some sheep flocks have a problem with coccidiosis in their lambs; this disease can last from year to year on a farm. It may present as anything from merely an ill thrift to severe bloody scour and death. The disease strikes usually from 4 weeks of age or older and starts as a loose faeces or scour which means a dirty tail. It is important to treat lambs even though they are not "sick" because the lambs will be very ill thrifty during and maybe after the disease has passed. Common treatment methods include either Deccox in the lambs creep feed, or if the lambs are young and not on meal then a one-of drench with Vecoxan is usually effective.

VACCINATIONS
CLOSTRIDIAL diseases like Lamb Dysentery, Struck, Pulpy Kidney, Braxy, Blackleg, Tetanus and Blacks Disease are very important especially in lowland and higher muscle types of sheep.
PNEUMONIA These vaccines can also be combined with P for Pasteurella which can cause sudden death due to pneumonia especially in lambs. Some of the vaccines can be used in lambs as young as 3 weeks of age and consists of 2 injections 4-6 weeks apart.

ORF There is an effective vaccine for Orf in sheep and lambs which is a highly infectious condition that can cause ill thrift in lambs due to reluctance of them to feed, or their mothers preventing them from sucking.


INFERTILITY There are two common causes of abortion in the sheep flocks called by Toxoplasmosisand Enzootic Abortion of Ewes (EAE). If these infections are present in the flock they can cause severe losses due to abortions, dead or weak lambs being born. Each of these diseases have their own effective vaccine which ideally should be given before the ewes are tupped, some however can be given after this.

SHEEP SCAB This is still a problem in sheep, which may be more prevalent now that dipping is no longer compulsory. This disease can cause severe ill thrift or sudden death due to ewes being stuck on their backs. Dipping is a good way to control this but a license from the department is required to operate dipping facilities. Two of the injectible worming products will control scab (and lice) with one injection, while also worming the sheep.