June 2015

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    Geoff Dooley's picture

    Kevin Meaney of Southview Veterinary asks if your parasite control programme is working?

    Submitted by Geoff Dooley on

    Effective parasite control is an especially vital part of rearing dairy heifer calves. They need to be achieving a Daily LiveWeight Gain (DLWG) of at least 0.7kg/day to hit their liveweight targets for breeding next year.

    Where calves, 6-8 weeks after turnout have an adequate supply of good quality grass, the most likely cause of poor weight gain is parasites.

    There are a variety of different approaches to worm control, including new innovative very long-acting wormers, which save a lot of labour.

    Geoff Dooley's picture

    Edwin Murphy of Adare Veterinary Clinic on managing scouring grass calves

    Submitted by Geoff Dooley on

    The wet and cold weather during May and early June has made a big contribution to the number of scouring grass calves. 

    The combination of low dry matter in the grass due to the rain, and the chill factor of the wind often leave calves in a poor state, with many scouring and empty. Their energy intake begins to suffer, often leading to chills and pneumonias. It often only takes a few days for a fine bunch of calves to become very ragged looking with often 10 to 20% of them needing veterinary treatment.  

    Geoff Dooley's picture

    Conor Geraghty asks if effective parasite control in sheep is out of reach?

    Submitted by Geoff Dooley on

    49% Failure Rate in Sheep Dosing – Is Effective Parasite Control in Sheep out of Reach?

    Parasites remain the number one cause of mortality in sheep in Ireland.

    The faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) is used as a method to evaluate the effectiveness of a worming programme. If the wormer is effective then we see a reduction of faecal egg counts of >95% post dosing. As an option in the Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP), almost 2000 farmers completed a FECRT in 2013. Alarmingly the worming failure rate was 49%.

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