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D A I R Y C O F E A T U R E
15
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
Quarantine treatments
These should be on a risk based approach taking into account where the new animals
have come from in respect of fluke areas and previous treatments. Pasture can be split
into high, medium or low risk according to previous grazing management.
Time of year
System
Features/risks
Implications for control
High risk for worm infestation Medium risk for worm infestation Low risk for worm infestation
Spring
Grazed in the previous year by
first year calves.
Grazed in the previous year by
adult or second year cattle.
Newly reseeded as either grass
or forage crops.
Previously grazed by sheep
or been in conservation
management.
Mid July onwards
Previously grazed in the spring
by first year calves.
Previously grazed in spring by
cattle. ‘Clean’ pasture grazed
by parasite free calves.
Previously grazed by sheep in
the spring.
Previously been in conservation
management or forage crops of
arable by-products.
Spring calving herds
Adult cattle usually immune but may be
sub-clinical production effects on high
producing animals.
Monitor and treat if appropriate or considered
necessary.
Calves turned out in spring may experience
infections from overwintering of worms and
larvae on pasture and show clinical signs
of infection.
Turn out calves on to low risk pastures and
minimise pasture contamination using timed
treatments with appropriate wormers. Use
lungworm vaccination in high risk areas.
All year round calving herds
Calves born in the spring may be put on
pasture at two to three months of age or
as a year old the following spring.
Monitor using faecal egg counts and
preventative control measures where
necessary.
Autumn calving herds
Calves grazing the same pastures as older
calves become exposed to higher worm
burdens from mid July onwards.
Monitor using faecal egg counts and treat
where necessary or move on to low risk
pasture from mid July onwards.
Treat for possible arrested worm development
on housing in the autumn.
Calves born in late summer or autumn may
not graze until the following spring.
Alternatively move to low or moderate risk
pasture in the spring.
Calves grazing the same pasture as older
calves and cows become exposed to high
worm burdens from mid July onwards.
Monitor using faecal egg counts and treat
where necessary or move on to low risk
pasture from mid July onwards.
Housed calves may acquire significant
infection early in the next spring.
Turn out calves on to low risk pasture. Treat
in early part of grazing season to minimise
pasture contamination. Lungworm vaccination
in high risk areas.
You can download the
COWS report
from the DairyCo website and a factsheet summarising the main points for farmer
use will be available from mid-summer.
For those systems that use grazing as part of their management they can generally be split into three types : those where cows
predominantly calve in the spring, those who calve in the autumn, and those where calving occurs all year round. Generally in
all systems, calves are removed from their dams either at birth or soon after birth.