Parasite.indd

Parasite Patrol
Parasite Patrol
Get your cattle off to a clean start this grazing season. fl y control. To control horn fl ies until relatively free of internal parasites.
(Ostertagia ostertagi) is the one that Whittier’s deworming
they are very effective for lice control. Veterinarian Dee Whittier recommends this graze “parasite-safe” pastures for 90 program for spring-calving beef herds in his x Deworm calves at midsummer (July 4 in Vir- price of parasite control attractive for many producers. “I believe that it’s Deworm calves at weaning and place them in clean pastures (regrowth of a hayfi eld) or x Deworm grazing replacement heifers with sequential treatments in the spring.
country. To plan a specifi c program that gives your calves 90 days of parasite-safe carcass characteristics across the board.
of spring grazing. If the cows weren’t grazing, discuss strategic deworming with control cattle that were never dewormed. dewormed the previous fall or winter (or your veterinarian or Extension livestock cattle strategically dewormed in pastures Cattle that were not dewormed on pasture and at feedlot entry averaged higher daily but were treated at feedlot entry averaged gains, higher dressing percentages, better yield grades and larger ribeye areas, and a larvae will overwinter, and adult cattle that strategically deworming steers during will acquire parasite infections as they graze. To decrease the level of pasture contamination in situations where cows and calves will be grazing together, the adult cattle should be dewormed about six weeks after turnout.
in spring (at around 200 lb.), they also acquire infective larvae and start contributing to pasture contamination about four weeks later. As part of a strategic program, a dewormer should be administered when the internal parasites the young calves have acquired start to shed viable eggs. Additional dewormer medications will need to be administered when the pasture is potentially contaminated within the 90-day period, Step says. Hitchhiking
once considered a prob-lem for cattle in warm, wet areas such as Florida, the Gulf Coast and the Pacifi c North-west. But, cattle have traveled widely from those hot spots, and fl ukes have hitched rides in in-fected animals. Most of the out-breaks in new areas are associ-ated with stocker calves from the Northwest and Gulf Coast or with dairy replacement heifers from Florida.
found in 24 states. As fl ukes have spread, liver condemna-tions at harvest have become a major economic loss for the beef industry.
eggs through their manure. Lym-naeid snails, a freshwater variety, are intermediate hosts for liver fl ukes. These small snails live in muddy areas with clay soils. This is why the new populations of liver fl ukes are usually found in river valleys.
kicides are available. Curatrem® (clorsulon) drench treats mature and immature fl ukes. Ivomec® Plus (ivermectin and clorsulon) injections treat mature liver fl ukes plus lice, grubs and nema-tode parasites.

Source: http://www.angusbeefbulletin.com/articlePDF/Parasite.pdf