We’re getting the parasite project under way again for this year. There are several things we’re planning to follow:
• The rise in fecal egg counts from now to the end of July: when does the danger period start?
To see how soon and how fast the counts are rising, we would like to have counts done on some lambs on pasture at 2-week intervals over the next few weeks. Our animals went out to pasture on May 15, and the lambs’ counts are rising now; so far, about the same time frame as last year but the counts are higher, as high they were in 2013. We would like to follow a group of 10-15 animals per farm, either lambs or yearlings if they are in their first grazing season.
• Fecal egg count reduction tests, to see how effective your wormer(s) is/are.
• Sampling to select for more resistant lambs (probably September/October)
• Usefulness of different grazing practices. We are looking for any examples of grazing management for lambs or yearlings, such as:-
– rotational grazing,
-grazing with cattle or horses,
– weaning lambs onto separate pasture or into the barn,
– increased clover/birdsfoot trefoil for grazing lambs,
– targeted selective treatment (dosing based on eyelid colour or weight gain),
– as well as farms where lambs graze with ewes all season on the same pasture.
We’re looking to follow a group of 10-15 lambs per farm, to see what effect, if any, your management practices have had on egg counts, anthelmintic use, and/or weight gain: essentially, to demonstrate how different farms are dealing with the Barberpole issue.
This would not need many sampling periods, maybe early, mid- and late-season
We can usually provide some sampling assistance, if needed.
If you have any interest in monitoring the animals on your farm, please let us know how we can help.
Gwyneth Jones
gjones@smu.ca