fluke dosing specifically

happylad · 22-02-2014 9:07am #1

Hey guys,

We haven't dosed the sucklers and weanlings for fluke specifically in the past 2years at all. When they went into house they all got done with normectin pour on.

I was just wondering should they be given a throdax injection or is it too late to do this. They are due to start calving today onwards.

What would ye advise on this.

Thanks for yer help on this.

Farrell · 22-02-2014 10:14am

happylad wrote: »

Hey guys,

We haven't dosed the sucklers and weanlings for fluke specifically in the past 2years at all. When they went into house they all got done with normectin pour on.

I was just wondering should they be given a throdax injection or is it too late to do this. They are due to start calving today onwards.

What would ye advise on this.

Thanks for yer help on this.

Personally I wouldn't dose within 3/4 weeks of calving, wait & inject them as they calve

happylad · 22-02-2014 11:06am

Thank farrell for your response. In your experience outside of the calving issue is there any right or wrong time to inject for fluke.

jt65 · 22-02-2014 11:19am

might be no harm to consider doing them for rumen fluke, it's more widespread than people realize

John_F · 22-02-2014 12:16pm

jt65 wrote: »

might be no harm to consider doing them for rumen fluke, it's more widespread than people realize

or it might be. resistance to flukicides is becoming more common than people realize. particurally in sheep. animal health ireland advice dosing only if clinical signs are present.

http://www.animalhealthireland.ie/ckfinder/userfiles/files/20130408%20PC%20RumenFluke%20Web%203_0.pdf

buffalobilly · 22-02-2014 12:57pm

Take a few dung samples and get them tested and just dose them for what they
Need to be dosed for I did it this year and they didn't need a second dose at all
In my opinion taking dung samples is money well spent

J.O. Farmer · 22-02-2014 1:02pm

happylad wrote: »

Thank farrell for your response. In your experience outside of the calving issue is there any right or wrong time to inject for fluke.

Depending on the product you're using I think somewhere between 4-12 weeks after housing when any fluke picked up the last day they were at grass will be mature enough for the product to kill them. I think its 6 weeks for Trodax.
If the cattle are treated after going into the shed they will be alright until they are out at grass again providing it was long enough after housing. Depending on how wet your land is you probably wouldn't do them for fluke until September again. If you're land is very wet you might do them every few months like say June and September and after housing.

J.O. Farmer · 22-02-2014 1:04pm

buffalobilly wrote: »

Take a few dung samples and get them tested and just dose them for what they
Need to be dosed for I did it this year and they didn't need a second dose at all
In my opinion taking dung samples is money well spent

Dung samples are no good for fluke. It's the immature fluke that do the damage and mature fluke that lay eggs. The only way to see about a fluke problem is to check livers if you factory cattle.

Cultie · 22-02-2014 3:09pm

buffalobilly wrote: »

Take a few dung samples and get them tested and just dose them for what they
Need to be dosed for I did it this year and they didn't need a second dose at all
In my opinion taking dung samples is money well spent

+1

Cultie · 22-02-2014 3:10pm

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Dung samples are no good for fluke. It's the immature fluke that do the damage and mature fluke that lay eggs. The only way to see about a fluke problem is to check livers if you factory cattle.

Cattle will be in long enough at this stage to show up mature fluke in faecal samples.

J.O. Farmer · 22-02-2014 3:35pm

Cultie wrote: »

Cattle will be in long enough at this stage to show up mature fluke in faecal samples.

In this case they are probably in long enough but as a general strategy in relation to fluke dosing FEC is not a good approach. The damage is done long before eggs appear. In this country it's a fairly safe assumption that fluke will be on most farms and unlike worms adult cattle don't develop resistance. Unless you killed cattle and the livers are clear a fluke strategy should be in place.

greysides · 22-02-2014 5:08pm

There is a species difference between cattle and sheep with respect to fluke. Sheep suffer from both acute (immature) and chronic (mature) fluke. Cattle seem to mainly suffer from chronic fluke. This would be 'rule of thumb' not 'set-in-stone'.

If sampling, take a number of samples as egg secretion, and therefore detection, is episodic not constant.

We haven't dosed the sucklers and weanlings for fluke specifically in the past 2years at all.

If you don't regularly dose for fluke why worry now after one of the driest summer/autumns I remember?

J.O. Farmer · 22-02-2014 5:55pm

greysides wrote: »

There is a species difference between cattle and sheep with respect to fluke. Sheep suffer from both acute (immature) and chronic (mature) fluke. Cattle seem to mainly suffer from chronic fluke. This would be 'rule of thumb' not 'set-in-stone'.

I would agree with you on that. I assume that this is due to sheep eating grass tighter and therefore picking up bigger numbers of fluke in relation to size anyway.
I would still be inclined to dose for fluke after housing unless I had evidence to say my farm was fluke free. If you clear out the adult fluke in cattle you will reduce the burden on the field the following year. It may be different for me because I know there is fluke on our farm as we regularly have to treat the sheep.

jt65 · 22-02-2014 6:01pm

John_F wrote: »

or it might be. resistance to flukicides is becoming more common than people realize. particurally in sheep. animal health ireland advice dosing only if clinical signs are present.

http://www.animalhealthireland.ie/ckfinder/userfiles/files/20130408%20PC%20RumenFluke%20Web%203_0.pdf

with all due respects to AHI, I will follow my own findings on feedback back from the factories

AHI are not paying the meal bills and other costs due rumen fluke

the biggest resistance in Ireland is with Triclabendazole

feck this back to the rugger great try Rob Kearney

greysides · 22-02-2014 6:07pm

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

I would agree with you on that. I assume that this is due to sheep eating grass tighter and therefore picking up bigger numbers of fluke in relation to size anyway.

It's due to a difference in the immune response (IIRC).

Farrell · 22-02-2014 8:14pm

happylad wrote: »

Thank farrell for your response. In your experience outside of the calving issue is there any right or wrong time to inject for fluke.

Personally we use oral here, but that aside.
We dose in, & out of the shed, + twice during the summer.
Some only dose in & out, but if they're bad, I'd do them asap.
As others mention, we dosed for rumen fluke going in ourselves this year for the first time, may start doing once pa.

fluke dosing specifically

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