Best Tool in the Fight Against Worms: Summer Drench

Summer drenching is a great strategic tool to minimise the impact of worms in your flock. Most areas consider it a necessity, and producers don’t usually worry about conducting prior worm egg counts.

Why? Wet weather and moist ground allow worms to live in pasture and soil for several months. Summer gives us a grace period, as the hatching larvae start to struggle and die off in temperatures over 17 degrees. Sheep won’t pick up as many when grazing, and the cycle is minimised if not stopped. Summer drenching, therefore, gives us a great opportunity to clean out sheep and create a safe grazing area.

It’s important to take advantage of this situation by cleaning out your flock with a summer drench before moving them on to clean paddocks. It will also reduce further contamination of that paddock heading into autumn and winter when weaners and lambing ewes can be susceptible.

What to use? We carry a range of drenches in store.

The top of the market option is Startect made by Zoetis, with derquantel and abamectin active ingredients. The derquantel is a new mode of action on the market with no known resistance. It acts by blocking nerve signals to the worm’s muscles and paralysing the worm, resulting in death. We recommend this product for those who know they have worm issues. It’s a great tool and should be used in a rotation of products to prolong the life of drench actives.

Another product we recommend is Triguard, which is a triple active mixture of abamectin, levamisole and oxfendazole. Triguard is also a great option if you’ve had worming issues, as the triple active combo is effective even against resistant strains.

We also stock Cydectin, (its active moxidectin is also used in Weanerguard and Eweguard 6-in-1 vaccines) which is an effective product, but due to overuse, it is starting to see some resistance. Duocare is another option with levamisole and fenbendazole, which is a clear and a white, that will work well in rotations.

Finally, we have some cheaper options of Abamectin, Alben & Levamisole. Abamectin is a good, fast-acting drench, but be careful with these products as they are old technology and there is resistance.

For more information, come in and see our friendly staff today, or give us a call.