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Author Topic: What do you do about the cost of wormers?  (Read 10084 times)

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« on: June 29, 2012, 10:39:29 am »
My vet has given me a worming plan but the cost would be prohibitive for just 3 sheep as the wormers need to be rotated so you need one of each different colour (at different times).
 
How do those of you with just a few sheep manage?
 
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Haylo-peapod

  • Joined Mar 2012
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2012, 10:53:43 am »
It might be worth doing a faecal egg count to see if the girls really need worming, especially since you have not had sheep on your land before. It is tricky when you have so few as the costs can rise disproportionately. Some of the use-by dates are quite long on the products and you can get small-ish bottles - so you may be able to make better use of them than you would have thought, especially if you are planning on growing your flock. I wouldn't rush out and get all 3 types but would get the appropriate type as you need it - IF indeed you do need it.

Ladygrey

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Basingstoke
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2012, 10:58:43 am »
I use Panomec injectable for sheep cattle and pigs (I buy a bottle and use for pigs and the sheep) so it doesnt work out very expensive as its for both.

I havnt ever rotated it  :innocent: instead you can avoid the possibility of sheep becoming immune to it by using it less often. And you can use it less often by using garlic to worm the sheep instead. ( no one else probly uses this)
 
Here is a page about how to make it http://www.skylinesfarm.com/parasitecontrol.htm

I buy 1kg bags of ground garlic from horse tack shop and it costs around 5 pounds per bag


in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2012, 11:00:08 am »
Bionic - Did your vet not say that he could supply the wormers that you need?


Our vet measures out the quantity of wormer / fluker that I need into a bottle. No waste and costs only £2-£3.  Much cheaper than worming my dog or cat.


Perhaps have a word with him/her.

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2012, 11:03:22 am »
Haylo,
Perhaps I should have explained a bit better what the vet has said.
As Kaz kindly wormed them for me just before I bought them they will not need to be wormed again this year.
If I bring any new sheep on site they will need to be quarantined for 48 hours and given orange + clear drench or purple drench and then turned onto 'dirty pasture'
For lambs next year, bring in an faecal egg sample BEFORE worming. If they need worming then rotate white, yellow + clear groups.
Sheep may need a white/yellow drench in spring after a period of cool then warm weather as we had this year.
 
So if I intend to get some store lambs in I will need to do them with orange + clear, or purple and then will need to buy the other colours for next spring.
 
She was very clear about rotation so for example if, in the spring, I give them the white drench they CANNOT have that again next time so the use by dates are irrelevant, unless they last long enough to go through a few rotations.
 
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2012, 11:05:09 am »
In the hills, that was very interesting, thanks.
 
I will ask the vet if they do this. It would certainly be my best option.
 
Sally
 
 
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

JMB

  • Joined Apr 2011
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2012, 11:12:17 am »
I'm not sure if I'm saying anything new.
Our vet has offered to supply us with wormers (we had 14 sheep) in smaller quantities, so they should be able to provide you with a variety of what you need.
We have worm and fluke combinations and did Fasimec Duo S 3 times last year and this year I've had to buy a different active ingredient, so they're on Mebadown now.
Being a bit daft, I thought you rotated every year, but of course you can use one product, then a different one, and alternate, which might eek some products out longer.
I'd still ask your vet first about supplying it.
x

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2012, 11:14:30 am »
Worth a try - mine seem to do it routinely with anything except say Heptavac where bottles have to remain sealed. They even asked whether I could get a few doses of that from anyone I knew rather than have to buy a bottle.


Mind you, I've asked about a management/worming plan etc. and no joy there and if there was a real sheepie emergency my first call would be this site because the poor things would be dead if I had to wait for a return call. ::)

JMB

  • Joined Apr 2011
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2012, 11:21:20 am »
Um...wonder how many people have leftover Heptavac in their fridges?
The farmer told us to just keep it and re-use.
Bad idea?
J x
 

Haylo-peapod

  • Joined Mar 2012
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2012, 11:31:15 am »
What a good bunch of vets some of you have - wish I had thought of asking for small quantities of wormer from the vet when I was starting out. I must admit I tend to ignore the use by dates on the wormers and just keep on rotating them until they are finished.
 
FEC samples off to the vet this morning so I can decide what to do about worming next time around. Have done different samples for adults and lambs as I suspect a different regime will be required.
 
BTW - the SCOPS website Bionic provided the other day is pretty handy. With the wet weather we have had in June it looks like we could be in for a bad year with Fluke.  :o

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2012, 12:07:03 pm »
It's a great idea to work out a health plan for your flock with your vet  :thumbsup:
It sounds as if there must be a lot of wormer resistant worms in your area for her to be so hot on wormer rotation.  It is certainly good practice/vital in a large flock, but while you have only three sheep, on clean ground, and presumably with no evidence of wormer resistance, it seems a bit OTT.
 
I agree that ALL sheep brought onto your land should be wormed with the new class of wormer (Zolvix) to blitz anything there, and kept in isolation.  I would say keep them on hard standing for 48 hours til all worms and eggs passed (burn straw) but also to isolate them from the rest of the flock for 2 to 3 weeks, to check they are not carrying any other illness.   That way you have some chance of keeping your flock fairly worm and disease free.
 
The danger is always bringing new animals onto your land.  We have got to the point where we run a closed flock, so our worming can be kept to a minimum.  Older ewes become tolerant of a small worm burden, but obviously we keep a close eye on our lambs.  We worm the lambs once at about 2-3 months, depending on need, then just pick out any poopy bums and worm them as needed.  The meat boys are then done again in the autumn and if necessary about a month before slaughter, so in July.
 
Our vets are always happy to open bottles and split, to make sure that all small breeders in the area are keeping healthy flocks.  If your vet won't do that, there might be another in the area who will.   Using very out of date meds means that they might no longer be effective, plus when you get a visit from Trading Standards they will pick up on that.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2012, 03:23:17 pm by Fleecewife »
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

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Haylo-peapod

  • Joined Mar 2012
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2012, 01:48:59 pm »
Using very out of date meds means that they might no longer be effective, plus when you get a visit from Trading Standards they will pick up on that.

Interesting, I had heard that alot of these dates are fairly arbitrary and that it was generally OK to use stuff beyond the use by date.  I stand corrected.

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2012, 02:06:49 pm »
I expect you are right up to a point Haylo..... but what is an animal health inspector going to suggest if he finds an out of date med. He/She can't really just say "hey ho"  :D 


The dates are there to protect and, although they are guesswork up to a point, they are not entirely arbitrary. After the date - the medicine cannot be guaranteed by the manufacturer.


Of course - even before the use by date, the medicine's viability/effectiveness will depend very much on how it is stored and used.
We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2012, 02:34:47 pm »
I don't think, when you rotate wormers, you do them with one this time, a different one the next time etc. That way you'd just build up resistance to all of them  :o

The Moredun foundation have got some stuff on this, when I get home I will look for it. I'm sure they say you should use a wormer until there are signs of resistance.

You should also not put sheep onto clean pasture after worming. What happens then is that the only worms on the new pasture are by definition resistant to the wormer you've just used. They then have the field to themselves, so to speak, ie there's no competition from non-resistant worms, they can multiply as much as the like and then you've got sheep with a high wor m burden again - this time of resistant worms.

Ok, can't find the Moredun stuff but this is good managing worms in sheep

« Last Edit: June 29, 2012, 02:44:07 pm by jaykay »

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: What do you do about the cost of wormers?
« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2012, 03:12:49 pm »
Also, shop around, and check the available package sizes via the Noah Compendium.  Often products are available in smaller sizes that those that your local agri shop will stock (as they mostly cater for farmers, i.e. large numbers of sheep).  Check the internet too, places like Hyperdrug have a good selection of products in various sizes.


And (most importantly) check the shelf life before you buy!  Again the noah compendium should tell you the shelf life, so you can make sure you buy stock that has the longest possible date.  I have a tendency to ring the supplier to confirm the use by date before I purchase now.

 
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