The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: warwick on August 17, 2011, 09:20:05 am
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Hi all
I have recently taken on 4 sheep and need some advice on wormer's. Looking a various sites panacur 2.5% looks like it will do the job but not sure of dosage. Its says 1ml to 5kg is there a rough guide to sheep weight we have 2 lambs 6 months and 2 ewes 14 months.
Thanks
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Hi,
When worming you need to be as accurate as possible with body weight.
Underdosing is one of the causes of a build up in wormer resistance which is becoming a real problem.
Do they actually need worming? Have you had a worm count done?
Thanks
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What sort of sheep?
My Rough Fells, which are big hill sheep, weigh about 30kg at 6 months and 60kg as adult ewes.
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The weight issue is quite tricky because of breed variations. Contrast those Rough Fells with a Shetland gimmer that has been outwintered in her native condtions at around 22kg while an adult park fed Shetland ewe can be around 45kg and a mature Shetland ram can make 65kg. And my sore toes will testify to the fact that a full grown Shropshire ram in show condition stamping all over your feet hurts!
You might also want to consider speaking to your vet and checking whether you need to protect against fluke as well. If there is a river nearby for example then he will almost certainly advise this. If your land hasn't had sheep on it recently then you may not even need to worm so a worm count is always a good starting point. Equally if you have been cross grazing with other species that may affect the need to worm.
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Pick up a 20kg bag of feed to get an idea of weight then pick up the sheep and guess ;)
Baz
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That's what I compare lambs to :D
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only problem is bags don't wriggle :farmer:
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Im Just glad you are taking the wormer resistance threat seriously and ensuring an accurate dose per Kg of bodyweight. :bunny:
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I agree - it doesnt matter how you work out the weight of an animal - just as long as you do work it out in some way.
warrick - Keep any leftover wormer out of sunlight and cool for next time you want it - and for the amount you are doing use a cheap syringe and dont buy a worming-gun as they always fail after being stored and used infrequently. Make sure they swallow and dont spit ;) - tilt their heads back and hold their mouth shut.
With such a small flock - I'd do a worm count too just too see if they have any in the first place, as sfs says.
Baz
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It's important not to underdose but since Panacur is generally very safe and little bit over is unlikely to harm the sheep.
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Thankyou for all your advice will get a worm count done and go from there :sheep: Next question how do i go about getting a worm count :-[
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Talk to 'supplies for smallholders' for a complete and great service :)
Baz
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With panacur it is almost impossible to over dose so be a little liberal with the drench. If you give the ewes 15ml (75kg worth) and the lambs about 8ml (just over half). I'd say that would be a safe approximation rather than fiddling for hours and hours stressing the sheep and your self and then worrying that you didn't get it right. As has been said you don't want to under dose, or indeed dose too regularly but I personally have never seen a jacob ewe that was going to stretch to 75kg so you'd be safe at that. when dosing 15ml you'll be better to give it in two squirts then there will be less chance of them spitting it out.