The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: DartmoorLiz on August 23, 2016, 04:44:22 pm
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Why is it that we are told not to routinely worm adult sheep (so I don't) but when I get the vet in to look at why my sheep are not doing well the first thing they recommend is a blanket course of wormer? (FEC result was high for ewes and very high for their lambs).
Did the vets invent SCOPS just to increase their profits?
Next they'll tell me to put them back out onto dirty ground.
And after that they'll tell me that what I do with my 50 ewes really will make a difference to the national flock's resistance to wormers and resilience to worms.
What do other small(ish) flock owners do?
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Um, your vets are not recommending blanket worming of your sheep - they are recommending worming in response to a high FEC. Blanket worming, in my book, is routine worming without checking to see if the sheep actually need wormed.
This is different to rotating wormers, although with teh same purpose of reducing the spread of wormer resistence. We rotate wormers through the different groups, white, yellow, clear, to stop a build up of worms resistnt to a particular chemical. No wormer kills all worms - usually about 95 - 97% - but if you use the same wormer every year, the 3-5% that aren't killed in year 1 ie that are resistant, will become more numerous in the population.
We worm adult sheep (ewes, tup, wether and any retained hoggs) once a year at lambing, when the stress of pregnancy reduces the ewes' immunity to worms and you get a flush of worm eggs. Worming at this time reduces the worms on grass that can subsequently infect your lambs. We do the hoggs again in preparation for tupping in October. The lambs we worm if required by FEC. If there's a risk from Nematodirus, I do them with a white wormer.
We rotate wormers annually. This year we're on yellow, I think.
Advice now is to put wormed sheep back on to dirty ground so that any resistant worms have to compete - if you put newly wormed sheep on to clean groud, only resistant worms will be excreted on to taht pastrure and will have no competition.
I agree with your vets. I'm not really sure what your problem is with their advice.
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Thank you Rosemary. You are right, of course.
I think what got my goat was that I did not think of worms myself. I got the vet in because I wanted them to take blood tests to check for deficiencies - all useful stuff but with hindsight I missed the most obvious likely cause for unthriftyness. I asked the vet to collect samples as a bit of a "while you're here" job. Glad I did. Every day is a school day.
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Ok - so you asked what other sheep farmers do. . . .
I worm my ewes and lambs regularly while they are together as to me it is too late once you've got a high FEC count as you have already lost the bloom on your lambs. So I worm them every 4 to six weeks, as I move them onto fresh grass. I don't put them onto old grass once I've wormed them unless I'm not actually moving them at that time. I rotate wormers, and also cross graze with cattle and donkeys. Quite honestly I don't care about resistant worms competing with non resistant worms, or whatever this decade's theory is, which proves we've been doing it wrong for the last 50 years. The system works, my lambs grow well, and I usually get April born lambs off fat to market in August, straight off their mothers, and I don't have any evidence of wormer resistance.
After the lambs have gone I worm the ewes again prior to tupping in November, and again just before lambing in April.
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I don't have any evidence of wormer resistance.
How do you know?
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The system works
......until it doesn't. That's what the new fangled guidance is all about - trying to keep our currently available wormers working for us all for as long as possible.
Always using the same wormer, and moving wormed sheep straight onto new grass is bound to result in higher levels of wormer resistance and faster. Since we only have so many tools available, surely that's something we should all be working hard to prevent?
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Here's another farmer view
Here, if an adult sheep needs worming it needs culling
Anthelmintic resistance is growing and will catch up with all of us one day so it's best to delay that day if at all possible
If we don't manage to self regulate anthelmintic use it will become a prescription only drug
We select and breed for worm resistance and have made considerable and measurable progress...our ewes in the top 25% for worm resistance only shed 1/2 the worm eggs that the bottom 25% of ewes do ( and our ewes shed many less eggs than most other sheep)
We know all the above because we measure and record everything
Every time you use an anthelmintic you increase the parasites resistance
But anthelmintics are easy to get so farmers use them routinely (although some are getting better ) and farmers are slow to learn , they love to say ''it worked for my pa and so it must work for me''
rant over (maybe)
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I don't have any evidence of wormer resistance.
How do you know?
The same way they found out originally when wormer resistance was first identified - the wormer doesn't
work any more and your stock just don't thrive, especially the young stock.
I saw it in the Yorkshire Dales in the early seventies. The farmers used to use a lot of levamisole (yellow wormer) because it was cheap and possibly it might have been one of the first developed that wasn't likely to kill your animals as well as the worms. Then it just stopped working in a big way and so they changed to white wormers (panacur type) and suddenly the stock were thriving again.
I actually had a problem myself with Panacur about 20 years ago. I used to buy 10% for my sheep as I had a low dosage worming gun. The firm I bought it off used to buy it in bulk and decant it. So I bought this unlabelled stuff, used it as I normally did, and my lambs started scouring, lost condition and looked all potbellied. I consulted my supplier and he said there was nothing wrong with the wormer. Then a couple of weeks later he called me over and said he'd found out the problem - he'd bought 2.5% panacur by mistake, so I'd been underdosing my lambs by a factor of a quarter. Anyway that year's crop never regained their bloom and I had to sell them as stores, not fat. And I had to rethink my worming routine to overcome the worm resistance caused by underdosing.
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I am routinely worming after lambing in March, after weaning (ewes and lambs) in July then an FEC about now. I'm struggling to rotate pastures as much as I would like because it is so dry here they are not refreshing at all May through to September. Hopefully this way I will have a database of FEC results all done about the same time of year so should spot any resistance.
There is no where near as much Animal Health drug development happening in the UK as there was 30 years ago when these products were developed.
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I am routinely worming after lambing in March, after weaning (ewes and lambs) in July then an FEC about now. I'm struggling to rotate pastures as much as I would like because it is so dry here they are not refreshing at all May through to September. Hopefully this way I will have a database of FEC results all done about the same time of year so should spot any resistance.
There is no where near as much Animal Health drug development happening in the UK as there was 30 years ago when these products were developed.
To identify anthelmintic resistance you need to do a FEC after you have drenched to see if the drug has worked---
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I don't have any evidence of wormer resistance.
Yet.
The reason science comes up with new ways of doing things is because we learn from our mistakes.
We used to amputate legs with a saw and no anaesthetic.
Just because worming and moving to clean grass has worked for 50 years does not guarantee it will continue to work next week or that it's the best we can do for ourselves, our stock and our land.
Every parasite, bacteria or virus that is treated with medication is trying to evolve resistance, and some will manage it, and every time a population of worms is exposed to wormer, especially when using them as described by landroverroy (and used by very many sheep farmers), blanket treating everything and moving to fresh pasture, the population of worms gets a little more resistant. Once a certain percentage of worms are resistant (which could be next time they are treated, or years away, without doing worm resistance tests no-one will have any idea how close you are) you'll start noticing a failure of treatment, mucky bums and lost condition but it's too late then, and another class of wormers will be needed, but if continuing the same worming regime, there will soon be resistance to the next class of wormers and so on til they're all gone.
We recommend the new science to try to prolong the life of the classes we do have, slowing down the worms ability to develop resistance, because it could be many decades til we can develop any new wormers.
Another point from Rosemary's post is that changing class of wormer from year to year also speeds up resistance as the worms will develop a little bit of resistance to the class in use that year, but not lose the resistance to the previous class of wormers, so will quite quickly be resistant to more than one drug. Instead it is advised to follow the guidelines on scops and use one class of wormer as advised until resistance shows (which may be decades away if used as carefully as possible) then use another class to which they show no resistance.
Dartmoor Liz it sounds like your vet is being thorough, checking faecal samples and advising worming based on egg counts and I hope this helps your sheep.
Scops is certainly not designed to bolster vets profits as we are basically advising people to buy and use less wormer more effectively so we don't see ill animals and wormer resistance. If we wanted to make more money we'd advise lots of frequent worming to sell wormers!
As a sheep farmer myself, I try to follow scops guidelines more for my own benefit than for the national flock - if I get resistant worms, I will have to buy wormers from a different (and more likely more expensive) class, so it's in my own interest to try to avoid resistance on my own land.
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The system works
......until it doesn't. That's what the new fangled guidance is all about - trying to keep our currently available wormers working for us all for as long as possible.
Always using the same wormer, and moving wormed sheep straight onto new grass is bound to result in higher levels of wormer resistance and faster. Since we only have so many tools available, surely that's something we should all be working hard to prevent?
Womble -I don't always use the same wormer!
My system works for me. I see no evidence of resistance and even IF I had built up some highly resistant worms, there are 2 things to ponder:
1. It affects no one but myself and my animals as they are all sold for slaughter. So I'm not exactly contributing to the national problem of potentially increasing worm resistance.
2. IF my land is infected with resistant worms due to my "dubious" worming policy, then I must have developed sheep which are resistant to these super worms as both ewes and lambs are in excellent condition. So maybe I have inadvertently developed sheep with the advanced immunity that Tim W is talking about.
Science is forever evolving. We are not yet (and may never be) at a stage where we know everything about everything. There is frequently more than one way to reach a desired result. It may not be your way, or even the way of the majority, but that doesn't automatically mean it's wrong.
AND I'm not saying - this is what anyone else should do! I answered a question by Dartmoor Liz about what other people do - and now you know!
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To identify anthelmintic resistance you need to do a FEC after you have drenched to see if the drug has worked---
Yes, of course.
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I worm mine every 3-3 1/2 months and they are very good on that.
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Womble -I don't always use the same wormer!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to infer that you did, just that it's a bad idea.
To identify anthelmintic resistance you need to do a FEC after you have drenched to see if the drug has worked---
I suggested this to my vet, but instead they wanted to do an FEC before worming to check it was necessary, but then weren't interested in seeing another sample to check for efficacy ??? . Perhaps there are only so many jars of poo a vet can stand in any one week! :D
We select and breed for worm resistance......
.....We know all the above because we measure and record everything
So what's your FEC regime then Tim? Do you take samples from individual animals before and after drenching for instance?
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So what's your FEC regime then Tim? Do you take samples from individual animals before and after drenching for instance?
I FEC mobs every week or so to monitor egg rise in lambs and pasture egg levels and treat accordingly, I always do an efficacy test after worming----this way I know which drugs work best at which time of year on which farms
(I also try to manage challenge by rotating grazing etc but this is not always possible)
We (as a breeding company) do about 1200 individual FEC on lambs every year to establish which have better worm resistance , we can then select breeding stock on this information once it has been incorporated into an EBV --- to build up this database to provide accurate EBVs takes time (and money) but is paying off
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Last year I did the FEC, got the results over the phone, horses were moderate, goats were high, sheep were low to moderate. I wormed them all according to Vets instructions. A couple of weeks later Vet came out to tend a lame ram. "Your worm counts are very high I have bought the medication for them". "But they weren't that bad and I have only recently done them". "They definitely need doing again the results are dreadful". .......
Anyway turns out about 2 days after I sent my samples in my neighbour sent his in and they were his results not mine.
I was interested in one of the other threads about getting training on doing FECs myself sometime as it is not very high tech.
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Wow! Thank you all so much for your candid replies.
It all comes down to striking a balance between focusing on the future national flock or on immediate returns.
I've decided that to pay for vet advice and not take it is too foolish even for me so here's my plan of action: Zolvax the whole flock asap. Hopefully the currently thin ewes will put on some condition before they are sold. I'll keep all female lambs as flock replacements for the time being - I have no idea whether their father is good or bad at this stage and I need to replace the proven poor ewes with something. Consider mineral bolus for the remaining ewes when I get blood test results. That way I am dealing with the immediate welfare issue of worms while not compromising the future health of the flock.
For the future, I'll find a way of regularly FECing.
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Zolvax? Really?!
Do you have evidence of wormer resistance then?
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I second advising against zolvix.
If you have a high worm burden on the pasture then unless there is proven resistance in your worms I would not recommend zolvix.
This will kill all the worms in the sheep (providing you dose correctly to the highest weight with correctly calibrated guns so as not underdosing) because there is as yet no reported resistance. But you have a lot of worm eggs and juvenile stages on the pasture.
Zolvix is designed as a quarantine wormer - for buying in stock, treat them with zolvix so they bring no worms onto your land, or if you are moving onto bona fide clean pasture with no sheep for years, then you will preserve that clean pasture.
I would think you'd be better using one of the older classes, probably an ivermectin (macro cyclic lactone, ml, clear wormer) which have very low reports of resistance, and doing a faecal sample before, and at the manufacturer recommended period after treatment to check there is not resistance. This way you haven't exposed the worms on your farm to the big guns, so they will work in future.
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Another point from Rosemary's post is that changing class of wormer from year to year also speeds up resistance as the worms will develop a little bit of resistance to the class in use that year, but not lose the resistance to the previous class of wormers, so will quite quickly be resistant to more than one drug. Instead it is advised to follow the guidelines on scops and use one class of wormer as advised until resistance shows (which may be decades away if used as carefully as possible) then use another class to which they show no resistance.
I've had a read through the SCOPS site and I can't see where it advises not to chnage the wormer group every year. Can you point me to it please [member=26799]fsmnutter[/member] ?
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Another point from Rosemary's post is that changing class of wormer from year to year also speeds up resistance as the worms will develop a little bit of resistance to the class in use that year, but not lose the resistance to the previous class of wormers, so will quite quickly be resistant to more than one drug. Instead it is advised to follow the guidelines on scops and use one class of wormer as advised until resistance shows (which may be decades away if used as carefully as possible) then use another class to which they show no resistance.
I've had a read through the SCOPS site and I can't see where it advises not to chnage the wormer group every year. Can you point me to it please [member=26799]fsmnutter[/member] ?
I have spoken to my vet about it, and they also recommend using one class of wormer UNTIL I get resistance, and not change annually. I am still on Oramec (for both goats and sheep, but have a low worm problem, just did the lambs as they had mucky bums, but the adults are fine) and have been for over 5 years... (I am running an almost closed flock at the moment for both sheep and goats - and from past experience it certainly helps!)
I am actually much more concerned about fluke and resistance to flukicides, as it seems much less likely that the adult sheep will develop some tolerance (as they do with worms), and if it ever gets into the goat herd...
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http://www.scops.org.uk/content/SCOPS-Technical-Manual-4th-Edition-updated-September-2013.pdf (http://www.scops.org.uk/content/SCOPS-Technical-Manual-4th-Edition-updated-September-2013.pdf)
At the bottom of page 29, section 5.6 deals with rotation of anthelminthics, and says that the rotation of groups was previously advised but as resistant alleles increase in the population it becomes less likely to be effective. They don't outright say "use one wormer until you measure resistance" but this is the advice that is being promoted by the likes of the SRUC labs that deal with a lot of the faecal testing and surveillance of disease in Scotland and makes sense in the context of the SCOPS information and scientific principles of how resistance develops.
Hope that helps :)
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What is important is to choose the right product for the parasite that you are trying to kill. This will probably mean you really need to use more than one wormer type throughout the year. i.e. for me, I would use a white (BZ) wormer in early spring on the lambs that were suffering from nematodirus, and then a clear (ML) wormer later in the year for general roundworms. You could use the clear wormer for the nematodirus but in order to prevent (or lessen) the likelihood of resistance then you use the white wormer instead, which although there are many roundworms that are already resistant to white wormers, nematodirus isn't one of them.
And I would have a separate flukicide product (never a combination one), and use that when required. In fact the same goes for flukicides, there are times of year when you need to use triclabendazole for immature fluke but other times when you can get away with closantel, so as not to encourage resistance of triclabendazole.
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...also the benefit of using a white wormer for nematodirus in the spring is that you can feel more comfortable using it without getting a FEC done first, as FECs are not always helpful in identifying this worm. Like a sacrificial wormer, you can use it knowing that you probably aren't going to make it's resistance problem any worse (because it's already so bad) :).
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...also the benefit of using a white wormer for nematodirus in the spring is that you can feel more comfortable using it without getting a FEC done first, as FECs are not always helpful in identifying this worm. Like a sacrificial wormer, you can use it knowing that you probably aren't going to make it's resistance problem any worse (because it's already so bad) :) .
That's what we do - we worm with Albex (which we have for the cows anyway) agains Nematodirus - and if we get any other positive effects, then good and well.
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http://www.scops.org.uk/content/SCOPS-Technical-Manual-4th-Edition-updated-September-2013.pdf (http://www.scops.org.uk/content/SCOPS-Technical-Manual-4th-Edition-updated-September-2013.pdf)
At the bottom of page 29, section 5.6 deals with rotation of anthelminthics, and says that the rotation of groups was previously advised but as resistant alleles increase in the population it becomes less likely to be effective. They don't outright say "use one wormer until you measure resistance" but this is the advice that is being promoted by the likes of the SRUC labs that deal with a lot of the faecal testing and surveillance of disease in Scotland and makes sense in the context of the SCOPS information and scientific principles of how resistance develops.
Hope that helps :)
Yes, it does - thanks. I'll go back and review my sheep health plan on that basis. WE have a yellow wormer this year so will use that and do post use FECs to check the efficacy.
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using the correct wormer (most effective) at the right time for the best response is very important
I take regular FEC on each farm throughout the season and know what works, where & when
For instance at Farm B where I lamb 200 ewes every year I have a small nemo problem in the spring and if I have to treat for it I know that a white drench is effective
In mid season the strongyles are a big problem and clear drenches have a poor efficacy at this time so I use a yellow drench
Later on in September /October there is a different population of strongyles that flourish and they only respond to a clear drench
Late nemo rises are becoming more common and these guys seem to be more resistant to the white drenches (no surprise there) so If they become significant I have to use a different wormer ---and I am not sure which one works best yet but with constant monitoring I will find out
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Hi there,
Amazing thread, it makes me really happy to see people discussing worming, it's so important and there are obviously so many of you out there who are interested in getting it right.
I just wanted to clear up a couple of misunderstandings. The quoted paragraph on SCOPS doesn't actually mean to use one class of wormer until you get resistance, then move onto another. What it actually meant was closer to Foobar's point i.e. that if you want to do things reasonably conscientiously, then you definitely want to rotate wormers (and most people start off by rotating a different class per year), but that won't be enough - you need to try to do good pasture management as an important part of your regime too. But if you REALLY want to do things the best gold standard way, then you work out what worms you will be having problems with at different times of year, then rotate a different class almost per season, targeted at the relevant worms.
Unfortunately, this is not always possible for smallholders due to big bottles, small flocks, and cost, so at present we advise most smallholders to rotate different families per year, as many couldn't afford to buy a different big bottle per season. But we NEVER ever advise to use one class until you develop resistance - I could talk to you for an hour on this (and quite frequently do!) with stories to explain why. I'll be doing a free webinar soon for anyone interested! (Sounds thrilling, eh? ;) )
Also, Zolvix is fine to use - under vets advice, and for good clinical reasons (not just "if you have resistance" or quarantine-only). In fact, I just received a letter from the Sheep Vet Society, a community of the most sheep- obsessed vets and top flight experts with extra qualifications, saying us vets need to find ways to persuade more people to accept Zolvix as part of a CAREFUL parasite control plan, to extend the life of all our wormers, as people were reluctant to take it up, and again, there is a whole big explanation behind that, which I can give in detail when I do the free webinar.
For anyone wondering where I might get the authority to correct the interpretation of the comment on the SCOPS page and on the advice given by SRUC vets - I'm one of the SRUC vets and I just got off the phone with one of the people who contributes to SCOPS.
Brilliant, brilliant thread, and I would just like to say to anyone I may have disagreed with above, please do not ever feel that I have invalidated your contribution by my comments - all contribution is very important, because it gives rise to conversations like this, and I really don't want to step on any toes as I think you are all fab for discussing it. There is no such thing as a "bad" constructive contribution, because it allows for more information to be discussed.
Hope this helps to clarify.
Caroline
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Very helpful [member=24086]CarolineR[/member] I would love to hear the webinar. Also reassuring. I have just got my FECs back for goats and sheep, both negligible. As expected as they were dosed with Zolvix end of June. However, as you elude to, this year I was using Zolvix for practical reasons rather than for best practice; it was prescribed last year on some of the bought in goats as they had resistance issues and consequently I would either have to waste it as it goes out of date or use it until finished. The interesting question now is how long will 'negligible' phase last and what wormer regime follows from this Zolvix purge?
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Hi Pharnorth!
As you say, I completely understand why smallholders have to use up big bottles, but there are two wee considerations why I wouldn't do it with Zolvix:
It's prescription only because it is best used under vet advice to keep it as "safe" from resistance as possible - so if you were wanting to use up the rest of the bottle, I'd always check with your vet first that your intended use this year is suitable.
I wouldn't use it "routinely" on goats (it was given to your goats for a clinical reason, which is great, but unless that clinical reason has continued, then I wouldn't continue to give it to the goats, even if your vet advises you that your intended use for "routine" worming of sheep this year is fine. UNLESS - your vet advises you that the clinical reason they prescribed it for the goats last year definitely still applies this year, which of course it might - I don't know enough about the clinical situation to comment).
There is another long story behind that, involving a mixed sheep and goat farm, New Zealand, and the first recorded incidence of Zolvix resistance only two years after the drug was launched...but again it might have to wait! All goat worming is off licence anyway, so your vet should always be consulted when worming goats (a really quick free phone chat would do), but the goat dosages in most wormer families is different from the dose you give to sheep (so much difference that I do a separate goat worming and vaccination talk from the sheep worming and vaccination talk).
In short, of course your vet had good reason to prescribe it last year, but, with Zolvix, it would be a really good idea to double check your plans on the phone with them this year, and I wouldn't use it in the goats unless your vet confirms that the same clinical reason still applies this year in your particular case.
Your next move will probably involve a different wormer family - do you know what family your original resistance problems were with? That'll inform your choice. I'd avoid Moxidectin in the goats for now if possible, unless, again, your resistance problems require it. One thing's for sure - whatever you discuss using, a post-dosing efficacy check would definitely be a great next move after the next family of wormer. Great that you have done it for the Zolvix too, it seems that you are already on the ball.
The lasting effects of the "purge" depends on your pasture actually, and your pasture management. Sheep develop an immunity to worms as they get older, and so they are less likely to get more worms, and often need worming less and less.
Goats do not do this, and often need worming regularly throughout life, both to stop them getting ill and to stop them pooing out so many worm eggs that your pasture becomes riddled and overcomes the immune system of your sheep by sheer weight of numbers, giving them worms.
Seems strange that goats and sheep look so similar but are so different, until you realise that sheep evolved as grazers and so needed to develop immunity to all the worms that live at the base of grass blades, while goats evolved as browsers, climbing cliffs/trees/bushes to nibble leaves, fresh soft bark, herby tips etc - where no worms live - so never developed an immunity to worms!
C
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...and again I have to say how lucky we are to have such experts on here who are willing to share such fab advice
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Superb, thanks Caroline!
I'd love to see SCOPS using their influence to persuade the manufacturers to make smaller bottles available to smallholders. For example, I just bought a 2.5 litre bottle of Levamisole, which has a 12 month shelf life. That's 300 adult doses! OK, it wasn't all that expensive, but really all I need is half a litre at most.
Likewise, I just bought 25 doses of Dectomax in order to quarantine treat one incoming tup and two outgoing ones. That sort of wastage is one of the things that makes our 'cost per head' for keeping sheep higher than it is for the big boys. That's a real shame, since as you can see from this thread, there's a lot of enthusiasm amongst smallholders for getting it right.
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Caroline, I was concerned for the reasons you mention so did talk with my vet first and they ok'd my use for this occasion based on ensuring we got the right clinical outcome and also I'd looked up the NZ case (I used to work in this field) I am on a very different scale and there were some key husbandry aspects that are very different (I am pleased to say). Nonetheless the £20m or so it will take to develop another class of wormer puts my reluctance to waste a few ml of Zolvix into perspective. Womble make a good point but I am also aware the cost of producing mini packs in production terms are high. There is also the disposal, Moxidectin has some substantial environmental risks so is it safer to pour away excess or through a sheep? Of course the ideal solution to managing the pack size question and disposal already exists- it's a vet.
I am finding it is a more useful discussion with the Vet as I have more experience of my flock and the FEC post dosing. I don't know in detail what was the basis of the original resistance problem but I doubt they would have gone for Zolvix without using Ivermectin first so it will be interesting to see if they recommend going to that or right back to good old albendazole as that would not have been used on this flock, or on these pastures for some 20 years. My first job nearly 40 years ago was QC testing albendazole.
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Likewise, I just bought 25 doses of Dectomax in order to quarantine treat one incoming tup and two outgoing ones. That sort of wastage is one of the things that makes our 'cost per head' for keeping sheep higher than it is for the big boys. That's a real shame, since as you can see from this thread, there's a lot of enthusiasm amongst smallholders for getting it right.
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Did you ask your vet if you could buy single doses? Each dose is pretty expensive but not as much as a whole bottle.
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Hi everyone,
Just so you know, we're doing a free talk on Fluke.
I mention it because, if it goes alright, the next one will be on worming, so it's slightly relevant to this thread!
Its online, live, and is quite easy to join - I am not a "techie" at all, and I can handle this one - and we have options for those with poor connectivity.
See below. TAS-er's and my Smallholder mailing club of around 250 members are getting the link first, but in a day or two I will open it up to twitter and other portals - numbers are limited, so if you want on, get registered! The link is below.
Caroline
(If you want on my mailing list, email me at caroline.robinson@sac.co.uk to get invites sent directly)
Register for Liver Fluke for Small Farmers, Smallholders and Crofters on Sep 13, 2016 7:30 PM BST at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4129189906966765827
Category: Sheep, Cattle, Alpacas, Llamas, Deer and other stock.
As autumn has arrived, many stock keepers will now be thinking particularly about the risk of liver fluke in their stock and how to fight this devastating parasite. Whether you would like to learn all about fluke and its management/prevention on your holding, or whether you would just like to refresh your existing knowledge and get up-to-date on the latest developments and advice, this free webinar will provide you with the reliable, good quality information you need to help your stock - with particularly reference to the difficulties faced by those with a limited acreage.
The webinar is very easy to join, is free of charge and will be live. The talk will be followed by a question and answer session by the speaker, Caroline Robinson of SAC Consulting: Veterinary Services, where there will be an opportunity to type or ask your own questions, and to share in the experiences of other small farmers, smallholders and crofters.
NB There will be a telephone option for those in remote areas with very slow internet connection - please contact us to discuss this: caroline.robinson@sac.co.uk
You can even join us on your smartphone or tablet by downloading the GoToWebinar app!
The webinar talk is free, but numbers are limited - so if you would like to join, please do register as soon as you can to avoid disappointment - use the link provided.
SAC Consulting: Veterinary Services is part of SRUC (Scotland's Rural College) and provides diagnostic services, advice and knowledge transfer to vets in practice, farmers, smallholders, crofters and the Scottish Government among others. This talk is funded by the Scottish Government's Public Good Veterinary and Advisory Service.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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Sounds ace, I've registered! :thumbsup:
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Me too
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Me too. At last! a vet that want to treat sheep as more than "small cows". Thank you CarolineR, you can count me in. :excited:
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Is there a way of listening later if I can't do that time on that day.
I'm interested but out on Tuesday evenings from 7.
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I just bought a 2.5 litre bottle of Levamisole, which has a 12 month shelf life. That's 300 adult doses!
SNAP! and I've got massive flock of 6 ewe's!
What are the legalities/practicalities of small holders sharing meds like wormers? Or could we call it buying doses from other smallholders? I seem to remember this being discussed in previous posts but I cant remember what the general opinions were.
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You know what would be really useful is if the SCOPs anthelmintics booklet listed the sizes available for each product!! Would save us all a lot of time :) .
I have an old copy with hand written scribbles on which marks the products that are available in small, like 1 litre, bottles etc. (You can cross reference with NOAH (and the Norbrook catalogue on their website etc) to find out packing quantities if you (like me) are so inclined :) .)
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Regarding the legality of sharing because they are not prescribed for individual sheep I think it is a question of being honest when you purchase it. if it is to be split by two or three holding numbers and owners technically that should be mentioned.
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Shall we start a wormer bank, it would work a bit like lamb bank putting people with surplus in touch with people who want.