[andywalt]

Hi all

I was doing some dagging this afternoon and one did a whatsit while I was trimming her tail and I saw these fat white things, the first time ive actually seen worms !! if they are worms?  any comments appreciated please,

many thanks

[Llandovery Lass]

They look like very still maggots to me, any of the sheep a bit scratchy?

[andywalt]

They did actually come out in the poo as I saw it at close hand, its not fly strike, they were in the poo as it came out

[jaykay]

I'm guessing they are tapeworm segments. We had a tup lamb we bought have something that looked like this - here they call it milk worm but I can't find out what species that is.

[suziequeue]

Mmmm - don;t know much about worms but here's a description:

Tapeworm segments can be visible in sheep dung with a white rice grain-like appearance

So - could be.......

[andywalt]

thanks for that, im looking all around the internet to verify but nothing is very definate !!

[bigchicken]

 I think that it will be tapeworm segments usual they don't move if it was maggots they should be moving.

[andywalt]

so if they are tape worms ill need a wormer that kills tape worms ....

[woollyval]

Tapeworm

[VSS]

Definately

[andywalt]

Thanks very much, I have been reading up and it seams to be the egg sack that they release.....  does panicure 2.5 cover for tape worms? im reading up......

[shep53]

Egg filled tapeworm segments, yes panacur kills

[Dougal]

That be worms that be! There is a lot of scientific evidence that suggests that tape worms don't hold back ruminants very much, if at all so the tape worms themselves are not really any sort of a worry. The worry is the fact that if the sheep are excreting tape worms what other worm burden are they carrying?
While I realise that most of England has had a very dry summer so there won't be a huge liver fluke burden, here in scotland we have had a very wet summer after a warm spring so instead of dosing with a straight wormer a flukeicide wormer like combinex would be a very good idea to cover all the internal parasites at this time of year. Fluke can really hold back stock, can drop a scanning percentage by up to 20% and will kill store lambs if left untreated. Normally takes until the new year before lambs really start to struggle with fluke, they usually take on a black scour having lost a lot of weight. ewes will often get a large fluidy lump under their jaw (bottle jaw)
Not trying to scare every one because liver fluke is pretty easy to kill, just follow the instructions on the packet! 

[SallyintNorth]

Tapeworms seem to be tolerated by sheep but can result in cysts which may result in some meat being condemned at the abbatoir.  We get the occasional note in the veterinary report back from the slaughterhouse telling us there were such cysts in the liver - maybe one or two lambs a year.  I spoke with the vets at the laboratory and they said to be sure all dogs coming into contact with the sheep were properly wormed but that the cysts do not harm the sheep and being in the liver would not result in any deduction in payment (since we are not paid for the offal the way the slaughterhouses work.)

Since we farm on Hadrian's Wall with tens of thousands of visitors a year and a gazillion public footpaths across our land we have no chance of ensuring that all dogs coming into contact with our sheep are properly wormed...    But we almost never see worms or worm segments in the sheep's poo.  I did have a few with these segments at my previous farm one year; we did worm them with a dose that kills tapeworm (most sheep wormers don't) but the vet said it wasn't anything to worry about.

[andywalt]

thats all very interesting and very important for me to learn, all this discussion it has brought to my attention another lamb that is under weight and had some scouring, so today ive had a look at all my lambs condition and scored them, Ive dosed her today I was surprised that she was half the weight of the others(she wasnt the one with tape worm segments).she wont be going to the abottoir, I will hold her back for another month.