[FiB]

Hi, following Pm on dead sheep showing a medium level of worm egg counts, the vet has recommended worming flock (15 ewe lambs. Not in lamb) again.  They were wormed with Albex in November and Ive been given levicur this time.  question is I would like to move them to another field that has been rested over winter (had someone elses sheep in till Sep) - should I just move them now or wait a certain period after worming?  (I read a previous thread where fleecewife talked about the risks of moving post worming (so you just get the resistant worms, with no competition - which made great sense), but I'm a bit confused about my best course of action.

 I wont be worming till the weekend, but could leave it longer (given that they are probably just recovering from Antibiotic jab, Spot on,  and heptovac p!). 

[Fleecewife]

   I would suggest that on this occasion, as you have a problem, you should move them onto fresh ground when you worm them. 
BUT working out an overall care plan for your flock is something you should do with your vet (we are all supposed to do it  ) so you could ask for specific advice then.  I think that most vets have heard of the MORDUN research and recommendations re worming by now, as it was completed several years ago.  What the report does not include that I can remember is what to do when it goes wrong.......

I've just re-read your post FiB - so there have been other sheep on your 'clean' pasture.  Do you know what their worming regime was and whether they had been wormed before they came onto your land?  If their owner uses the old 'worm at every opportunity' method then they could have brought sheep with wormer resistant worms onto your ground.  It might be worth looking at the regime in place with the breeder you bought them from too.

I have now also worked my way through your other post about the dead sheep, and everyone's replies - phew!  The situation seems quite complicated so I would again say that you should work out your dosing plan with your vet.

[FiB]

Hi Thanks for reply Fleecewife - the vet seemed pretty laid back about it all (I find folk around here very indirect!) she said 'so you can worm them with this if you want' to which I asked - 'so should I?' to which she went back to the count results (600)... it was all very wishy washy, I think there may be a language barrier.  Its as if they dont want to give direct advice. I did ask  what a typical preventative medication plan was around here and couldnt get an answer.   Its very frustrating, I want to make a plan, dont want to medicate unless nececary, but obviously dont want to neglect the health of my flock. 

 My sheep were from auction and  they had not had anything (which seemed to be the norm - it was a rare pen that was flagged as vaccinated (2 out of about 50 pens that I watched were in Heptovac cycle)) and the farmer who kept his sheep on our land before we came here is not known for a medicinal approach either!  So I wouldnt call the land clean, but wondered if there was some natural killing of worms/eggs through the winter by the frost, and wanted to do the best and wasnt sure how wormers work.   Phew!

I think I'll go with my gut and move them now, and worm in a week or so's time, unless anyone has counter advice

[Anke]

I would possible divide the flock into two, leave half of the group on your current field, worm and re-test 10 days post worming. That way you can get the existing resistance status of your flock. Move the other half to the new field, worm (just before moving them actually), then re-test after 10 days. Than you can compare results from your old field (should be fairly low count), and if sheep on new field have a high count than you know that that field is very contaminated - do I make sense or not?

The absolutely ideal thing would be to bring them in and worm, leave in for 10 days then re-test and if clear move onto fresh pasture, watch for a wee while and then test again. Can you get some cattle to come onto your old field for the summer? They should mop up a lot of the sheep worms for you... You can also leave to cut for hay and not re-use for a year if that's an option.

There is also a new class of wormer available, although vets are reluctant to use it unless you have full resistance to anything else, just so to keep the build-up of resistance to the new one as slow as possible.

The situation for fluke is a bit more complicated, and if you have it you will probably keep it... and have to dose for it regularly. I do mine twice per year, once at turn-out after lambing and once on autumn (then lambs as well). I use Fasinex.