[Jamie12]

I do apologisem being given conflicting advice by local farmers and would like a few more opinions,
My 30 Girls (25 are inlamb) were due worming last week (fasimec duo) but due to the heavy snow and having no indoor facilities it hasn't yet been done. One local father says leave them until they lamb, second farmer says do them when I give them their convexin (which giant too far away first ewe is due end of march). Third farmer says do them every 6 weeks without fail,  but surely I would build up a resistance?. Also having different opinions on when to vaccinate with covexin, my first ewe is due a week before the rest. Farmer one says do it two weeks before first ewe, farmer two says four weeks before main lot will go, farmer three does them four to six weeks before the first ewe is due.   

I had planned to worm and vaccinate next weekend, which fits around work and not to far from when they are due covexin.
Any advice appreciated, the more the merrier so I can make an educated decision!.

[Melmarsh]

Hi ! Why not do some feacal egg counts ? Talk to your vet, get some clean pots from the vet, take in a percentage of your ewes samples and get a pooled count done. You may not have to worm again at the moment or you may have a percentage of one particular worm that needs a specific wormer !! I find it worth it . less likely to get resistance as well ! See what others think.
Locally I find talk costs nothing and our vets are very helpful.

[Rosemary]

Have a look at the SCOPS website.

We worm the ewes after they lamb and before they are turned out with their new lambs. We fluke them at the same time. With the stress of lambing, the ewes shed worm eggs which contaminayte the pasture for the lambs so you want to worm them at lambing. With a few ewes it's a bit of a faf, but I use two dosing syringes rather than the big doser, since I'm maybe only doing two or three a day.

We only routinely worm the breeding ewes at lambing.

I don't think anyone worms every six weeks any more.

Your vet is the best source of advice but the SCOPS website is very good.

[Jamie12]

Thanks will fec and see where we go from there.
What is best to do re: vaccination?.

[Rosemary]

I think the instructions for Heptavac are 4-6 weeks before lambing. If you want to do them as one group and have a long lambing period, you're going to have to compromise a bit.

Ours are due to lamb over three weeks, so I'll do them four weeks before the first ones are due, so seven weeks before the last ones. I can't think of any other way to do it - but maybe someone else can.

Re the FEC counts - our vet advice was to routinely worm at lambing. End of. This is because of the surge of eggs released at lambing.

[shep53]

There is no right or wrong answer , all 3 farmers methods will work ( think farmer 3 is talking about lambs every 6wks  not ewes )    Do  what ever is convenient  for you , I worm/ heptavac my inside sheep  4 weeks before the 1st ewe due , the outside ones get heptavac 4 wks before lambing  but get wormed  upon leaving the lambing fields

[Jamie12]

I can understand the every six weeks suggestion now, mine are ewe lambs that are in lamb.
Worried I make the wrong choice 

[Backinwellies]

Fasimec duo is a duel wormer and fluke drench.  6 week drenches for fluke this time of year may be needed but unlikely to need 6 week worming. Get a fluke only drench for all. Worm all at lambing. 

[Jamie12]

Thanks. Shall I use the remainder of my fasimec duo on all of he girls? I have enough left for them all, then start to do it seperately? Was advised to use fasimec duo by the rep in store at time of purchase.

[Rosemary]

Fasimec is triclabendazole flukicide. There are concerns about growing triclabendazole resistance. The advice from SRUC is to use triclabendazole n autumn and closantel in winter and spring.

TBH, this is daein' ma nut in. We used Albex which is a white wormer that at a higher dose is also a flukicide last year ( I bought it because a FEC indicated tapeworm in lambs and albendazole kills tapeworm). This year I'm planning to use a yellow wormer and a seperate closantel flukicide.

The SCOPS website is very helpful - has a list of all worming and flukicidal products on sale, by class, active ingredient etc etc.

[Backinwellies]

whole thing is a nightmare when you only have a few sheep!!

[TheSmilingSheep]

It is interesting what a diverse response these type of questions get..... I read the threads, and start worrying at my apparent slackness (sometimes....)
Since you invited lots of responses, however, in respect of the worming, and in view of resistance issues, our experience (admittedly limited and with a small flock) has been to move flock onto clean (ie nothing on for at least 4/5 weeks) field four weeks after lambing.... this means that the ewes move just AFTER the peak in their worm production....
We haven't wormed ewes or lambs for last two years, and do the fecs each September, on the lambs, just after weening...... vets have reported back that we don't need to worm...
Of course, now I've posted this we'll have a year or more of worming issues......

[SallyintNorth]

Just agreeing with Linda - "every 6 weeks without fail" in the winter probably means this guy's had problems with fluke.  If you're nearby, I'd fluke every 6-8 weeks from October thru March too

If these are ewe lambs, did they already get their priming doses of Covexin?  If so, they'll already have some antibodies circulating, so you're just looking for a rise before lambing.  Anytime up to 2 weeks before the first lambs will be fine   edited to add - when I say 'antytime', ideally you give it no more than 8 weeks before the last one lambs

Heptavac is ideally 4-6 weeks before lambing, so I'd guess one of your advisors uses Covexin and the other Heptavac!