[DartmoorLiz]

Does anyone know if mowing has a similar effect to making hay for cleaning up wormy sheep pasture?  We traditionally lamb in the same field every year because it is closest to the house and you can see the whole field from the gate.  I don't have the kit (or weather) to make hay but I might be able to mow with a mulching mower.

[shep53]

No .   Making hay only reduces the worm numbers as it is not grazed for  maybe 3-4 months and then it is cut very close to the ground so desiccation  kills any surviving , but not all  and you don't cut 100% of the field       

[Marches Farmer]

Can you split the field with electric fencing so you'd be able to give the lambs cleaner grazing in half of it from 2018?

[DartmoorLiz]

  Yes, no, maybe.  Thought horns and lecky did not mix.  I have got to do something. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Jullienne]

You could let someone graze their cattle on it for a bit, maybe a week or two a few times a year? Alternatively you could get some calves, maybe a couple of heifer calves, bring them up with the sheep and keep them mixed grazed and maybe have them as house cows?

[Penninehillbilly]

If there is no other way it's worth trying?  Mow now, but collect mowing,  no animals on for 6 month? Should help.
I've thought of having cows on as well, but not practical yet.

[Womble]

So how long does land have to be left without livestock on it before it can be considered 'worm free'? 

[Tim W]

So how long does land have to be left without livestock on it before it can be considered 'worm free'? 

A year without sheep will dramatically reduce the pasture worm burden
Best killer of worm eggs is UV light which is why taking a cut of hay is good as it exposes the plant base and worm eggs to sunlight
Extreme cold also helps but not as much

[Womble]

So not to be funny, couldn't you use a long acting wormer to achieve the same thing? For example, Cydectin LA says it gives protection for up to 111 days (very precise eh  ). So four injections back to back would give protection for a year.


The obvious problem is that you can't slaughter animals under treatment, but apart from that, is such a plan a possibility, or am I wrong as usual?

The reason I ask is that I'm still kicking myself for having let our grazing the year before we had sheep of our own. Then when we bought our first ewes, the vet told me to worm them and then put them onto dirty pasture so they would pick up our local worms (usually the right advice, but of not this time IMHO!). Of course if I could find a way to reset the clock and then keep a closed flock.........

[DartmoorLiz]

I can manage 11 months clear and mow it the rest of the year.  I can't face cows, they're just too big and strong. 


I like the idea of long acting wormer but that might be what got me into trouble in the first place , I guess I have a resistance issue.


Thanks for your suggestions.

[sheeponthebrain]

You mentioned it being your lambing field. are you sure it's worms and not coccidiosis?

[DartmoorLiz]

Nothing's certain.  I'll look it up.

[Tim W]

So not to be funny, couldn't you use a long acting wormer to achieve the same thing? For example, Cydectin LA says it gives protection for up to 111 days (very precise eh  ). So four injections back to back would give protection for a year.

In theory this could work but there would be problems with resistant worms etc and I wouldn't advise it

People do use cydectin on their ewes and hence reduce egg output and burden ...this helps the lambs but has also made a significant contribution to anthelmintic resistance