Alternating a pasture between cattle and sheep can help to reduce infective burdens of some of the important GI and lung worms, as the parasite species affecting sheep will not infect cattle and vice versa. The strategy can also dilute the cocci burden (if present) for each species. However, if a farm has a fluke problem this can practice actually worsen it as one species (Fasciola hepatica) infects both cattle and sheep. The same is true for Nematodirus battus and Trichostryogylus axei.
Where a farm has a fluke history, best practice is to allocate dry or reseeded pastures for the high-risk periods – that is, around 5-6 weeks after warm moist weather. Also, getting the farm’s heaviest fields grazed when it is cold and dry will reduce problems down the line as snail activity will be low during this time. Alternatively, when the risk is high, we can dose with triclabendazole products like Tribex and then move to clean pastures – reseeded areas or winter crops would be best here.
Silage aftergrass is also a valuable tool. It should be relatively clean of parasites and we can move animals to it during risk periods.
Alternating a pasture between cattle and sheep can help to reduce infective burdens of some of the important GI and lung worms, as the parasite species affecting sheep will not infect cattle and vice versa. The strategy can also dilute the cocci burden (if present) for each species. However, if a farm has a fluke problem this can practice actually worsen it as one species (Fasciola hepatica) infects both cattle and sheep. The same is true for Nematodirus battus and Trichostryogylus axei.
Where a farm has a fluke history, best practice is to allocate dry or reseeded pastures for the high-risk periods – that is, around 5-6 weeks after warm moist weather. Also, getting the farm’s heaviest fields grazed when it is cold and dry will reduce problems down the line as snail activity will be low during this time. Alternatively, when the risk is high, we can dose with triclabendazole products like Tribex and then move to clean pastures – reseeded areas or winter crops would be best here.
Silage aftergrass is also a valuable tool. It should be relatively clean of parasites and we can move animals to it during risk periods.
