Deworming Cattle

[cjc]

Looking for advice on deworming cattle. I have a herd of 8 that I would like to deworm using the pour on product. I have a few questions

- I have two girls that are nursing their calves. One calf is 1 month the other is 5 months. Is it ok to deworm the girls well they are still feeding their calves?

- How old should they be before I deworm them? Should the 1 month old and 5 month old be included in the deworming?

Thanks!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

What are you deworming for?

 

[jhm47]

It all depends on what species of worms you are trying to eliminate. Likely would not affect calves at all through the milk. I'd plan on deworming the 5 month old for sure. The younger ones have not developed a resistance to worms like the older ones have.

 

[cjc]

To be honest I am not sure exactly what we are deworming for but we were planning on doing it just as a routine deworming. All the cows in the herd were purchased over the past 4 months from various places and we have not dewormed them ourselves and have no idea if they ever have been.

For some reason I cannot find anything about whether or not you can deworm a mother or at what age to do it...but it does say not to do a dairy cow on the packaging which is why I ask....

 

[WildRoseBeef]

It's different for dairy cows. With dairy cows the milk is consumed by people (obviously), so that means a lactating dairy cow that is dewormed will more than likely have milk that is tainted or contaminated with dewormer formula, which in turn could cause the milk to taste "off", or even pose a food-safety risk. With beef cows it's not as much a concern because you're not consuming their milk, their calves are. And because of that, it shouldn't make a difference to the calf whether his momma got dewormed or not.

I've sold dewormer, having previously worked at a farm supply store, to producers who have cows with calves, and haven't heard of any complaints of calves going off-milk because their dams got the pour-on.

But the reason I asked what you're deworming for is two fold: One your two cows look in great shape and are quite healthy from the pictures you previously shared on another thread which leads me to believe that they don't need deworming (at least now, that might change in the fall when fly season comes around), and/or two, are they being bothered by flies at all, like on their backs, in their eyes, that sort of thing?

 

[cjc]

@WildRoseBeef they are for sure very healthy but yes they are currently bothered by flies. The flies tend to get pretty bad in June and July and they are bad this summer. They have them all over their backs and some of them by their eyes. Here are a few pics of what I am talking about

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Then they'll certainly need some pour-on like Ivomec (or Noromectin, whichever is available) to help with that and maybe provide some relief to those girls.

Do they have a cattle oiler to scratch and rub on as well?

 

[jhm47]

For fly control, I use the best quality insecticide eartags I can find. Each year I rotate between the several insecticides so the flies don't build up resistance. I put two tags in each cow, and one in each calf. Costs around $9 per cow/calf pair, but it's well worth it. I have a neighbor who doesn't use any fly control, and his cows and calves are always standing in a tight bunch, tossing their heads, stomping their feet, and switching their tails, while my cattle are calmly grazing and not bothered with the torment of flies. I'm sure that the added weight that my calves gain from not having to fight flies all the time more than pays for the tags. And---it's the humane thing to do to lessen the torment that the flies cause for my animals.

 

[cjc]

@WildRoseBeef I have already purchased the Ivomec. I will treat them this weekend.

I have never even heard of a cattle oiler! I have been reading about it and will see if I can get something like that in the field for them. Thanks again for your help!

@jhm47 we haven't done the eartags but not all of our cows are easy to handle. Well only the calves are manageable. We are going to build a squeeze soon. Our chute is in a pasture we don't use often so once we have the squeeze retagging them will be more achievable.

 

[greybeard]

I missed this when it was first posted...
Deworming and fly control can be related, but really are 2 different things. Cattle generally get internal parasites (worms) from grazing. All cattle have some worms, and have a tolerance for that small wormload, but heavily infested animals=problems. As the adult female worms lay eggs inside the cow, the cow begins shedding the eggs into the soil, and the egg hatches out during the first long warm moist period of the year. (yes--the eggs survive the winter months) Deworming is a neccesary practice for all cattle and should be done before cattle go to pasture in the spring, then about 6 week intervals after that to prevent reinfestaion of the pasture. IF you have grubs (heel/warble fly larvae) pay attention to the time period limitations/restrictions for your geographical area. June thru Oct should be ok for folks in the middle of the USA. If you don't have a grub problem in your area, you probably don't need a dewormer with a grubicide.
I have used pourons but personally prefer a drench--the worms are in the gut and the drench goes right to the problem. If you've never used any of the drench guns, get someone to show you how--you can create serious problems getting it in the wrong part of their throat.
I have never used an injectable dewormer, tho many people say that is the best way to do it.

Fly control needs to start before fly season, and it is almost always more effective to use a combination of methods. An early season pro-active method would be starting use of a mineral supplement containing Insect Growth Regulator (IGR). This is a pass thru thing, where the chemical is passed out the cow in it's feces. The flies lay their eggs in piles of poop, the larvae hatch out, eat the poop containing the chem and the larvae die without ever maturing into adult flies. This, needs to be started BEFORE fly season, so the poop piles will be ready to kill the 1st batch of larvae that hatch out. Comes in soft blocks (Rabon® block) and loose mineral. Do NOT feed the blocks to really hungry animals, and don't leave it out in the rain--it will dissolve. Additionally, the use of pour-ons, back rubs and ear tags help a great deal, especially if you have a neighbor like JHM47 that does nothing for fly control. (A fly doesn't recognize property lines or fences)

Some areas have a vet or county agent that will rent out a C02 powered Vet Gun®, and sell you the insecticide balls or VetCaps® for horn fly and lice control. I haven't used one but have seen them used in real world and saw a demo at a beef seminar--even got shot with one just to see how hard it hit--not very. (balls contained water for the demo) Most cattle barely flinch from it, but I have seen a couple take off for the hinterland--probably the same ones that are hard keepers and difficult to pen anyway. The gun itself is fairly expensive, but if you have neighbors with cattle, the initial cost can be shared between you. Supposedly, the maker is waiting for USDA/FDA approval for a dewormer ball as well. Range is about 20-30 ft.
http://www.smartvet.com/parasite-control/vetgun-vetcup-what-it-is-and-how-it-works.html

Rubs, need to be hung somewhere that cattle have to pass thru, like a gate opening that leads to water. There are various insecticides you can charge the rub with, mixed with an oil of your choice--crop oil or diesel are the usual choices--I use diesel. Do use the face flyps--they do help.
Do not allow the rub to run completely dry and sit out in the rain--it will soak up water and be a nightmare to recharge with any oil based insecticide mix. I use a 3 gal garden sprayer with the nozzle removed to charge mine--AFTER they are hung in the openings. It takes about 2 -21/2 gals for the initial soaking or charging. Mix your own, or buy it premixed by the 2 1/2 gal container at any good farm supply or even TSC.
You can also use a dust bag. (I have't used one, but the rancher I bought my last heifers from did and he swears by them.) I wathched as his bull wandered up under it, and move back and forth under it to get dusted down all own his own--they learn what it does. My cattle will generally do the same thing under my rubs. Instructions and insecticide mixing chart is here--these are the ones I use:
http://www.phwhite.com/
http://www.phwhite.com/Mixing Chart.htm


If flies are really bad, you can also mix up insecticide/water in a garden sprayer and walk around and spray the animals down for some immediate short term relief--don't spray the face or genitals/teats. You can research it, but IIRC I use 1 1/2 oz of permethrin per 2 gals of water the few times I did this.