Parasite Management - OSU Seminars (Goats & Sheep) - F.D. notes pg10

[elevan]

They did siminars sort of like this here in IN last year, ()Relics participated in them / posted a lot of info but not in the detail you have.
They called them "Town Hall" meetings.

I'm an excellent note taker when I want to...comes from my past life as a corporate world executive assistant Personally I like taking notes about parasites of goats much more than any subject from my past life.

 

[elevan]

A reminder that the next installment will be tomorrow night from 7-9pm should anyone else want to sign up for it online...the link is on page 2 of this thread (thanks ksalvagno).

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Thanks for sharing all of this with us! I 'll be checking in tomorrow for the latest.

 

[elevan]

Session #2 just ended. Give me a bit and I'll type up notes for everyone.

 

[redtailgal]

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[elevan]

Session #2 Notes (they gave us handouts that were pretty much their speech so made it easy on me)

Parasite Mangement: Lessons Learned and Farmer Applications

Speakers: Curt Cline, farmer
Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator

Project:
Non-traditional Forages in a Managed Grazing System in Control of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Sheep (goats apply too)
*2-year (2009-2010) farm based study
*Non-traditional forages: Forage Feast Chicory & Brown Mid-Rib (BMR) Sorghum x Sudangrass
*Focus on early weaned lambs in a pasture based, managed grazing production system
*Goal: use alternative forages to reduce dependance on chemical dewormers
*3 Farmer Cooperators weigh in today from Athens, Knox and Wayne Counties (in Ohio)

Reasoning:
*Complete dependence on chemical dewormers is not a viable option
*Need to develop tools and an integrated strategy in the battle of the barberpole worm
*Lambs & Ewes (kids & does) are most susceptible to parasite infections
*Chicory may offer some anti-parasitic properties
*BMR could provide a safe pasture during the summer slump

Study Design:
*Each farm provided 2 groups of lambs with similar weights and ages. Each group = 20 lambs (60 day weaning age). One group for Chicory and one group for BMR
*Each farm established a 5 acre plot of chicory and a 5 acre plot of BMR
*All study lambs were weighed, FAMACHA scored and body condition scored at the beginning and end of each grazing pass. Fecal samples were also collected each time lambs were handled. In 2010 blood was drawn to determine packed cell volume.

Study Procedure:
*The plan: make at least 2 grazing passes through the chicory and BMR forages beginning in mid-July.
*Each grazing period lasting 14-21 days
*Between passes lambs would graze a cool season grass/legume pasture for 2-3 weeks
*Before and after each grazing pass chicory and BMR sampled for dry matter (DM) yield and sample collected for forage quality analysis
*Any lamb scoring 3 or higher FAMACHA was treated with a chemical dewormer
*Lambs needed to have some (preferably low) parasite level to test chicory effectiveness as an anti-parasitic
*Therefore if a lamb was treated it meant either a delay in starting a grazing pass or that the lamb was dropped from the group

Expectations:
After using tillage to kill off any larvae - chicory and BMR were planted and then the following was expected to happen:
*Lambs enter first grazing pass of chicory & BMR in mid-July with low parasite levels
*Chicory and BMR would be high quality, provide "safe" pasture and allow lambs to gain weight while grazing
*Lambs on chicory would exhibit a decrease in parasite levels as measured by FEC

The Reality?
*There were some forage establishment problems. One farm had a great stand of chicory, one farm was ok and one was over 50% weeds
*Particularly a problem with the chicory
*Problems with parasite infections very early on in the lambs that weren't expected
*BMR loses quality the older it gets...the early parasite problems caused delays in getting lambs onto the BMR and therefore BMR quality was low

Chicory Issues:
Short lived perennial (3-4 yrs)
Weeds a problem in 2 of the 3 farms...ragweed in particular.
On the worst farm weeds were 52% with chicory making up only 48% of the field.
BUT...lambs grazed selectively eating off the leaves of the ragweed
*a combined analysis of the chicory / ragweed showed 18% CP and 74% TDN
Frost heaving caused stand loss over the winter
[On one farm] there were stands of chicory that the sheep wouldn't touch...a reason was never determined.

BMR Issues:
Rapid growing, high tonnage warm season annual
Best quality at 24-36 inches height
Cannot each at heights below 24 inches due to high nitrate build up ...so must keep animals off it during this phase.
Above 36 inches and it starts to decline in quality quickly.
It's about a week to get from 24-36 inches (7-10 days)
During that 7-10 days analysis is: CP 14% and TDN 67%
One farmer decided to dry it and silage it...analysis of that was CP 4%...definitely not worth much more than as bedding at that point.

General Lessons Learned:
Every farm has some level of resistance
You need to do a Drench Rite Assay or Fecal Egg Count Reductions (FECRT) to determine what your resistance is
You need to understand the life cycle of the barberpole
Review of Barberpole worm life cycle:
[in ideal worm conditions]
Complete life cycle in approx 23 days
From egg to L3 (infective) larvae in 4 days
L3 can survive on pasture for a very long time from 90-120 or more days unless a killing event happens
5,000 eggs shed by every adult worm
Overwintered larvae are a bigger factor than previously thought. Spring grazing of pastures used in the previous Fall should be avoided...use those from the previous summer instead.
Lambs / kids need some "safe" pastures
Nutrition is important. Providing adequate nutrition can help keep worm loads in check because the animal is healthier to begin with.
Grazing / Browsing high is important...keeping the animal eating at above 6-8 inches will remove the problem but is virtually impossible.
In summer the majority of your worms are on your pasture (not in the animal)
Lambs / kids are VERY susceptible to parasite infections
Making more than one grazing pass across grass/legume paddocks with lambs has the potential to greatly increase the worm load
Time frame of the last time on pasture and how many eggs were shed during that time is a very important factor
Selective deworming and use of chemical dewormers as rescue should be practiced
It is important to record / track your animals FAMACHA scores
FAMACHA is a tool and must be used often and consistently to be helpful...check every 7-10 days.
Chicory could help suppress or reduce the wormload if the load is low to moderate. But is unable to help if the burden is high to begin with. It could be used as a piece of your integrated management strategy but it is not a silver bullet.
Lambs / kids are management intensive and you must pay attention to them.

Approaches to control:
1)Conquer [chemical dewormers]
Since we don't have a new chemical coming out every 5 years this is impossible. The reality is that nature will continue evolving and the parasite will always win if this
is your strategy.
2)Co-Exist
Understand the biology and lifecycle of the parasite and manage your farm accordingly
Minimize lamb/kid time on pasture
Maximize dry ewe / doe time on pastures
Genetics - breed for parasite resistence
3)Avoidance
Non-pasture systems
Off season lambing / kidding in the FALL



What the farmers have decided to put into application as a result:

John Anderson
*Increase ewe numbers and wean early
*Ewes on pasture / lambs inside
*Fall lambing
*Fall forages: rape, turnips, oats
*When spring lambing: feed green chop forage [confinement dairy model]
*Market lambs inside, replacements outside
*Reduce animal numbers on pasture = more pasture management opportunity
*Use tillage strategically, increase high quality summer forages

Bruce Rickard
*Wean lambs in fall (late weaning)
*Genetics - work towards sheep with resistance
*Increase grass rest periods and use alternative species grazing with cattle so sheep do not return to the same paddock until about 140 days
*Goal: Live with parasites

Curt Cline
*Co-Exist with parasites
*Use pastures as a low cost production system
*Increase ewe numbers and decrease lamb time on pastures
*Utilize permanent grass / legume pastures
*Graze pure stands of alfalfa (see reduce risk of bloat below)
*Graze unharvested corn fields in winter (start by handfeeding corn to get them used to eating straight corn before turning to this pasture)
*Lamb in April/ May
*Lactation diet high percentage legume pasture
*Wean lambs early (60 days) and continue on to minimally contaminated pastures
*Market lambs early at approx 120 days of age.
*Never revisit pastures with lambs
*Feed only corn & hay while in barn
*Dry ewes used as bush hogs on hooves from June-December
*Hay viewed as an emergency feedstuff
*Use stockpiled forages in winter (cornfield grazing).

Grazing Alfalfa & Reducing the risk of bloat:
*Do not graze young, succulent alfalfa...wait for bloom stage
*Do not move from grass directly to alfalfa
*Do not turn onto alfalfa that has dew on it
*Do not turn a "hungry" animal onto alfalfa
*Increase stocking density to reduce selection - you want them to eat the whole plant, not just the leaves
*80-100% bloom alfalfa makes a low quality hay since it's very stemmy when dried as all the blooms / leaves fall off
BUT
*Used as grazing it is CP 21% and TDN 69%
*Leaves retain quality and most fiber is in the lower 1/3 of the plant
*Grows back very well even when grazed very low



Conclusion:
*There are no easy answers
*Each farm must use various tools and put together an integrated control strategy for their farm
*Management on your farm depends on your goals, your market and the size of your flock / herd
*Recognize economic factors: pasture is cheap feed - grains are expensive
*Worms will adapt - you must co-exist because they are not going away
*Lambs / kids are the weak link...most susceptible
*Dry ewes / does have a good level of resistance

Additional comments:
I should add that it was noted that if you had the resources to put the animals onto pasture and move them every 3 days, never repeating a pasture until it had sat empty a minimum of 120 days that you could greatly reduce your worm burden.

 

[redtailgal]

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[aggieterpkatie]

So really you're screwed either way. You either have to rely on chemical dewormers and use them regularly, OR, you have to do FAMACHA every week (not hard if only a few animals, but if you have a large flock that's is a HUGE time suck) and also keep lambs off pasture and feed in a confined system which we all know is NOT necessarily the healthiest way to feed animals, and those raised in confined systems don't produce the healthiest meat for us to consume.


RTG, feeding green chop forages (like in a dairy system) just means cutting and ensiling feed like haylage/balage/silage and feeding it to the animals in a confined system. IMO, it's a huge waste of time and money (when there is pasture available) because the farmer is having to do all the work to harvest it, then do all the work to bring the feed to the animals. If the animals are allowed to graze the pasture, then they're doing all the work of harvesting and they walk themselves to the feed. I think it's fine in the winter when there's not (depending on location) much pasture for them to graze, but I think it sort of puts a stop on the whole "keep costs low" kinda thought process.

 

[ksalvagno]

What they were trying to say is that you need to implement a lot of little ways to keep parasites at a liveable level. You have to learn how to coexist with the parasites. One of the farmers is putting his lambs on alfalfa pastures. He grows them out to 120 days and then ships them off. He loses some money on weight but has added more ewes to have more lambs. He said it was much less labor intensive for him so he is making money and not losing in the long run. It really comes down to doing a lot of studying and research on your own farm to find out what works for your farm. You can't count on any one thing.

 

[cmjust0]

Overwintered larvae are a bigger factor than previously thought. Spring grazing of pastures used in the previous Fall should be avoided...use those from the previous summer instead.

That statement runs contrary to the other studies I've seen, and I'd love to know how they determined that to be true.. If it was because they put low/zero FEC animals on Spring pastures and they miraculously got wormy, it would mean absolutely nothing..

Barberpole worms primarily overwinter *in the host* through hypobiosis..

Now, if they tested Spring grass for viable larvae, that would definitely put a dent in my longstanding argument -- but I doubt that's what they did.