PARASITE WORMS TAKING TOLL OF MANAWATU LAMBS.

Shannon News, 21 May 1929, Page 1

PARASITE WORMS TAKING TOLL OF MANAWATU LAMBS.

; NO NEW DISEASE. DEPARTMENT ADVISES BLUESTONE DRENCHING Stomach' and intestinal worms are at present causing sheepfarmers a great deal of concern in the Manawatu and ihe department’s veterinary’officer, Mr. R M. Meade, has been kept exceedingly busy answering the calls of breeders fur advice. The trouble is one that is met with every autumn more or leas but this season, the parasite seems to have secured a bigger hold than usual. Rome breeders were fearing that their lambs had developed a new disease but investigations have resulted in the worm being discovered at the root of ‘he sickness and mortality. Symptoms. There are certain factors in late summer and early autumn which renderyoung stock liable to internal parasites Wlnm lambs are- weaned and have to live entirely on grass or.supplementary catch-crops there is always a tendency for them to receive a check, and any check at this time is liable to debilitate the animal and allow internal parasites, if present, to badly affect it. The common symptoms shown by parasite-infested stock are debility anaemia (as shown by a certain degree of paleness of the mucous membrance), scouring, and even emaciation. Associated with the parasites which inhabit lbe stomach and intestines and are responsible for these symptoms, then may also be a more or less severe infestation of the parasite whose com mon seat is the smaller bronchial tubes in the lungs. In some cases this par tieular parasite may preponderate, and the common short cough indicating lung-worm trouble may be the only symptom. - If’a post mortem is held upon suet an animal it is usually a very easy matter to demonstrate this worm in numbers in the smaller bronchial tubes. It is not always so easy to demonstrate the stomach worm in sheep. When such proof is necessary it is advisable to kill a lamb which is showing typical symptoms as evidenced by emaciation and , diarrhoea. The stomach is then suspended and an incision made along its upper border. The contents may then be seen to be disturbed by a seething movement, indicating the presence of worms. Tn cases where adult.woVms are numerous, if a needle is taken and drawn through the contents of the stomach some of the para sites cling to it, and can then be do inonstrated by transfer to a glass containing water. Diarrhoea may not be present till the trouble is far advanced, but invariably" this is a common symp tom. The characteristic cough is perhaps the most frequent symptom when parasites are also present in the bronchial tubes-and Jungs. Where any class of stock is depas lured for a number of successive sea sons on the same paddocks, such areas very often become what is termeo cattle-sick, sheep-sick, or horse-sick, as the case may be. Au interchange o'! stock is very desirable for this reason alone. Continual grazing of the same class of stock on, the same, pasture is very liable to contaminate it with the eggs and embryos of the various internal parasites, s The Cure. To get rid of the parasites the do partment recommends the use of a on. per cent solution of copper . sulphate tbluestonc) —liozs dissolved thorough ly in one gallon of water. Lambs can be given one fluid ounce, hoggets om and a half to two, ounces and ewes three ounces, of this solution. An ounc equals about two tablespoonfuls. Can should be taken to see that the blue stone- is thoroughly dissolved and m:xc< before dosing, as any crystals escaping have a caustic action, and .would therefore cause harmful results in an animal whose stomach and bowels, were already inflamed by the presence of the para sites. All animals require to be fasteo for at least 12 hours before dosing, and to obtain the best results it is not advisable to hurry the sheep buck to pasture. After the administration of the copper-sulphate solution foui 01 five hours should be allowed to elapse. Lambs and sheep can be dosed every three or four weeks over a period or throughout the year, commencing in m case of lambs immediately after weaning. Pregnant ewes should not be dosed within two weeks of lambing. But it must be fully realised that medicines alone cannot always be ielied upon to prevent parasitic trouble. Careful attention to the feeding conditions is the most valuable and necessary Preventive measures against internal parasites include if possible complete change of pasture. The sheep must bremoved from the contaminated area, and if infestation is a very severe one, it is advisable to graze the area with horses or leave it vacant for not less than a year. Infested pastures may as an alternative be ploughed and cultivated, and the crops fed off by sheep. Drainage, liming, and the use of salt licks are also indicated as moans to.be resorted to ; in combating tlio persistence of ego-a and embryos of the worms. The sheep should be dosed before being placed on fresh pasture, otherwise this in turn will soon become heavily contaminated.