Things to do now

Always read the label and ask advice from a vet, vet pharmacist or SQP before deciding which product to use

Things to do now

Always weigh cattle or use a weigh band to calculate the correct dose for each animal

Things to do now

Check meat and milk withdrawal periods for each product before administration

Things to do now

For advice on managing parasite infections in sheep visit www.scops.org.uk

What is COWS?

Control Of Worms Sustainably (COWS) is a voluntary initiative aiming to provide the best available, evidence-based information to the beef and dairy cattle industries in relation to the sustainable control of both internal and external parasites.

COWS funders

As a voluntary initiative, COWS is kindly funded by: AgriSearch, AHDB, AHDA, AHDB Beef & Lamb, AHDB Dairy, AMTRA, HCC, NFU, NOAH and QMS. COWS also works closely with SCOPS.

Latest Tweets:

Cattle Parasites @COWSworms

Graze youngstock on hay and silage aftermaths as they become available, as these fields will have a low parasite bu… https://t.co/dqpe4Z39iF

Cattle Parasites @COWSworms

RT @ProfJBMatthews: A big thank you to all my lovely friends & colleagues ⁦@MoredunComms⁩ for the kind gifts & well wishes as I leave today…

Cattle Parasites @COWSworms

RT @mad4farming: Weaning has started, heads down on a fresh field #sheep365 #farming https://t.co/H3nN1xIptm

Things to do now

Steps you should be taking now to protect your herd

Beef

Anthelmintic treatments can be administered to calves strategically during the first half of the grazing season to counter gut worm infections. The frequency of treatment depends on the persistency of the product used – speak to your vet or SQP about this

Giving an early season de-wormer ensures that few gut worm eggs are shed up to mid-summer, by which time any overwintered gut worm larvae present, will have died

All-group treatments provide strong selection pressure for anthelmintic resistance. An alternative is to take an evidence-based approach and give anthelmintics on information obtained from growth monitoring and faecal egg count (FEC) analysis. Assess the risk with your vet

Dairy

Anthelmintic treatments can be administered to calves strategically during the first half of the grazing season to counter gut worm infections. The frequency of treatment depends on the persistency of the product used – speak to your vet or SQP about this

Graze youngstock on hay and silage aftermaths as they become available, as these fields will have a low parasite burden. Be aware of possible fluke infection if these fields are near potential mud snail habitats

Where calves are grazing infected pasture and need treatment, do not move them to new pasture immediately after treatment. Or deworm them, but leave 10% of the heaviest stock untreated