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.
Vaccinate calves against lungworm before turnout
18th February 2022
Giving first season grazing calves a lungworm vaccine before turnout will protect them against potentially lethal disease and reduce any economic losses due to ill-health, according to the Control of Worms Sustainably (COWS) group. “There is no way to predict easily when lungworm will hit and waiting until coughing starts later in the season is … Continued
Re-thinking wormer use
10th February 2022
Most current control strategies against gut worms, lung worm and liver fluke rely on the use of wormers applied to entire groups of animals at pre-determined times of the year. On many farms the same products have been used at the same time every year, for more than a decade. But cattle vet Rob Howe, … Continued
New BCVA policy prioritises parasite control
10th February 2022
Parasite control in food producing animals is fraught with challenges and endoparasiticide resistance is a serious threat that left unchecked could cause irrevocable damage to the future health and profitability of the sector. To help meet these challenges the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) has developed a policy as a basis on which farm vets … Continued