Barbers pole worms like moist and warm conditions which are often seen in wet summers and autumn. These conditions are ideal for larval survival and development. When conditions are ideal, infective larval numbers can build up quickly, becoming a danger to young sheep.
Barbers pole worms are different to the scour worms, as they suck blood. Each worm can suck 0.5mL of blood a day from a lamb. With large infections, lambs can’t replace the blood loss fast enough, so lack of oxygen, weakness and often death results.
On top of being blood suckers, barbers pole worms produce a lot of eggs. Female adult worms can produce 5,000-10,000 eggs a day, which rapidly contaminate pasture.
When larval numbers on pasture are high, lambs need ongoing protection as the immature larval stage (L4 larvae) also suck blood. This can be achieved by using a persistent acting drench such as Cydectin® Oral.
Cydectin Oral has 35 days ongoing activity against barbers pole worms and 21 days against Teladorsagia circumcincta, another key worm which can cause major production loss
Despite its long activity in the lamb, Cydectin Oral has a short meat withholding of only 10 days, allowing frequent lamb drafts. And if sheep milking is your business, it has a milk withhold of only 84 HOURS, very convenient for the odd ewe that needs more worm protection.
For more information on how to get the best out of Cydectin Oral, click here, or call Zoetis Technical Services on 0800 ZOETIS.
