This is a plea for hobby farmers with sheep (or goats) to understand the risk of internal parasites and to take the appropriate steps to protect the welfare of their animals from worm disease - a debilitating condition that causes much suffering and, if not treated, death.
A few days ago, the media ran a story about a smallholder in the southern midlands who had lost some sheep, whose other sheep were clearly sick and who was blaming pesticide drift from a nearby plantation. As a result of this story, DPIPWE ‘s spray drift referral unit inspected the property and found no evidence of spray drift. We then engaged a local vet to go out to the property and examine the animals. A worm test revealed that the sheep had very high egg counts - that is, the sheep had a very serious worm problem. And this was the key contributing factor for their poor condition. The sheep were also mildly anaemic - a typical consequence of such a high level of worms.
Most hobby farmers want to look after their sheep well. One of the biggest causes of poor sheep welfare on smallholdings is worm disease - some owners simply don't know how to manage, or recognise, a worm problem. As a result, the animals can suffer greatly and develop secondary health problems as well.
With all the wet weather we have been having and with, hopefully, sunshine, warmth and lush pasture just around the corner, this spring is shaping up as being one where worm disease is a greater risk than in more normal seasons. Everyone with livestock, including hobby farmers with just a few backyard animals, should have a worm management plan. The basics of such a plan are available on the DPIPWE website and there's a lot of useful information on the Wormboss website as well. An effective plan will prevent worm disease in most cases. Such a plan is much more than just a drenching program - it also includes clean pastures and maintaining good nutrition during the sort of low pasture growth periods we have just been experiencing. Indeed, if you have to rely on frequent drenching, it's a sure sign your worm management plan is failing.
Of course, if you haven't got such a plan working for you already, it's too late to cobble together a worm management plan just for the higher risk weeks ahead. You should, therefore, keep a close eye on your sheep and/or goats for any sign of worm disease and, if you see those signs, give your animals an emergency drench and move them to clean pasture. You could even pre-empt worm disease by drenching the sheep and moving them onto clean pasture now. If you only have a few sheep, most vet clinics will sell you individual drench doses.
The key sign of worm disease is ill thrift - that is, the animal loses condition even though there is sufficient feed. In many cases, the animal also scours, but please understand that not all wormy sheep scour - absence of scours does not necessarily mean absence of worms. If you want a definitive assessment, a worm test is both cheap and easy to do. Worm test kits are available from DPIPWE, from your local vet or from most rural merchandise stores.
Worm disease is a serious animal welfare issue on some properties.