Four ways to enhance dewormers

Deworming cattle is very important to reduce internal parasites. These parasites can affect feed intake, lower the average daily gain, and lower reproductive performance. They are also dangerous to the health of the animal. 

John Davidson is the senior associate director for beef cattle professional services at Boehringer Ingelheim. He says they recommend four pillars to enhance your dewormer program. The first one is having good diagnostics. Take samples from the cattle, evaluate the parasite burdens, and what species of worms are present in the animals. 

The second pillar is, how do we maintain the efficacy of the products we’re using?

"And that is using products in combination to ensure the highest degree of kill in the cattle population," says Davidson. "So, using a traditional pour-on or injectable dewormer in combination with an oral drench is called “combination treatment”."

Consult with your veterinarian to set up a deworming program that fits your production and management goals.
The third pillar is good animal husbandry and stewardship of pasture resources. Cattle usually get infected with parasites from the pastures they graze. 

"The vast majority of parasite transmission occurs when the grass gets short," he says. "So, paying attention to stocking rates and the forage height, limiting the peak transmission there in the vulnerable and susceptible cattle, it’s going to be an important consideration."

And lastly, Davidson recommends leaving some animals untreated. This provides a population of organisms that have not been exposed to the compounds that we’re treating with to reduce resistance build-up.