Worm Egg Counts for Queensland Sheep Producers – the way forward

 

Queensland sheep producers understand the importance of:

  • regular Worm Egg Counting (WEC) and monitoring,
  • identifying what specific worms are present, and
  • knowing which drenches are working on your property with regular Drench Resistance testing.

With the closure of the Queensland Government Wormbuster Laboratory, there have been many people querying who else provides these services and what to do now.

Some Queensland providers are performing WEC for a limited number of their clients but without larval culture and differentiation.

  • Pastoral Veterinary Services (Peter Lynch) is providing WEC but larval culture services are not available. Contact details are: 07 4638 8660 or 0428 716 455, fax 07 4638 8660 peterlynch@shwds.com.au  167 Campbell St Toowoomba Qld 4350.

For larval culture and differentiation and Drench Resistance testing as well as WEC, you will have to go further afield with the consequent problem of getting samples to the laboratory in a timely manner. Commercial providers in NSW include:

  • Veterinary Health Research.  Contact details are: Rad Nielsen 02 6770 3200 rnielsen@vhr.com.au Locked Bag 6865 Armidale West NSW 2350. VHR are currently investigating the time taken to consign samples from Queensland and the time saving benefits of the slightly (only a couple of dollars) more expensive Express Post.
  • Dawbuts. Contact details are: Alison Smith or Matt Playford 02 4655 6464 admin@dawbuts.com PO Box 1118 Camben NSW 2570. Alison mentioned that to get the best larval culture results, samples should be kept sealed and in a cool place but not refrigerated. In Queensland sometimes the only cool place is in the refrigerator, so discuss this with them, if needed.

All three providers prefer producers contact them before sending in samples at least initially. All have their own Reply Paid kits that they prefer you use (it may pay you to have a few kits on hand from your preferred provider to save time if testing results become urgent).  They all emphasise the importance of posting your samples early in the week to avoid delays. All three facilities can also handle your cattle/goat/alpaca samples.

The initial information for this update was taken from the WormBoss website which has a wealth of other useful information, tips and tools for sheep producers.  www.wormboss.com.au

If you are aware of or are providing WEC services to Queensland sheep producers please let Leading Sheep know for inclusion in future updates.

Many producers are successfully learning to do their own WEC with backup from a laboratory and consultant, as needed.  If you are interested in learning how to do this, reply to this e-mail with your name and contact details. If there is sufficient interest, training will be organised.

Noel O’ Dempsey Leading Sheep South Region Coordinator 07 4653 1441 odempsn@harboursat.com.au

 

This email was sent on behalf of the Leading Sheep project.

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