Sheep lice in WA - some current issues Brown Besier Dept. Agriculture and Food WA Albany Supporting your success Eneabba General Store Livestock Expo March 2014

Supporting your success The sheep lice picture Chemical choice Chemical application

Sheep lice in WA How many farms in WA with lice ? 60 % ? How many sheep owners treat in any one year ? 80% ? How many treat every year, whether see lice or not? 71%

-Suspect light infestations ? - Protect against re-infestation ? Query the need to treat if sure no lice present Why routine treatment ?

What’s NOT likely to eradicate lice ? Chemicals where resistance by lice is common Insect growth Regulators (IGRs) Synthetic pyrethroids (SPs) Long wool treatments Ineffective application methods Chemical choices

Chemical choices: off shears/short wool GROUPAPPLICATIONEXAMPLES AbamectinBacklinerMaverick Mag. FluosilicateDipFlockmaster OrganophosphatesBacklinerEureka Gold DipAssassin, Wham Cage dipDiazinon NeonicinoidsBacklinerAvenge DipPirhana SpinosynsBacklinerExtinosad DipExtinosad IGRBacklinerMagnum, Zapp, Clik+ DipFleececare, Strike Synthetic pyrethroidBacklinerCypermethrin DipFleececare Examples only - Dept.Agric and Food WA does not endorse any specific product. IN WA Offshears treatments: Pour-on: 78% Dip: 22% IGR or SP: 12%

Chemical application issues Shower and plunge dip failures Getting the sheep wet: Dip design Time in dip Automatic jetting races No lice treatments registered Don’t wet, won’t eradicate Incorrect chemicals Diazinon by plunge or shower dip

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Blowfly strike management in WA Brown Besier Dept. Agriculture and Food WA Albany Supporting your success

Reducing susceptibility to flystrike - management and/or genetics

Susceptibility factors  Dags  Skin wrinkle  Breech cover  Long moist wool  Yellow wool, urine stain  Dermo, fleecerot  Physical injury - blood/ wounds Most important factors determine prevention strategies -Season -Local environment - Individual farm -And appropriate prevention strategies -Management -Genetics

Susceptibility factors  Dags  Skin wrinkle  Breech cover  Long moist wool  Yellow wool, urine stain  Dermo, fleecerot  Physical injury - blood/ wounds

DAGS The major breech-strike risk factor in most environments Example: 2 weaner flocks, dags vs flystrike

Proportion of sheep in each dag score 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Dag score % Incidence of strike with dag score - some examples in weaners (NEED MORE DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE FIGURES) Proportion of sheep in each dag score 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1234 Dag score percentage n=1019 n=122 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% dag score % breech strike n=122 Incidence of strike in each dag score 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% dag score % breech strike Incidence of strike in each dag score n=170 n=1058

Dags and relative risk of flystrike Relative risk of flystrike in weaners x4 x7 x21

Dag prevention : -Pre-lamb ewe worm management - pasture selection - drench ? -Worm egg counts to check burdens/ pasture contamination -Planned annual worm control program -Genetic: -Cull repeat-offenders (ewes) -Breed against scouring (hoggets)

BREECH WRINKLE A major strike factor – high genetic hereditability

SKIN WRINKLE Lambs from 2 different sires:

Current flock: average breech wrinkle score = 3 4% 28% Example scenario: all selection on wrinkle only

Current flock: average breech wrinkle score = 3 10 years time: Average breech wrinkle score = 2.2 4% 21% 6% 28%

DAGS Results after 10 years: Reduced wrinkle by 0.8 of a score: Maintained FD, body weight, reproduction Loss of fleece weight: - 20% Balanced selection: Sires that combine desired traits Culling bad-trait ewes

GENETICS AND FLYSTRIKE Dags Dagginess Worm resistance Breech wrinkle Bare breech Bodystrike Conformation Neck and body wrinkle Fleece type/ structure Skin disease – dermo, fleecerot Wool - colour etc Individual sheep struck for “no reason”

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“Sheep measles” – an unnecessary cause of loss to sheep producers Brown Besier Dept. Agriculture and Food WA Albany Supporting your success Eneabba General Store Livestock Expo March 2014

“ Sheep measles” = Cysticercus ovis = Taenia ovis = “ovis ” - A larval tapeworm in sheep muscle: - visual blemish - carcass downgrading or rejection

Tapeworm in dog intestine Tapeworm eggs on pasture eaten by sheep Sheep meat or offal eaten by dog Tapeworm develops from cysts Eggs develop to cysts in muscle g Wild dogs ? Foxes ? X

No signs of tapeworm infection in dogs or sheep Cysts remain in sheep for life

How many properties affected ?

g PREVENTION … Faecal contamination of pasture -Dogs roaming -Other dogs Dog access to sheep meat -Carcasses -Rations Worm dogs !

Worming dogs for tapeworms Use tapeworm-specific products: praziquantel (Droncit, Paratak, Popantel, Tapewormer) In some all-wormers - but need less often Ideally treat 4-5 weekly But 3-4 times/year will go a long way An area treatment approach needed: - neighbours, contractors, visitors

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