Key Technical Points and Management Methods for Dairy Cattle Deworming and Health Care
Dairy Cattle Deworming and Health Care
(Agricultural Wealth Network) Dairy cattle deworming and health care is one of the important tasks in disease prevention within the dairy cattle health care system. In order to ensure the health of dairy cattle on farms, prevent the occurrence of exotic infectious diseases in dairy cattle, and promote the growth and development of replacement heifers, this article, from the perspective of dairy cattle health care, focuses on explaining the significance, purposes, and methods of dairy cattle deworming and health care.
Overview: Parasitic infections in dairy cattle can cause a decline in production performance. Deterioration of the condition can lead to cattle death and can even bring highly contagious infectious diseases to the entire herd, causing severe losses or even a devastating blow to dairy farms. However, their clinical symptoms are often not obvious, and the harm they cause is not easily noticed and is easily overlooked by dairy cattle raisers. Therefore, dairy cattle deworming is one of the important tasks in disease prevention within the dairy cattle health care system, and veterinarians on our dairy farms must strengthen their awareness of dairy cattle deworming and health care. In order to ensure the health of dairy cattle, promote the growth and development of replacement heifers, and prevent the occurrence of dairy cattle diseases, dairy farms need to formulate and implement an effective dairy cattle deworming and health care plan.
Harm: Research data from the All-Russian Skryabin Institute of Helminthology in Russia show that fascioliasis reduces dairy cattle milk production by 10%-20% and reduces the body weight of young cattle by 5%-15%; lungworm disease reduces the weight gain of young cattle by 27% and causes 8% mortality; cattle hypodermosis reduces the weight gain of calves by 8% and reduces cow milk production by 9%; roundworms reduce weight gain by 30%; and psoroptic mange causes even greater economic losses that are difficult to calculate.
A 2007 survey of parasitic infections on large-scale dairy farms in the Tianjin area showed that all cattle farms tested positive for bovine lice, with the proportion of lice-infested cattle ranging from 30% to 70%. In calf fecal examinations, except for 3 farms where none were detected, the detection rate of Neoascaris in the other five farms was all 10%. The detection rate of Sarcoptes scabiei in examined cattle was 100%, and the detection rate of Haemonchus contortus eggs was 2.5%.
A 2005 survey of coccidia infections in dairy cattle on large-scale dairy farms in the Shanghai area showed that all 17 farms had coccidia infections. The infection rate in the October survey was 36.45%, and the infection rate in the April survey was 40.05%, with no obvious difference between the two; from the perspective of infection across different age stages of dairy cattle, the two stages with the highest infection rates were found to be 0-2 months of age and 4-6 months of age, with infection rates as high as 45%, while the age stage with the lowest infection rate was dairy cattle over 12 months of age, with an infection rate of 25%; from the perspective of infection intensity, the coccidia infection intensity of dairy cattle on farms in the Shanghai area was mostly below an average OPG of 1000, accounting for 58.82%, and only one farm had a relatively high average OPG of 14250.
In our large-scale and intensive dairy farm production, calves before and after weaning are the most susceptible. Parasitic diseases can cause malnutrition, stunted growth, and even death in calves. Because some roughage comes from different parts of the country and even from abroad, despite fumigation and disinfection, different parasite hosts may still be present. This can easily lead to the possibility of parasitic infections in individual cattle or even in the herd, thereby causing disease outbreaks. Clinically, this can result in decreased milk production, low milk fat percentage, a short peak lactation period, abortion, and infertility, which greatly increases the difficulty of clinical veterinary diagnosis and has already caused losses to dairy farms. If a regular deworming system is established, however, it can reduce the probability of parasitic infection in the herd and improve the health level of the herd.
Formulating a reasonable regular deworming system can effectively prevent dairy cattle from parasitic infections, indirectly improve feed conversion rate, promote the growth of replacement heifers, enhance resistance to disease, and improve the immune response level of dairy cattle to vaccines. At the same time, it can avoid secondary infections caused by the migration of parasites within the dairy cattle body. Because external parasites are vectors for many infectious diseases, effective deworming and health care for dairy cattle can prevent the large-scale spread of some diseases transmitted through external parasites. Because different times, different drug choices, and different deworming methods have different effects on dairy cattle deworming, a suitable deworming program must be formulated.
There are many pathogens that cause parasitic diseases in dairy cattle, but the damage and harm to dairy cattle can mainly be summarized as follows:
Disease transmission: Parasites in the dairy cattle body can cause mucosal damage, which opens the door for other pathogens to enter the dairy cattle body and can cause complications. At the same time, some parasites themselves are vectors of certain infectious diseases and can cause dairy cattle to become infected with infectious diseases, posing a huge threat to herd health. This may also be one of the possible reasons for disease outbreaks on dairy farms. Dairy farms must change their health care concepts, formulate a preventive health care system of regular deworming, and eliminate infectious diseases or epidemics that may be caused by parasites. In addition, zoonotic parasitic diseases also directly threaten human health, such as cryptosporidiosis.
Mechanical damage: A large number of roundworms or tapeworms parasitizing can cause intestinal obstruction and, in severe cases, intestinal rupture. Intestinal parasitic helminths attach to the intestinal wall with suckers and cause intestinal mucosal damage. In addition, the migration of worm bodies can also cause mechanical damage to dairy cattle organs, causing inflammation or damage to organ tissues, interfering with vital activities, and even causing death.
Nutrient absorption: Many intestinal parasites can directly absorb nutrients from the dairy cattle body, leading to anemia and hindered development. For example, roundworms and flukes also secrete digestive enzymes onto host tissues, causing tissues to degenerate and dissolve into nutrient fluid for the parasites, thereby indirectly competing with the animal body for nutrients, reducing feed returns, and affecting productivity.
Toxin secretion: During the process of growth and development in the host body, parasites continuously excrete metabolites, which can cause varying degrees of local or systemic damage to dairy cattle. Among these, the effects or damage caused by parasites in tissues and blood are more obvious. For example, they can cause itching of the dairy cattle skin, restlessness during feeding, or secrete toxins in the intestinal tract that damage the intestinal mucosa, making it easy to infect opportunistic pathogenic bacteria and leading to secondary infection, dehydration, and even death in dairy cattle.
Deworming program drug selection: Dairy cattle parasitic diseases cause enormous hidden losses and have also directly promoted the research and development of deworming drugs. Traditional drugs such as levamisole, albendazole, avermectin, and ivermectin have gradually been unable to meet the actual needs of dairy farms because of various shortcomings such as drug resistance, a narrow deworming spectrum, and a long milk withdrawal period. Therefore, deworming drugs that can prevent and treat, have a broad spectrum, are safe, long-acting, non-toxic, and have no drug residues have become a new research direction. At present, pure eprinomectin on the market has relatively good effects. Its main feature is that it can be used during lactation, but the content and purity from various manufacturers are not yet sufficiently certain, so further research is still needed. From the perspective of economic practicality for dairy farms, dairy farms can choose mixed-type drugs mainly targeting flukes, nematodes, tapeworms, and external parasites. If selective and targeted deworming can be carried out according to the results of local dairy cattle parasitic disease epidemiological surveys, and selective regular deworming can be carried out for herds with high infection rates, then the deworming and health care effect will be better.
Deworming program target animals: calves at 2 months of age (before and after weaning) and 6 months of age, newly dry dairy cattle of the month, and cattle infected with parasitic diseases, etc.
Deworming time: Due to the diversification of feed sources, the deworming time is year-round, with deworming of the above cattle groups every month.
Deworming method: Manually crush the deworming drugs and separately sprinkle them into the feed for each animal one by one, or directly administer them orally by hand. The purpose is to ensure that every cow is fed properly, strictly prevent too much or too little, and ensure the deworming effect.
Deworming precautions: Each time a new deworming drug is used, drugs from safe and legitimate manufacturers should be selected. Before deworming, one dry cow and one replacement heifer need to be selected and dosed separately according to the dosage. After observing that they are safe, effective, and have no obvious side effects, mass medication for deworming can then be carried out. For deworming drugs diluted in solution, they should be prepared immediately before use.
For calves before and after weaning, if the starter feed contains deworming drugs, deworming may be temporarily omitted.
In order to fully exert drug efficacy, expel gastrointestinal parasites, and provide preventive treatment for individually suspected infected cattle, medication needs to be coordinated according to the actual situation. Deworming can be carried out before morning feeding, and after or at the same time as medication, saline laxatives can be used so that paralyzed worm bodies and deworming drugs remaining in the gastrointestinal tract are expelled, achieving better results.
Medication must be administered strictly according to the instructions for use of the deworming drug, and the amount used must be strictly controlled; at the same time, prevent the use of excessive drugs from causing poisoning, abortion, premature birth, etc., to ensure the safety of the cattle.
All lactating dairy cattle or dairy cattle about to lactate are prohibited from deworming (calculated according to the drug withdrawal period) to ensure quality and safety; for some deworming drugs that can be used during lactation, please use them in accordance with relevant national regulations.
After deworming, the dewormed cattle must be monitored for 48 hours, and necessary anti-allergy measures and emergency plans must be available.
After using deworming drugs, sufficient clean and appropriate drinking water must be provided. This is also one of the tasks that must be done daily. Especially in summer, insects, mosquitoes, and eggs must be prevented from entering the drinking water pool, which could cause indirect infection in cattle.
After deworming dairy cattle, eggs and other matter will remain in the feces, so the feces and bedding after medication must be piled for fermentation or harmless treatment. The barns must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected to reduce egg survival, environmental pollution, etc. Especially for calves, the use and management of calf hutches need to be strengthened even more.
Conclusion: Dairy cattle deworming and health care is an important part of the preventive link in dairy cattle health care. Regular preventive deworming can promote the growth and development of replacement heifers and prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases in dairy cattle. However, from the perspective of health care and prevention, preventing parasitic infections in dairy cattle requires more source control. Otherwise, even if dairy cattle are dewormed and given health care every day, the significance of deworming and health care will be lost.
In order to reduce the occurrence of parasitic diseases in dairy cattle, the following need to be done:
Pay attention to feed sources: Resolutely purchase from production areas with safety certification to ensure feed quality and safety.
Environmental management of barns and pastures: A regular disinfection system for barns and pastures must be established, including disinfection of barns and cow beds, feed troughs, manure storage pits, and pastures.
Drinking water pool management: Put cattle first, ensure that the drinking water fed to cattle is clean and fresh, and clean and disinfect it in a timely manner.
Management of fly killing, mosquito repelling, and pest elimination: For seasonal mosquitoes and flies, targeted measures must be taken, rodent control must be carried out regularly, and cats, dogs, and other animals on the dairy farm must be driven away.
In short, only by comprehensively considering the feed that dairy cattle eat and the places their bodies come into contact with can the occurrence of parasitic diseases and even epidemics be controlled.
Overview: Parasitic infections in dairy cattle can cause a decline in production performance. Deterioration of the condition can lead to cattle death and can even bring highly contagious infectious diseases to the entire herd, causing severe losses or even a devastating blow to dairy farms. However, their clinical symptoms are often not obvious, and the harm they cause is not easily noticed and is easily overlooked by dairy cattle raisers. Therefore, dairy cattle deworming is one of the important tasks in disease prevention within the dairy cattle health care system, and veterinarians on our dairy farms must strengthen their awareness of dairy cattle deworming and health care. In order to ensure the health of dairy cattle, promote the growth and development of replacement heifers, and prevent the occurrence of dairy cattle diseases, dairy farms need to formulate and implement an effective dairy cattle deworming and health care plan.
Harm: Research data from the All-Russian Skryabin Institute of Helminthology in Russia show that fascioliasis reduces dairy cattle milk production by 10%-20% and reduces the body weight of young cattle by 5%-15%; lungworm disease reduces the weight gain of young cattle by 27% and causes 8% mortality; cattle hypodermosis reduces the weight gain of calves by 8% and reduces cow milk production by 9%; roundworms reduce weight gain by 30%; and psoroptic mange causes even greater economic losses that are difficult to calculate.
A 2007 survey of parasitic infections on large-scale dairy farms in the Tianjin area showed that all cattle farms tested positive for bovine lice, with the proportion of lice-infested cattle ranging from 30% to 70%. In calf fecal examinations, except for 3 farms where none were detected, the detection rate of Neoascaris in the other five farms was all 10%. The detection rate of Sarcoptes scabiei in examined cattle was 100%, and the detection rate of Haemonchus contortus eggs was 2.5%.
A 2005 survey of coccidia infections in dairy cattle on large-scale dairy farms in the Shanghai area showed that all 17 farms had coccidia infections. The infection rate in the October survey was 36.45%, and the infection rate in the April survey was 40.05%, with no obvious difference between the two; from the perspective of infection across different age stages of dairy cattle, the two stages with the highest infection rates were found to be 0-2 months of age and 4-6 months of age, with infection rates as high as 45%, while the age stage with the lowest infection rate was dairy cattle over 12 months of age, with an infection rate of 25%; from the perspective of infection intensity, the coccidia infection intensity of dairy cattle on farms in the Shanghai area was mostly below an average OPG of 1000, accounting for 58.82%, and only one farm had a relatively high average OPG of 14250.
In our large-scale and intensive dairy farm production, calves before and after weaning are the most susceptible. Parasitic diseases can cause malnutrition, stunted growth, and even death in calves. Because some roughage comes from different parts of the country and even from abroad, despite fumigation and disinfection, different parasite hosts may still be present. This can easily lead to the possibility of parasitic infections in individual cattle or even in the herd, thereby causing disease outbreaks. Clinically, this can result in decreased milk production, low milk fat percentage, a short peak lactation period, abortion, and infertility, which greatly increases the difficulty of clinical veterinary diagnosis and has already caused losses to dairy farms. If a regular deworming system is established, however, it can reduce the probability of parasitic infection in the herd and improve the health level of the herd.
Formulating a reasonable regular deworming system can effectively prevent dairy cattle from parasitic infections, indirectly improve feed conversion rate, promote the growth of replacement heifers, enhance resistance to disease, and improve the immune response level of dairy cattle to vaccines. At the same time, it can avoid secondary infections caused by the migration of parasites within the dairy cattle body. Because external parasites are vectors for many infectious diseases, effective deworming and health care for dairy cattle can prevent the large-scale spread of some diseases transmitted through external parasites. Because different times, different drug choices, and different deworming methods have different effects on dairy cattle deworming, a suitable deworming program must be formulated.
There are many pathogens that cause parasitic diseases in dairy cattle, but the damage and harm to dairy cattle can mainly be summarized as follows:
Disease transmission: Parasites in the dairy cattle body can cause mucosal damage, which opens the door for other pathogens to enter the dairy cattle body and can cause complications. At the same time, some parasites themselves are vectors of certain infectious diseases and can cause dairy cattle to become infected with infectious diseases, posing a huge threat to herd health. This may also be one of the possible reasons for disease outbreaks on dairy farms. Dairy farms must change their health care concepts, formulate a preventive health care system of regular deworming, and eliminate infectious diseases or epidemics that may be caused by parasites. In addition, zoonotic parasitic diseases also directly threaten human health, such as cryptosporidiosis.
Mechanical damage: A large number of roundworms or tapeworms parasitizing can cause intestinal obstruction and, in severe cases, intestinal rupture. Intestinal parasitic helminths attach to the intestinal wall with suckers and cause intestinal mucosal damage. In addition, the migration of worm bodies can also cause mechanical damage to dairy cattle organs, causing inflammation or damage to organ tissues, interfering with vital activities, and even causing death.
Nutrient absorption: Many intestinal parasites can directly absorb nutrients from the dairy cattle body, leading to anemia and hindered development. For example, roundworms and flukes also secrete digestive enzymes onto host tissues, causing tissues to degenerate and dissolve into nutrient fluid for the parasites, thereby indirectly competing with the animal body for nutrients, reducing feed returns, and affecting productivity.
Toxin secretion: During the process of growth and development in the host body, parasites continuously excrete metabolites, which can cause varying degrees of local or systemic damage to dairy cattle. Among these, the effects or damage caused by parasites in tissues and blood are more obvious. For example, they can cause itching of the dairy cattle skin, restlessness during feeding, or secrete toxins in the intestinal tract that damage the intestinal mucosa, making it easy to infect opportunistic pathogenic bacteria and leading to secondary infection, dehydration, and even death in dairy cattle.
Deworming program drug selection: Dairy cattle parasitic diseases cause enormous hidden losses and have also directly promoted the research and development of deworming drugs. Traditional drugs such as levamisole, albendazole, avermectin, and ivermectin have gradually been unable to meet the actual needs of dairy farms because of various shortcomings such as drug resistance, a narrow deworming spectrum, and a long milk withdrawal period. Therefore, deworming drugs that can prevent and treat, have a broad spectrum, are safe, long-acting, non-toxic, and have no drug residues have become a new research direction. At present, pure eprinomectin on the market has relatively good effects. Its main feature is that it can be used during lactation, but the content and purity from various manufacturers are not yet sufficiently certain, so further research is still needed. From the perspective of economic practicality for dairy farms, dairy farms can choose mixed-type drugs mainly targeting flukes, nematodes, tapeworms, and external parasites. If selective and targeted deworming can be carried out according to the results of local dairy cattle parasitic disease epidemiological surveys, and selective regular deworming can be carried out for herds with high infection rates, then the deworming and health care effect will be better.
Deworming program target animals: calves at 2 months of age (before and after weaning) and 6 months of age, newly dry dairy cattle of the month, and cattle infected with parasitic diseases, etc.
Deworming time: Due to the diversification of feed sources, the deworming time is year-round, with deworming of the above cattle groups every month.
Deworming method: Manually crush the deworming drugs and separately sprinkle them into the feed for each animal one by one, or directly administer them orally by hand. The purpose is to ensure that every cow is fed properly, strictly prevent too much or too little, and ensure the deworming effect.
Deworming precautions: Each time a new deworming drug is used, drugs from safe and legitimate manufacturers should be selected. Before deworming, one dry cow and one replacement heifer need to be selected and dosed separately according to the dosage. After observing that they are safe, effective, and have no obvious side effects, mass medication for deworming can then be carried out. For deworming drugs diluted in solution, they should be prepared immediately before use.
For calves before and after weaning, if the starter feed contains deworming drugs, deworming may be temporarily omitted.
In order to fully exert drug efficacy, expel gastrointestinal parasites, and provide preventive treatment for individually suspected infected cattle, medication needs to be coordinated according to the actual situation. Deworming can be carried out before morning feeding, and after or at the same time as medication, saline laxatives can be used so that paralyzed worm bodies and deworming drugs remaining in the gastrointestinal tract are expelled, achieving better results.
Medication must be administered strictly according to the instructions for use of the deworming drug, and the amount used must be strictly controlled; at the same time, prevent the use of excessive drugs from causing poisoning, abortion, premature birth, etc., to ensure the safety of the cattle.
All lactating dairy cattle or dairy cattle about to lactate are prohibited from deworming (calculated according to the drug withdrawal period) to ensure quality and safety; for some deworming drugs that can be used during lactation, please use them in accordance with relevant national regulations.
After deworming, the dewormed cattle must be monitored for 48 hours, and necessary anti-allergy measures and emergency plans must be available.
After using deworming drugs, sufficient clean and appropriate drinking water must be provided. This is also one of the tasks that must be done daily. Especially in summer, insects, mosquitoes, and eggs must be prevented from entering the drinking water pool, which could cause indirect infection in cattle.
After deworming dairy cattle, eggs and other matter will remain in the feces, so the feces and bedding after medication must be piled for fermentation or harmless treatment. The barns must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected to reduce egg survival, environmental pollution, etc. Especially for calves, the use and management of calf hutches need to be strengthened even more.
Conclusion: Dairy cattle deworming and health care is an important part of the preventive link in dairy cattle health care. Regular preventive deworming can promote the growth and development of replacement heifers and prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases in dairy cattle. However, from the perspective of health care and prevention, preventing parasitic infections in dairy cattle requires more source control. Otherwise, even if dairy cattle are dewormed and given health care every day, the significance of deworming and health care will be lost.
In order to reduce the occurrence of parasitic diseases in dairy cattle, the following need to be done:
Pay attention to feed sources: Resolutely purchase from production areas with safety certification to ensure feed quality and safety.
Environmental management of barns and pastures: A regular disinfection system for barns and pastures must be established, including disinfection of barns and cow beds, feed troughs, manure storage pits, and pastures.
Drinking water pool management: Put cattle first, ensure that the drinking water fed to cattle is clean and fresh, and clean and disinfect it in a timely manner.
Management of fly killing, mosquito repelling, and pest elimination: For seasonal mosquitoes and flies, targeted measures must be taken, rodent control must be carried out regularly, and cats, dogs, and other animals on the dairy farm must be driven away.
In short, only by comprehensively considering the feed that dairy cattle eat and the places their bodies come into contact with can the occurrence of parasitic diseases and even epidemics be controlled.