Peter runs Livestock Veterinary Services in Toowoomba, whose laboratory does worm egg counts from across Queensland for sheep, goats, cattle, alpacas and horses. No larval cultures are done at this time. Please contact Peter to arrange how, when and where to send your samples (Ph. 0428716455). The lab is also able to do larger numbers for LAMBPLAN or MERINOSELECT WEC testing of individual animals.
Winter has been dry to very dry throughout all of Queensland. Very few of the sheep areas of the state have had anything more than a few drops of rain since March. In most areas, the winter minimums have been higher than average and barbers’ pole larvae could have survived and caused problems had it not been for the extreme dry and no rainfall.
Worm egg counts (WormTest) were low until late September. There have been some surprisingly high counts through our laboratory in the last few weeks. Quite a few producers have been caught out. It is easy to forget that drought conditions can cause limited areas of high stocking density where the pasture is short and possibly green, creating the ideal environment for worm larvae to survive and reinfect more sheep.
There has been an unusually early and significant break in the weather in the last week in southern Queensland extending from the Territory border to the coast. Up to 4 inches (101.6mm) of rain have been received in some areas. It is not general yet. Northern Queensland has missed out with some places having received less than 15 inches (381mm) this year. An early wet season would be gratefully received, but it is now more important than ever to do worm egg counts. A 14-day post worming drench-test (DrenchCheck) is also recommended.