Worms In Sheep.
To the editor.
Waikato Times, October 16, 1880
Sir,—For the past two or three years, our hoggets have suffered from some complaint which causes them to fall away and die, even when running in good paddocks where there is abundance of feed.
It has been suggested to me that worms are the cause.
I shall feel indebted to you if you can give me information as to the best remedy for worms in sheep, and the mode of administering same.
I notice our hoggets when attacked by the malady rapidly fall away, the wool stands up, the face has a white appearance, and the eyes are watery.
Perhaps some of your subscribers may be able to describe the appearance of sheep when suffering from worms.—I am, etc.,
William A. Graham.
The Tamahere Estate, Oct. 15th, 1880.
Unhealthy Sheep.
Waipawa Mail, December 15, 1891
A Canterbury farmer, who recently visited the West Coast writes, under date November 30th:—“After leaving Hawera, I went over a number of farms on the Plains, and I was surprised to see such a number of unhealthy sheep on such excellent grass, and I now wish to state what I believe is the cause and recommend a remedy. Many of the sheep have bronchial worms, thread-like worms which increase rapidly and cause irritation in the lungs and coughing. One great cause is that sheep are continually pastured on the same lands and lambs pick up the worms passed by other sheep. A number of hoggets have died; one man told me he had lost as many as 30 per cent. Now, l should recommend to kill off the old crocks that are not worth curing and dose the others, young and old. Turpentine is the best-known cure; it has to go to the stomach and be diffused through the body, and kills the worms in the lungs. Fumigation with sulphur is a remedy, but if the worms are far down it is impossible for them to be coughed up. If carefully dosed and put on clean pasture, recovery will be rapid. Keep the sheep away from the low-lying marshy places, where the worms increase and multiply, and provide drinking places where the sheep will get pure, clean water, and let farmers take an example from Mr A. A. Fantham, who has windmills and water-troughs, and keeps the water pure by adding lime now and then. He has the healthiest flock of sheep I saw on the coast. He does not complain of the climate being too wet for sheep, but provides them with good food, pure water, and shelter, and the result is what it always will be to those who use care and judgment. Salt is a good thing for young sheep, and if chaff is used for winter food it is good to mix a little salt; it keeps them healthy and stops scour.”
Eradicating Worms In Sheep
Various Drugs Tested
Bluestone and Mustard Preferred
Hawke’s Bay Tribune, July 19, 1930
Experiments recently conducted to test the comparative efficiency of copper sulphate (bluestone), copper sulphate and mustard, carbon tetrachloride, and tetrachlorethylene in the eradication of worms in sheep proved that copper sulphate and mustard, and carbon tetrachloride, are both good methods of treatment.
In the tests the sheep were starved at varying periods prior to dosing and an efficiency of from 75 to 90 per cent was secured, the highest efficiency being obtained where the animals had been held without food longest before treatment.
Results were slightly in favour of carbon tetrachloride, but copper sulphate is the safer drench.
All the sheep in the test came from the same flock and were obviously affected with worms.
They were starved overnight and some for twenty-four hours, and allowed out for feed and water after treatment.
To determine the efficiency of the treatment they were killed five to ten days after drenching, and the results were noted.
None of the drugs tested can be relied on to remove all the worms present in every animal, and one treatment should not be relied upon to render sheep reasonably free of gastric parasites.
Two treatments are far more effective, and where many worms are present and the pastures are infected, reinfestation will occur, especially in the mouth following the first treatment.
Dose twice with an interval of three weeks to a month, and starve the sheep for 24 hours before dosing should be the rule.
- Source: Papers Past
