This strategy describes when to use strategic drenches and how to decide when tactical/therapeutic drenches are needed.

Structured reading

For those who like to see all the information and simply read through it in order. Each heading is a link to a page of information—the dot point provides a summary of the page.

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NSW central, southern and southwest: When to test and when to drench
The times for routine worm testing and drenching in this region. Not all testing or drenching is routine; other times to do these are recommended by the Drench Decision Guide, according to details you provide about your mob of sheep.

NSW central, southern and southwest: Drench Decision Guide
This tool recommends whether a mob should be drenched, the length of protection warranted and when to worm test again. It is your day-to-day tool on drenching decisions that should be used in conjunction with the annual program of routine testing and drenching times.

The DDG tool steers you through a series of questions about your goats; choose the answer that applies to your mob (or make up your own scenario).

Question and answer

For those who prefer a problem based approach to learning, answer the following questions.
Each of the questions below links further down the page to the answers.

Questions:

1. What is the purpose of a strategic drench?
2. Which classes of goats receive a routine (strategic) drench, and when?
3. The online Drench Decision Guide (DDG) for NSW central, southern and southwest assists you to decide whether a herd of goats should be drenched now and when to test again. Open the DDG and answer the questions it offers based on the scenario (from below) that you are using.

• A herd of bucks with WEC of 250 epg but no culture results
• A herd of weaners in condition score 2.5 and kept in a small paddock for the last 5 weeks due to recent floods.
• Does in late pregnancy with 150 epg and larval culture of 70% barber’s pole worms
• Adult wethers with 10% scouring but no signs of anaemia.  No WEC or culture results are currently available. It is a wet summer.
•  A herd of weaners with some showing pale mucous membranes and bottle jaw.

Answers:

You can also click on each question below to go to WormBoss pages with related information.

1. What is the purpose of a strategic drench?

Strategic drench: a drench given at a critical time to goats that are susceptible to worm infection (e.g. weaners and pre-kidding does), and also given at times to reduce worm larval contamination of a pasture that will be grazed by the drenched goats over the following weeks or months. The goats themselves may have had a low worm egg count at the time of this pre-emptive treatment.

2. Which classes of goats receive a routine (strategic) drench, and when?

In this region there are two situations where goats should be drenched without a prior WormTest, these are:

• Pregnant does just prior to kidding when they enter their kidding paddock. The worm challenge is typically about to rise at this time of year and kidding does, which experience a temporary loss of immunity during lactation, can contribute to a large increase in paddock contamination and a source of ongoing infection for themselves and their kids.
• Kids at weaning. Weaned kids are highly susceptible to worms, especially from the stress of weaning. Summer weaning also coincides with high worm-risk weather conditions. Drenching at weaning will help weaners to achieve the growth rates needed for survival.

In both cases use a drench known to be effective on your property. Preferably use a short-acting treatment, and where possible, use a multi-active combination. After these drenches, move the goats into prepared low worm-risk paddocks.

3. The online Drench Decision Guide (DDG) for NSW central, southern and southwest assists you to decide whether a herd of goats should be drenched now and when to test again. Open the DDG and answer the questions it offers based on the scenario (from below) that you are using.

• A herd of bucks with WEC of 250 epg but no culture results
• A herd of weaners in condition score 2.5 and kept in a small paddock for the last 5 weeks due to recent floods.
• Does in late pregnancy with 150 epg and larval culture of 70% barber’s pole worms
• Adult wethers with 10% scouring but no signs of anaemia.  No WEC or culture results are currently available. It is a wet summer.
•  A herd of weaners with some showing pale mucous membranes and bottle jaw.

A herd of dry non pregnant goats in condition score 2 and a WEC of 300 epg but no larval culture results.

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Links to the learning topics for NSW central, southern and southwest

1. Introduction
2. Grazing management
3. Breeding for worm resistance
4. Worm testing
5. Drenching (you are currently on this page)
6. Drench resistance management
7. Goat worms