Lice infestation no longer at Awapiri

Managing lice infestations in sheep flocks is frustrating, disheartening and impacts the bottom line with the loss of quality fleece for Merino farmers.

Eric and Sally Smith know too well the challenges of dealing with lice at Awapiri Station where they have been farming 4,700 Merinos since 2012.

“We started with a pour-on but that wasn’t working so we went to a shower dip and you’d think we were spraying lice on them. It didn’t work at all. So we went back to pour-on and I did it myself to ensure it was a decent application, even half again of the recommended dose. But same thing – you’d think we sprayed lice on them. It made no difference!” explains Eric Smith.

The last two years they moved to swim dip but doing it pre-lamb, Eric says, knocked the ewes around and you only get one crack at an application. This year they have tried MSD Animal Health’s Flexolt which they were initially sceptical about as they wondered how an oral treatment could kill lice.

“Even though this is the first year we have used Flexolt, we had a ewe that we monitored that was really lousy. We treated her in March with Flexolt with 6-months of wool on her then quarantined her and within 6 days we couldn’t find a live lice on her. She was shorn the other day and put back with the mob so it’s looking really promising,” says Sally Smith.

Heath Dickson, Vet Marlborough’s Rural Business Manager, is not surprised by the rapid uptake of Flexolt among their Marlborough Merino farming clients.

He said the power of Flexolt’s novel active ingredient is that it works from the inside out, and it breaks the life cycle by being in the body long enough to kill the eggs when they hatch, as well as the adults and nymphs straight away. Other products he says are too short-acting as they are not on the body long enough to kill the hatching lice.

“I have noticed a lot of fine wool farmers locally have been moving back to plunge dipping as we haven’t been having the wins with pour-ons, shower dips and jetting machines. It’s not the chemicals we are using, it’s the application that’s not working to fully kill the lice,” says Heath.

He explains that with pour-ons, shower and plunge dips the goal is to expose lice to chemical at the skin surface. If this doesn’t happen, it doesn’t kill the lice because they just go up and down the fibres of the wool to hide and  this is particularly hard to achieve in Merinos with wrinkles.

“Flexolt now means we can give an oral treatment for lice. It’s nice and simple as it works from the inside out and you know they are fully dosed. So, yeah, that’s a game changer from that aspect because that just saves a hell of a lot of stress.” – Heath Dickson, Rural Business Manager, Vet Marlborough

“There’s a lot of animal health issues and labour that go into the other applications. But with Flexolt it now means we can give an oral treatment and we don’t have to worry about any of that. It’s nice and simple as it works from the inside out and you know they are fully dosed. So, yeah, that’s a game changer from that aspect because that just saves a hell of a lot of stress,” says Heath.

Eric says that the challenge has been with seven neighbours having lice and with stragglers dropped back from musters that can re-infect them again. Now they can bring them in, give the flock a dose of Flexolt and put them back. They are finding their neighbours are doing the same for their sheep too due to the ease and that they are all using Flexolt.

The cost analysis of Flexolt is something that Eric has focused on too. With nearly 60% of Awapiri’s income coming from wool contracts, he explains that $2.70/ewe is a pretty good cost for saving a valuable fleece plus the ability to treat in the Autumn with wool on.

“The upfront cost has been a discussion point with many farmers but because of how effective it is, the reduction in other costs by oral vs plunge dipping you’re going to be better off profit wise in the long run. So yeah, so it’s just looking at the longer term and that’s what Eric and Sally are doing,” explains Heath. The Smith’s say the most important message to farmers using Flexolt is to ensure they are using the correct dose rates and treating every sheep.

“I have noticed the treatment is a bit thicker and so takes a bit longer to refill the drench gun. Flexolt gives you a rattle marker to mark which animal you’ve done and it’s surprising how many you do miss but the beauty of taking the time to do that is allowing the refilling and making sure you don’t miss any. It’s not like ripping through them like a worm drench,” stressed Eric.

Heath also echoed Eric’s comments that one of the main reasons for poor results from animal health treatments is not providing the correct dose.

For more information on Flexolt visit coopersanimalhealth.co.nz/product/flexolt

In partnership with MSD Animal Health