Livestock experts say cattle deworming has many benefits

Deworming beef cattle can be expensive, but it is a cost that pays for inself in the long run.

That's the assessment of Jerry Hemsted, manager of Tom Bengard Ranches in Cottonwood, who says the procedure pays for itself in two ways.

There will be heavier calves and better weight gain on the cattle when they've been dewormed, Hemsted said.

"Fewer pneumonias won't hit cattle as bad that have been wormed," Hemsted said, plus there is the money savings from the reduced veterinary bills and antibiotics to treat sick animals.

"Any time that they don't have worms, they're utilizing the feed for themselves, not for the worm," Hemsted said, "so it's a win, win, win."

Bill Gray, a veterinarian at Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic, agreed. He listed several advantages to deworming cattle. First is just overall health, Gray said. Second is improved weight gain. Third, deworming takes care of internal and external parasites.

"When cows are feeding the worms, they're not feeding themselves or their babies," Gray said. "Lice and ticks, and things like that that get on them, reduce the health and the productivity of the animal. There are just a couple of things that you give cattle or sheep that actually make money, and one of them is worming.

"All the other things we give them are more like insurance to prevent catastrophic loss, and for the general health of the herd and herd immunity," he said.

Only about 50 percent of beef producers deworm their cattle, Gray said.

"I think nationwide, if you look at the number of cattle that are vaccinated and wormed, it's something like a third of the herd," Gray said. "In this area, our percentages are probably higher because people here tend to move them from winter pastures to summer pastures and so forth. So, the compliance is probably higher, too."

Hemsted said he sees great benefit in deworming his cattle.

"We worm everything, all of our cow herd twice a year, and then we do the calves when we mark and brand. We do them when we come home with them from the mountains, which is usually 60 days later, and then we do them again when we wean them," Hemsted said.

Gray said he is a big proponent of deworming cattle, particularly in areas that don't have killing frosts that knock down the numbers on the parasites.

"Some years we might not even get a week of frost, and parasites survive very readily," he said.

If the parasites are left uncontrolled, they could potentially kill the cattle, Gray said.

"That's where strategically worming helps," he said.

Gray noted that beef producers can actually clean the pastures up with some of these newer wormers. The newer deworming products stay in the animal long enough to break the life cycle of the parasite and reduce the number of parasites in the pasture. So, by treating the animal, the pasture is also treated, and that breaks the cycle, he added.

LongRange, a new deworming product, has come on the market and it can last up to 150 days for certain types of parasites, Gray said.

With normal worming, worms can return within 20 days, Gray said, but with LongRange the effectiveness is extended for up to 150 days of protection. The duration of the dewormer is determined by the type of worm. Lungworms, for example, live for 150 days, whereas roundworms live 100-120 days, depending on the variety.

"The longer you keep parasites out of the cattle, the better chance you have of breaking the life cycle of the parasites and the more gain you get," he said.

Hemsted said he purchased LongRange and administered it to his cattle.

"We did a set of steers at the first of March," Hemsted said, adding that he also did 200 heifers in early April.

There was a deworming bolus on the market eight to 10 years ago that was long acting, Gray said.

"You got 120 days of parasite control and that was a very successful product. It's still in use in other countries, but not here," Gray said, adding it was taken off the U.S. market because of a marketing agreement. "That was a very successful product and people were very happy with it, so this (LongRange) will replace it."

LongRange is much easier to administer because it's injectable versus a bolus, but probably double the price, Gray said.

LongRange does have some restrictions on usage, Hemsted said.

"It's got a 48-day withdrawal on it," Hemsted said, so keeping records of deworming is important.

"If it (LongRange) does what it's supposed to do, even if it's an 80- or a 90-day wormer, that saves you from running those cattle through three times," Hemsted said, adding that the labor savings alone is a big plus because there's always the risk of injuring an animal when it is run through the chute.

"No matter how careful you are, you can always get something hurt," he said.

If LongRange does 90 percent of what it's supposed to do, it will be inexpensive, even with the increased price of the product, and that will more than make up for the price difference, Hemsted said.

(Kathy Coatney is a reporter in Corning. She may be contacted at kacoatney@gmail.com.)