# Deworming Calves



## christopherkearney (Jul 28, 2012)

I have a 6 month old Brahma X Jersey steer calf and he needs to be dewormed. I also have two, 2 week old calves that also may need deworming. I have Valbazen, Synanthic 22%, Panacur, Ivomec, and Safeguard paste. Which should I use and how much should I dose? Should I do injection or oral? If injection IM or SQ? When should I follow up? How often should I deworm?


----------



## redtailgal (Jul 29, 2012)

How do you know that the six month old needs to be wormed?  Is he showing signs of worms or have you had a fecal?

In case you dont know, signs would include........worms in the manure, loss of appetite, bloated look, anemia (pale gums), fatigue, dull coarse coat, poor appetite, and weight loss.

As far as which wormer to use, that depends on which worm you are trying to worm for.  I am fortunate enough to have my own microscope and can do my own fecals, so I'll know what to worm for.  When I could not do this, I would use Ivomec pour on first.  If that didnt work, I had my vet run a quick fecal so I'd know exactly what I was dealing with, and could worm properly.

I dont worm anything that is not symptomatic, I'm sure that others may do it differently.  Worming critters that dont need worming breeds resistant worm that are harder to kill later when they are dragging your animals down.  WOrming with the wrong wormer, and at too low of a dose also breeds resistant worms.

I never worm 2 weeks old calves, they are just young to need it unless something drastic is going on, if I have to worm at that young of an age, I will do so, but will also look for underlying problems (poor health, or a pasture management problem).  I *may* worm at 6 months if I see an animal that is not gaining weight properly or has loose bowels.

Anything under 1 year, is treated for coccidia at the same time they are wormed.  Anything over one year that needs frequent wormings is quickly culled.

Yup, I'm harsh with culling, but I have a nice fat healthy herd that needs little to no worming.  I must add that the cattle are on plenty of pasture, so the pasture load is minimal, lessening the worm load in the animals.

Brahma Jersey......sounds cool!  Anyway you could share a pic of him?  I'm a sucker for brahmas..............


----------



## redtailgal (Jul 29, 2012)

Welcome to the group btw!


----------



## christopherkearney (Jul 29, 2012)

Thank you. I am doing my regular worming for my goats and I thought I would get him on a schedule and go ahead and do him too. 

I dont know how to upload pics though. So here is the link to his page on my website.


http://maplepineacres.webs.com/murphy


----------

