Dipping, or acaricides, is one of the weapons in farmers’ arsenal in the war against East Coast fever (ECF). Here’s more on trade names and chemical groups. The chemistry that dictates how acaricide compounds work is complex and needs profound levels of understanding. Cattle farmers need only to know how…
Dipping, or acaricides, is one of the weapons in farmers’ arsenal in the war against East Coast fever (ECF). There are three major options available in the battle against ECF: dipping to control the ticks, vaccinating to control the parasitic protozoan parasites that cause the disease, treating animals soon after…
Animal admin is part of farm management and keeping flock records up to date helps the stockfarmer with forward planning. Draw up a month by month table that you break down into weekly segments. Animals don’t always fit neatly into rigid parameters so there should be some flexibility allowed. Once…
THE DREADED EAST COAST FEVER Riphicephalus appendiculatus – the brown-ear tick (discussed in part II) transmits Anaplasmosis but, and more importantly, is the primary vector of East Coast fever (ECF). ECF has an incubation period of between 10 and 25 days with death occurring between 18 to 30 days. In…
Up to 1200 sheep an hour can be dipped with minimal labour using this dip sprayer, developed by a Eastern Cape South African farmer and his son. Fifteen minutes is all that is needed to treat 300 sheep for any external parasites using this innovative device that sprays dip onto…
Dr Pierre Jansen van Vuuren, of MSD Animal Health, presents a useful video on good practices for medicating smallstock. Dr Jansen discusses animal handling facilities and demonstrates the sub-cutaneous and the intra-muscular injection. He also shows how to apply pour-on dips, how to do spot treatment and a method for…
High tick loads cause severe production losses in livestock and reduce disease resistance. Ticks are also carriers of a number of potentially fatal, and flat-out fatal, tick-borne diseases. Millions of cattle die in the sub-region every year, because they have not been dipped – it’s a tragic, fundamental truth. But…
