Good news! A new, 3-year alpaca gastrointestinal parasite project has just started at the University of Melbourne, in conjunction with RIRDC and AAA. Until more is known about alpaca parasite species, behaviour, drenching etc … information from sheep should be extrapolated to alpacas.
Excerpt taken from wormmail in the cloud…
The three main points for sheep worm control in Australia, i.e. the 3 Ws (these are your three amigos):
- WormBoss. The right worm control program for your region. Click on Your Program at wormboss.com.au
- WEC before you treat. How do you know when you need to drench? Do a worm egg count before drenching, apart from the routine drenches recommended for your area (in Your Program) e.g. in the summer rainfall area – tablelands and slopes – of NSW, the routine drenches are: pre-lambing, and lambs at weaning.
- WEC after a drench, 10 days after. In WormBoss, this is called DrenchCheckDay10. The idea is to monitor drench efficacy. The great majority of producers don’t really know what drenches are working well on their farm.
If in doubt about worm control in your alpacas, contact your local veterinarian for assistance.
