Winter is the most common time to see infestations of external parasites such as lice and mange mites on the backs of beef cattle.
Now that the majority of cattle are housed across the country, farmers should pay particular vigilance to the coats of their livestock, and keep a close eye for the establishment of lice populations on the backs of their cattle.
While lice are often hard to spot on an animal, their effects are a lot more noticeable, and an animal with lice on its coat will appear restless and regularly scratching against the barrier or anything available to scratch against.
Also, licking themselves constantly and their coats appearing disturbed is another sign they may have lice.
There are two forms of lice – biting and sucking. When lice are present, cattle will become itchy and begin licking themselves and use their tails to scratch.
In extreme cases, animals can lose their coats and their skin can become inflamed. If the infestation worsens, growth rates and animal performance can also be affected.
Therefore, treatment is essential to reduce the risk of lice taking hold and to optimise animal performance, as a heavy lice burden can affect thrive in housed cattle – resulting in a reduced weight gain.
The main symptoms of a lice infestation are as follows:
- Scratching;
- Licking;
- Tail swinging;
- Hair loss;
- Inflamed skin.
Control measures and methods of treatment
In order to control external parasites on cattle, farmers need to understand that lice can hop from animal to animal quite easily, so if treating cattle in a shed, all cattle should be treated at the same time.
The treatments available for external parasites include cattle pour-ons and injectable products.
As a general rule, a pour-on product is best for lice control on beef cattle, but regardless of the treatment used it is important to follow the instructions so that the correct dose is given and given correctly.
All in-contact animals should be treated at the same time during housing and monitoring the situation throughout the winter is recommended.
For lice control, it is generally best to clip the backs of cattle if using a pour-on product.
In addition, mange mites can be controlled in the same way, but some injectable products can also be used to control these parasites.
Injectable and pour-on products can be used for mange mites and sucking lice, but only pour-on products are effective against biting lice.