The idea of drenching ewes at docking is not a new one despite there being scant evidence that there are productive benefits from it.
One study over twenty years ago found a docking drench given to ewes, followed by integrated control in their lambs after weaning, gave significant growth rate and wool weight advantages in the lambs from treated ewes. However, a 1975 review of 17 studies of ewe drenching both pre- and post-lambing concluded that there was no good evidence to support either practice.
The widespread adoption of pre-lamb treatments with long-acting anthelmintics has seen many farmers move away from drenching ewes at docking. However use of these long-acting products is now at odds with current recommendations around sustainable drench use, at least on a whole flock scale. Current recommendations around drenching ewes promote targeting selective treatments to those ewes who are ‘most likely' to respond, for example light ewes rearing twins. However there is no data to support the productivity benefits of such an approach at docking.
In the summer of 2009 we enrolled 550 first cycle, twinning ewes on three farms at docking. These ewes were body-condition scored, dag-scored, faecal sampled and weighed at docking and weaning. Half the ‘thin' ewes and half the ‘fat' ewes were treated with a full dose of oral triple combination anthelmintic (MatrixTM). A Faecal Egg Count (FEC) was done on twenty ewes from each group at each visit. The lambs were identified to their mother's treatment group via different coloured udder spray. The lambs were weighed at both visits.
Ewe condition score change:
- Drenching ewes at docking did not significantly lift the body condition score of ewes at weaning
- Light-condition ewes at docking significantly gained more condition at weaning regardless of being drenched or not (0.25 body-condition score gain) (P<0.01)
Ewe dag score and faecal egg count change:
- Dag score at weaning was 20% lower in drenched ewes compared to
undrenched ewes (P<0.001) - There was no significant difference between light and good condition ewes in the dag score at weaning
- There was no significant difference between drenched and undrenched ewes in their faecal egg counts at weaning
- Body-condition score at docking had no significant effect on the faecal egg count at weaning
Lamb weaning weight and liveweight gain:
- There was no significant effect of drenching ewes at docking on lamb weaning weight or lamb liveweight gain
Drenching ewes at docking will reduce the level of dags on ewes at weaning, but it will not increase the body-condition score of the ewes at weaning or give any liveweight gain benefit to the lambs.
Chat to us if you are considering drenching your ewes. There are many facets that influence the effect of a drench and we want to ensure you choose the best option.
