Have a listening ear this summer when herding your cattle

This summer so far has proven to be challenging for many farms. We experienced an unusually dry spell in May placing many farms in a drought situation prior to the recent rain. For many this has been a god send to replenish grass supplies but it will also bring its own challenges in the coming weeks.

Lungworm, a parasitic infection causing respiratory illness in cattle, most commonly known as "hoose," which can lead to a husky cough especially after cattle running. Common symptoms are breathlessness, weight loss and in severe cases ears drooping with head and neck outstretched, if this occurs veterinary assistance is required as it may have progressed to pneumonia. In dairy cows, a sudden drop in milk yield may also indicate lungworm presence.

It mainly affects young cattle aged from two years old but it can occur in adult cattle who have not developed natural immunity as calves due to over dosing.

It will be an issue in the next few weeks and on highly stocked farms it is already present. A prolonged period of dry weather followed by wet weather can lead to prime conditions for a mass hatch of worms.

Faecal egg sampling is not effective in the diagnosis of lungworms as it will only detect the adult stages and at the adult stage a lot of lung damage will have occurred.

It is important to treat as soon as the cattle start coughing using a white benzimidazole, yellow levamizole or clear ivermectin based product. Rotation of these products is best practice to avoid a resistance developing on the farm.

Care should be taken when using clear ivermectin products as they can be so highly effective at killing the worms that the animal could have difficulty in coughing up the dead worms which could cause pneumonia due to blocked airways.

If you are concerned that lungworm could be an issue in your cattle please consult your vet to discuss treatment options and remember to listen out for that husky cough when herding.

* Teagasc provides a local advisery and education service to farmers with offices based in Roscommon Town (Tel: 090 6626166), Castlerea (Tel: 094 9620160) and Longford (Tel: 043 3341021), You can find Teagasc on Facebook @Teagascroscommonlongford, Instagram @teagasc.rnld and X @teagascRNLD. E-mail; RoscommonLongfordAdvisory@teagasc.ie