Are cows treated for parasites?

Calves are born free of parasites but they can pick up such infections while grazing on pastures that harbour the infective stages of these parasites e.g. gut worms, lungworms, liver and rumen fluke. Animals are monitored for signs of infection such as weight loss, with effects including reduced growth rates, reduced fertility and decreased milk yields.

Treatment with anthelmintic drugs is used to eliminate the infection and restore the animal to good health. However, prevention is a preferred strategy, such as grazing calves on the cleanest pasture possible. Using ‘leader-follower’ grazing systems coupled to responsible anthelmintic use are the best means of parasite control. Milk from cows treated with anthelmintic drugs cannot be processed for commercial use and specific withdrawal periods are in place before their milk can be re-entered into the commercial milk supply.

Extra Information:

During a farm audit by the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Standard, the auditor establishes the correlation between what they view in the medicine storage cabinet, the information provided by the farmer, the condition of the animals and the content of the medicine records to ensure appropriate routine treatments are conducted and that medicines are used in a responsible way.