The clocks have gone back, the evenings are short and most cattle around Wexford are settled in the shed for the winter. Housing is a great time to get on top of parasites. Stock are in one place, they’re easy to handle and you can see the results of whatever you do. Get it wrong, though, and you could be feeding lice and fluke all winter instead of putting weight on cattle.
Here’s a practical run-through of the main jobs, plus a reminder of how the new prescription rules work.
Lice: clip, treat the whole group, then check again
Lice and mites become a much bigger problem once cattle are housed. Animals that are scratching and rubbing aren’t eating, and performance can drop off quickly. Teagasc’s advice for housed cattle comes down to a few simple steps:
- Clip backs and tail heads. Cattle sweat less, stay cleaner and lice find it harder to spread. A pour-on also gets down to the skin better on a clipped back.
- Match the product to the louse. Injectable and pour-on avermectins deal with sucking lice and mange mites, but only pour-ons control biting lice.
- Treat every animal in the group on the same day, otherwise the untreated ones just reinfest the rest.
- Treat bought-in cattle before they join a housed group.
- Look again two to three weeks later. The first treatment can miss lice that hatch afterwards, so a repeat may be needed.
Weigh or weigh-band cattle before you dose. Under-dosing wastes money and helps resistance build up.
Liver fluke: timing is everything
The fluke that do the most damage to the liver are the immature and early immature stages. Plenty of flukicides only kill adult fluke, so when you dose matters as much as what you use. Going by Teagasc guidance reported by Agriland:
- Triclabendazole given two weeks after housing will kill all stages of fluke, as long as there’s no resistance on the farm.
- Closantel given two weeks after housing only kills fluke picked up around seven to eight weeks earlier, so it needs to be repeated five to six weeks later.
- Albendazole, clorsulon, rafoxanide and oxyclozanide only kill adult fluke. For a full clean-out they need to go in 10 to 12 weeks after housing, once all the fluke have matured.
Risk varies a lot from farm to farm. DAFM’s most recent annual forecast (for last winter) put the highest risk in the midlands, the west and the northern half of the country, with lower risk in the south-east. Wet patches, rushes, and muddy ground around gates and troughs are where the mud snail that carries fluke likes to live. If you’ve had fluke before, or your factory reports or Beef HealthCheck results show liver damage, take that into account. Last year’s forecast was published in mid-November, so keep an eye out for this winter’s one.
Worms: test before you dose
Teagasc puts a lot of weight on faecal (dung) sampling. It tells you what you’re actually dealing with before you buy a product, rather than dosing blind. Ask your vet whether a sample is worth taking for your groups. Rumen fluke can also turn up in samples, and your vet can tell you whether it’s worth acting on.
The new prescription rules
Since 1 December 2025, every antiparasitic product for cattle, sheep and horses needs a veterinary prescription. That covers wormers, flukicides, and lice, mite and fly treatments, whether they’re injections, drenches, pour-ons or boluses, according to Animal Health Ireland. A few practical points:
- Your vet can give you a prescription ID code directly, or you can get it by text through the National Veterinary Prescribing System.
- You can use that code at co-ops, merchants, pharmacies and vet practices.
- The whole prescription has to be dispensed within six months, but you can collect it in parts.
So rather than dashing to the co-op on dosing day, sit down with your vet now and plan the winter’s treatments together. It’ll save hassle, and probably money too.
Feed the animal, not the parasites
Dosing on its own won’t make cattle thrive. Once you’ve cleared lice, fluke and worms, the animals need good forage and a balanced ration to make up lost ground. For weanlings and yearlings, our FibreGold Calf & Yearling 16% is made here in Foulksmills to go alongside silage or haylage over the winter. Give us a call and we’ll talk you through which FibreGold ration suits your stock.
Every farm is different. Always check your parasite control plan with your own vet or Teagasc adviser before treating.
Need feed for the winter? WhatsApp us on 087 283 2443, email accounts@kehoefarming.com, or get in touch here. We deliver nationwide.
Sources: Irish Examiner – Teagasc advice on rechecking cattle after lice dosing; Agriland – Do your cattle need to be dosed for fluke again?; Agriland – DAFM annual liver fluke forecast; Animal Health Ireland – New antiparasitic medicine rules; Teagasc – Fluke: why is it such a problem?
