increase font size
AgResearch scientist Melissa Hempstead says they found that anthelmintic products in ewes affected lamb development.
AgResearch scientists have collected the first known data showing behavioural developmental impacts on lambs whose mothers were treated with long-acting drugs for parasites.
Against a backdrop of increasing resistance among livestock internal parasites to commonly used drenches in New Zealand, the scientists set out to look at what effects of anthelmintic use may be passed from the treated ewe to her lambs.
Treatment of pregnant ewes with persistent macrocylic lactone anthelmintic products is common in some countries, including New Zealand, with the intent of reducing negative impacts of parasites on production, health and welfare.
"What we found was evidence in some cases of delayed neonatal lamb behaviour associated with anthelmintic use in the mother, which is the first time we know of this being recorded," says AgResearch scientist Melissa Hempstead.
"Now we need to do further research to build on these initial observations, and to help understand what the implications are for the survival and performance of these lambs from the neonatal stage."
In an experiment set up by Hempstead and her colleagues, sixty mixed-age pregnant twin-bearing ewes were split equally into three groups with different treatments: moxidectin 2-3 weeks prior to lambing, abamectin and albendazole 2-3 weeks prior to lambing, or a control group with no drug administered.
The ewes were housed indoors four weeks before they were expected to give birth and behaviour of both ewes and lambs was monitored using video cameras. Ewe and lamb behaviour was evaluated for three hours after the birth.
"There was no evidence that abamectin and albenzadole affected ewe or lamb behaviour," Hempstead says.
"However, we found that neonatal lambs from ewes administered moxidectin tended to be slower to shake their heads after birth and were slower to attempt to stand compared with lambs from untreated ewes."
This latest research builds on efforts by AgResearch's Parasitology Team to support farmers and industries grappling with the challenge of managing internal parasites in livestock, and how best to address it.
Rising resistance to drug treatments means that other management practices need to be considered and investigated by researchers.
Read more about the lamb behaviour research at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159125000528
Milton dairy farmer Chris Wills says he began using probiotics in spring 2023 to address somatic cell count (SCC) grades when cows transitioned from their winter barn to lush spring pasture.
Treat your farm boundary like a border. This was one of the messages delivered to farmers at a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand Protect Your Patch workshop in Lincoln.
Feeding infected milk is high risk for spreading diseases such as M. bovis.
To ensure optimal growth, health, and wellbeing of calves, feeding strategies should be considered carefully.
Another milestone has been reached in the fight against Mycoplasma bovis with the compensation assistance service being wound up after helping more than 1300 farmers.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
