It’s that time of the year again when many farms will be having visitors for the duck shooting season, both two and four legged. To reduce the risk of an unpleasant surprise on kill sheets in coming months, sheep farmers who have duck shooters coming onto their farms are advised to establish some requirements before the visitors bring dogs with them. To protect stock, farmers need to make it clear to any duck shooters bringing dogs, that the dogs need to be treated for sheep measles at least 48 hours and no more than a month before coming onto their properties.

It’s no good dosing the dogs on arrival, they need to be treated a few days before they arrive as dogs can shed sheep measles eggs up to 48 hours after treatment. They should also have some form of evidence this has been done, best of all is a treatment certificate or a receipt from their Vet. While farmers are doing a great job in keeping sheep measles at low levels, foreign dogs present a risk to on-farm biosecurity, and each year following duck shooting farmers incur losses from sheep measles arising from visiting dogs. VetSouth clinics stock products to treat dogs using either all wormers or straight tapeworm tablets, both of which are effective for removing sheep measles tapeworms from dogs. Contact your VetSouth clinic for more information.