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Sheep farming is not easy without having all the knowledge of their feed and worming at the right time. This helping guide consists of knowledge related to the best wormer for sheep.
I am going to share all the sheep farming experience I got from the last 8 years. In this duration, all the knowledge gathered by farming expertise and veterinarians is shared in this guide.
In short, by following all the directions in this guide your sheep flock will thrive and show healthy growth without any diseases.
In this article we’ll cover:
● Why deworming is necessary in sheep
● Best available products with reviews
● Recommended schedule of deworming the sheep flock
Let’s get started without wasting any time.
Why Worming Your Sheep is Important
Effective flock management starts with the critical point of deworming medications. Treating the flock with a proper deworming agent whether it is drenched or deworming paste is a necessary task.
The presence of internal parasites like worms inside the body sheep lead the flock to poor health and lean body and sometimes death.
The most harmful effect of late or no deworming is the spread of parasites to the whole flock that cause poor production and serious health issues.
In addition to doing timely deworming, it is compulsory to choose the best deworming products for sheep. Because some local or third class dewormers cause the death of beneficial parasites too in the body.
It is important to alternate the brands of medication so the sheep body does not develop resistance to some specific medication.
The alternate brands or deworming medications will help to consistently kill all the harmful parasites that are afflicting the stock growth.
Best wormers for sheep
Here are added some necessary products that every sheep flock farming manager should have. It is a quick overview of our favourite sheep wormer medications available in the market:
● Dewormer medications
1. Ivermectin Sheep Drench
2. Cydectin Oral Sheep Drench
3. Safe-Guard Dewormer Paste
4. Panacur Dewormer Paste
● Sheep drench Guns
1. Ardes 20ml Syringe
2. Vet & Farm Drench Gun
Reviews: Best Wormer for Sheep
1. Ivermectin Sheep Drench 8 oz. – Sheep drench
Ivomec sheep drench is the most preferred and primary product in worming of sheep. It does contain the ivermectin chemical that treats a vast type of worms.
Worming sheep with ivermectin treats the attack of adult and fourth-stage larvae of gastrointestinal roundworms, lungworms and many larvae related to nasal bots.
The best thing about this product is that it is FDA approved and sold as 0.08% solution.
It is used either by syringe or drench gun and paste tubes are also available.
It is the cheapest sheep deworming medication.
2. Patterson veterinary cydectin oral drench wormer sheep
Internal Parasite 0.1% moxidectin 1000 ml – Cydectin sheep wormer
Cydectin is the second most important medication for worming the sheep. It is a broad-spectrum drench wormer that protects the sheep from a variety of parasitic species.
The chemical moxidectin has brighter results for treating the internal parasites of sheep.
It is the most helpful medication for treating the barber pole worms in sheep.
The meat safety of this medication is very short , just seven days. It means that after seven days the animal is safe for slaughtering.
It has no impact on the beneficial dung beetle populations that grow on the dug of sheep.
3. Boehinger-Cydectin 384011/308875 Cydectin Oral Sheep Drench1 liter
The other product containing CYDECTIN is manufactured by BOEHRINGER that has a value of money.
The presence of moxidectin in Cydectin helps to kill a variety of internal parasitic species that disturbs the sheep life.
It helps in killing the adult and 4th stage larval parasites i.e:
- Haemonchus contortus
- Teladorsagia circumcincta
- Teladorsagia trifurcata
- Trichostrongylus axei
- Trichostrongylus colubriformis
Cydectin does not treat the tapeworms but it shows impressive results in treating the roundworms in the stomach and intestinal tract of sheep.
It works similar to IVOMEC.
4. Safe-Guard Dewormer Suspension for Beef, Dairy Cattle and Goats, 1000m
Fenbendazole in safeguard is effective in treating pinworms in sheep even if they are small or large pinworms.
Safeguard is recommended to use in combination with Ivomec and Cydectin for better results.
The incorporation of Ivomec and Cydectin with safeguard help to complement the protection against the roundworms as well the pinworms at the same time.
It is not specifically approved for sheep but a lot of industry experts recommend its use in sheep flocks.
5. Panacur Dewormer Horse Paste 10%, 100mg Each
Panacur is another form of fenbendazole and an alternative to the safeguard.
This medication contains the same chemical and sometimes the same suspension to safeguard.
The small dose of this worming paste helps in treating the small strongyles (pinworms) in sheeps.
Shiny feature of this paste medication is that it is flavoured with apple-cinnamon liquid to enhance its flavouring taste.
6. Agrilabs Prohibit Soluble Drench Powder – drench for sheep
The most targeted and cost-effective drench for sheep worming medication comes in the form of Agrilabs Prohibit sheep drench powder.
It is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic medication that helps in treating the nine types of worms in sheep.
The short withdrawal time and its cost-effectiveness make it a reliable medication for worming the sheep in their life against parasites.
The usage of this drench powder is simple as just mixing in water and using animals.
In sheep the powder used as 1ml/50 lbs and in cattle the amount is 2ml/100 lbs.
7. Pyrantel Pamoate Suspension 50 Mg 16 Oz Bottle by Generic
Pinworms attack is very common in sheep mainly in their early years of life.
To treat the pinworms the Pamoate suspension By Pyrantel shows impressive results.
This medication has suspension form chemicals that help the sheep to thrive by relieving them from deadly pinworms.
It is a dewormer product and an important choice to add in the worming schedule of sheep folks.
8. Ardes 20Ml Syringe With Dosenut And Drencher
This drench guns product by Ardes sold in the form of complete kits for drenching the cattle and sheep/goats.
The great thing about this drench gun is its cost-effectiveness that makes the shepherd buy them in bulk.
The long-lasting feature of this drench gun makes it the most lovable product among sheep or goat farms.
It does need the cleaning after use by just screwing off the top and washing them thoroughly and at the end lubricating with vegetable oil.
9. Vet & Farm Drench Gun, Small, 30ml-70ml, Pistol Grip, Plastic Frame, Stainless Steel Nozzle, Adjustable Dose
The durable and stainless steel made drench guns are manufactured by Vet & Farm that is also a helpful product for drenching sheep/goats.
The strong grip of the drench gun allows more support to drench animals with wormer solution or any other fluids.
It is a handy product for the person who loves to work individually.
The great feature of this product that makes it unavoidable, is the easy refilling of drencher guns.
By easily inserting the cannula in the liquid and releasing handle the drencher fills again for next use.
The shiny feature is the easy dose management to give relief from separate filling for each animal. It can be achieved by setting the dose according to animal age.
Sheep Drench vs. Sheep Wormer Tubes
The best technique of deworming is to administer oral medication. The deworming material either comes in the liquid form that can be used with drench guns or syringes or disposable tubes of sheep dewormer paste.
| Drench Guns | Sheep wormer tubes |
| Deworming by drench guns is a smart choice as the medication by drench guns or syringes is a cheaper option. | Deworming through sheep wormer tubes is an ideal option for small flock owners or the persons who do not want to mess with drenching guns. |
| Drench guns comes in two option: You can either have a single handheld drench gun syringe to dose each sheep one by one. | Each tube has a ring marked to administer the correct amount to sheep orally. |
| The second option is to buy the larger sheep drench gun that feeds the sheep from a tube having a large jug of dewormer at the other end. | The best thing about using these tubes is that they are disposable so dispose of them after use. |
| The second option is best for large flocks management. | These are the smart choice as one-time use tube so you can buy them in bulk to have plenty in hand anytime. |
Sheep Deworming Schedule
As mentioned earlier the importance of alternating the medications for deworming. These different types of medications will have various chemicals that will collectively control all the parasitic strains.
Lambs are more susceptible to internal parasites so more aggressive deworming is needed to ensure their thriving ability.
In the below table a brief sheep worming calendar is available:
| Deworming Labs | Deworming Adult Sheep |
| Deworming in lambs starts just after the 8 weeks of their birth and continues for up to one year. | In adult sheep, deworming is started 2-4 weeks before their offspring’s birth, expected to ensure that the parasites are not transferred to lambs. |
| Ivomec and cydectin are the two important medications for lambs to counteract the parasitic attacks. | Rumatel is the ideal approved product for use in lactating animals or worming sheep after lambing. |
| Valbazen is used in lambs for treating the tapeworms. | Make sure to never use the Valbazen during the first trimester of pregnancy. Adults are wormed 2-4 times a year and more frequently if the flock is thin. For better results, rotating the Ivomec with safeguard or Cytedin is recommended. Valbazen is applied one time a year to treat the b tapeworms. |
The Importance of Worming Lambs for Roundworms and Tapeworms
Feeding the expensive food to sheep folks outputs in the form of lambs thriving and gaining more and more weight rapidly.
But it can be achieved by deworming them timely for all types of parasites.
Lambs are treated for both roundworms and tapeworms.
To know the importance of worming lambs, a study was conducted including three groups of lambs.
One group was not treated with any, the second one was treated for roundworms and the third one for all tapeworms and roundworms.
The results obtained completely highlighted the importance of worming in lambs as the maximum weight gain was noted in lambs treated for both type of worms as in the figure below:
Source Virbac Animal Health
Sheep Worming Dosage Chart
All of the deworming medications are added in this guide after proper research and with unique dosage amounts for sheep.
All the medications have a unique meat line to ensure the safe slaughter day.
The chart below has all the information related to the medications of sheep i.e Valbazen, Safeguard, Ivomec and Cydectin.
The dosage of any medication may vary by age of sheep so you may consult your veterinarian.
| Note: 1 ml = 1 cc | Valbazen(albendazole) | SafeGuard(fenbendazole) | Ivomec(ivermectin) | Cydectin(moxidectin) |
| Meat Withdrawal Time | 7 Days | 6 Days | 11 Days | 14 Days |
| Standard Dosage | 0.75 ml / 25 lb | 0.6 ml / 25 lb | 2.9 ml / 25 lb | 2.3 ml / 25 lb |
| 25 Pound Sheep | 0.75 ml | 0.6 ml | 2.9 ml | 2.3 ml |
| 50 Pound Sheep | 1.5 ml | 1.1 ml | 5.7 ml | 4.5 ml |
| 75 Pound Sheep | 2.3 ml | 1.7 ml | 8.5 ml | 6.8 ml |
| 100 Pound Sheep | 3.0 ml | 2.2 ml | 11.4 ml | 9.1 ml |
| 125 Pound Sheep | 3.8 ml | 2.8 ml | 14.2 ml | 11.4 ml |
| 150 Pound Sheep | 4.5 ml | 3.1 ml | 16.0 ml | 13.6 ml |
Source: American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control
- Valbazen is assumed to be 11.36% suspension and it is not safer for pregnant ewes during their first trimester.
- Safeguard/Panacur is assumed to be 10% suspension. It is not an approved medication for sheep but it is very effective for them.
- Ivomec assumed 0.08% suspension.
- Cydectin is assumed as 1 mg/ml suspension.
Final verdict
A vast type of parasite exists that disturbs the sheep and there is not a single one product in the market that could kill all the parasites.
To kill and treat all types of parasites it is necessary to get some knowledge about the medications and worming schedule.
Addition of all types of wormers in the worming schedule is the other necessary thing to kill all types of worms and effective coverage.
It is important to do worming of all the animals unless all of them thrive normally and rapidly. As if a single diseased animal left in the flock it will again infect all the animals. Deworming will not add any significant in sheep cost but it is beneficial for health of sheep.
The knowledge related to the treatment schedule and best wormer of sheep has well explained above in the article.
I hope that you have found this guide quite helpful. If you enjoyed the knowledge shared in the guide do share it on Facebook, email and pin it to help your friends and fellows.
If you have any query you can ask them in the comment section below.
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