2026 has seen the majority of the country enjoying improved forage growing conditions than the previous year, with many cattle ranchers across Canada spending the summer months growing and harvesting silage or hay to feed their cows. But if your cows are infected with worms and other internal parasites, there's a good chance you're feeding them as well.
Every time your herd of speckle park Ontario cows eat, they're sharing the food with whatever parasites are living inside them, stealing valuable nutrients.
Parasites And Cows
The eggs of internal parasites are shed into the feces of the animal, which then hatch into the manure pat before moving onto the nearby grass. Then, eaten by other animals, they turn into adult parasites in the digestive tract, start to produce eggs, and so the cycle goes on.
The type of conditions that produce good yields of cattle fodder are also ideal for parasite larvae, who thrive in the warmth and moisture.
While colder, drier conditions do help keep internal parasites under control, they can never get rid of them altogether. Products like Ivermectin, Bendazole, or a combination of both however, can be effective in treating parasites, internal and external.
What Researchers Have Learned
Recent research into cattle and internal parasites has shown that even when parasite levels are low, it can still have an impact on the body composition of cattle along with productivity.
Cows whose body condition scores were less than 3 out of 5 (a system that assesses fat storage levels in live animals) tend to be slower after calving at resuming cycling, as well as slower to rebreed, and they calve later. Such cows also produce lower quality colostrum and wean calves that are lighter. If parasites are responsible for lowering a cow's body condition, research has shown that their reproductive performance may well be lower too.
However, what this research shows is that while the breeder's natural response may be to take precautionary action and treat the whole herd for parasites, fat and healthy cows may not have a significant parasite load, unlike thin cows. Treatment may help those cows, but it wouldn't necessarily help the healthy-looking ones. So, blanket parasite treatment of entire herds may be both costly and unhelpful, while targeted selective treatment may be a much more cost-effective method for speckle park Canada cows, that also helps to reduce the risk of parasites developing resistance to dewormers.
Protect Your Cattle And Your Bottom Line
Following a long period of drought, Canada's wetter and warmer conditions may unfortunately have helped parasites take hold of both your pastures, and your cattle. If allowed to continue feeding from your cows and stealing their nutrition, internal parasites could well have an unwanted impact on the reproductive performance of your cows next year. What is fortunate though, is that treating parasites isn't too challenging. Once you've consulted with a local veterinarian and had them test fecal egg count samples, if treatment is required, you can work with them to design a treatment strategy that will work for your specific circumstances.
So, with the supply of cattle feed looking more promising, and profits set to return, it's essential that you protect your cattle and your bottom line from internal parasites.