AHDB Parasite Control Guide 2025


Things to do at housing

Steps you should be taking now to protect your herd

Beef

  • Check if youngstock needs worming for gut worms at housing using faecal egg counts (FECs). If infection risk is high, use a product that contains a macrocyclic lactone (ML) to kill off inhibited Ostertagia worms to reduce the risk of Type ll ostertagiosis later in the winter. Adult cattle should not require any treatment for gut worms.
  • There is no natural immunity to liver fluke, so all ages of stock must be assessed for treatment where there is a history, or risk of infection. Check fluke forecasts and abattoir returns to monitor presence of fluke
  • Blood test a group of first season grazing calves (as sentinels) two weeks after housing to check whether they have been in contact with liver fluke in the summer

Dairy

  • Check if youngstock needs worming for gut worms at housing using faecal egg counts (FECs). If infection risk is high, use a product that contains macrocyclic lactone (ML) to kill off inhibited Ostertagia worms to reduce the risk of Type ll ostertagiosis later in the winter. Adult cattle should not require any treatment for gut worms
  • Take a bulk milk sample to test if the milking herd has been exposed to liver fluke.
  • There is no natural immunity to liver fluke, so all ages of stock must be assessed for treatment where there is a history, or risk of infection. Check fluke forecasts and use abattoir returns to monitor presence of fluke

Resources

Vet, academic or researcher?

Take a look in Resources for more detailed information on all topics.

27th February 2025

AHDB has published its Parasite Control Guide for 2025. View it here

This useful document, updated annually, lists all the anthelmintic products available to buy to use on cattle, including Group 1 Benzimidazoles, Group 2 Levamisoles, Group 3 Macrocyclic Lactones, combination products, flukicides and ectoparasiticides.

Choosing the right product and getting the most from it are key factors in ensuring optimum livestock performance for the least cost, whilst reducing the risk of anthelmintic resistance developing.

The aim of the booklet is to provide an accurate, easy-to-use reference guide on all available anti-parasitic products in their various chemical groups and summarise the parasites they have been licensed to control.

Decisions on the choice of product should be discussed with the vet, SQP (Suitably Qualified Person) or RAMA (Responsible Animal Medicine Advisor).

Cattle treatment best practice

It is vital that anthelmintics are administered in the correct way, to ensure they work as they are designed to. The Parasite Control Guide offers guidance on dosing cattle correctly and how best to administer different types of anthelmintics from boluses to oral drenches, pour-ons and injectables.

A table in the centre of the guide briefly offers treatment advice and product notes for the key parasites that could be challenging cattle on farm. This is updated every year by experts on the COWS steering group.

After a section on sheep, the guide ends with a product purchase checklist to help farmers assess their needs and product choices.

Then Parasite Control Guide from AHDB.