To do or not to do? As always, it will depend on your farm system, pasture management and stock numbers. So, a quick chat with your KeyVet could help with deciding what will be best for your farm.  

Many farmers will agree that giving lambs a pre-weaning drench will help boost their growth rates and lower their dag score, but, as drench resistance becomes an ever-pressing matter, we must constantly ask ourselves if every drench is necessary.  

WormBoss in Australia has completed studies which show that lambs develop resistance to infections and can more quickly reject worm infections when fed high-protein diets.  As such, providing them with access to higher quality pastures should greatly reduce the impact of worms on their production.   

The study also shows that increasing protein supply to ewes in late pregnancy and early lactation can reduce worm burdens by 30-80%, thus decreasing the loads around the more susceptible lambs. Therefore, having high-protein diet sources might be a way around giving that pre-wean drench.  

Equally, it is important to note that a 2010 Beef and Lamb NZ study proved that lambs given a roundworm and tape drench were then 1kg heavier than the control group at weaning, which does support pre-wean drench for positive production gains.  

So, there is no right or wrong, but drenching should be well considered and now, thanks to our in-clinic Parasight machines, we can complete quick faecal egg counts which can help guide your decision on whether or not to drench pre-weaning.