Triple Hearts Ranch

Someone asked me why I will not being using “preventatives” for screwworm….

I WILL be using many preventatives actually.

So let’s talk about what I will actually NOT be doing.

What I will NOT be doing nor recommending ANYONE to do is use ivermectin and/or dectomax in any form-injections, pastes or feed additives.

“WHY NOT?!”

As stated by TAHC and others who have put the work behind the research, Ivermectin is only effective against ONE stage of the screwworms 4 life cycle, which only lasts 24 hours.

What this means- if you are feeding it daily in a feed, chances are the correct dose is not even being administered as you cannot guarantee the right amount consumed by each animal. If you are giving any other way, you are gambling with an effective class of dewormers that you are hitting it correctly only in the stage it can be affected by this treatment.

Ramifications of using Ivermectin/dectomax :
You are allowing a build up to resistance to this class of drugs, not only by the screwworm but other GI parasites such as Barberpole worms.

You are also interfering with natural lifecycle of multiple insects that will be killed by the ivermectin, such as dung beetles, and the domino effect continues, unbalancing the ecological stability of the environment.

There are many other simple things that can be done that does not allow ivermectin resistance to happen. Don’t do it. There any better ways, our environment and our parasite susceptible animals need ivermectin to still be an effective wormer in our future

Bottle kid problems 😆

I mix half red cap milk with half Does Match once we are close to weaning!

Walmart probably wonders what I’m doing, every 4 days, with this much milk 🤣