Ectoparasites include mange mites, lice and lice. A parasite infestation affects, among other things, the animals’ well-being due to the intense itching. This makes them restless. The milk supply can decrease by up to two liters per day; in calves and young cattle the increase is significantly reduced.
Facilitating factors
Whether parasites are given the opportunity and use their chance to initially infect the individual animal and later the entire herd depends on various factors:
- Overcrowding in the stable (social stress)
- Feeding deficiencies (vitamins, trace elements)
- Barn climate: high humidity and barn temperatures, little daylight
- Tethering (restricts the animals’ personal hygiene)
- Stress (start of lactation, pregnancy)
- Buying animals without quarantine
- Weakening of the immune system due to bacterial or viral infections, worm infestation
Attention: risk of infection!
Ectoparasites are always a herd problem. Infection occurs from animal to animal or via stable equipment, such as scratching brushes. Even cattle that do not have any visible skin changes can already be carriers of parasites and therefore a source of infection for other animals. An infestation with lice often occurs as a mixed infection together with mange mites or lice.
Lice are vectors for lichen that can penetrate the skin through open abrasion marks. This particularly affects calves and young cattle whose immune defenses are not yet fully developed.
Beware of resistance!
Action must be taken quickly. Most ectoparasite preparations contain synthetic pyrethroids, which are often associated with a waiting period for milk and meat. Studies show that insects and arachnids are increasingly developing resistance to these pyrethroids.