No BioWorma® effect after 98 days
Eighteen St. Croix (n=9) and Barbados Blackbelly (n=9) wethers (227 ± 1.4 days of age, 65.5 ± 1.3 lbs.) were used to test the efficacy of a naturally-occurring fungus (Dunningtonia flagrans: BioWorma®) after 100 days of feeding. Per the manufacturer's recommendations, lambs were dewormed before being fed BioWorma®. They were given a combination treatment of albendazole, moxidectin, and levamisole. Fecal egg counts were reduced 100% by day 14.
The lambs were split into two treatment groups, with three replications. They were placed on six paddocks, 3 animals per paddock. They were fed a corn-soy supplement at 2% of their body weight, with or without Livamol® with BioWorma®. Body weights (BW) and body condition scores (BCS) were recorded every 2 weeks for 98 days. Blood and fecal samples were also collected to determine packed cell volume (PCV) and FEC. Feces were cultured to determine worm species. A subset of animals will be harvested to determine abomasal worm counts.
There was a mixed population of worms at the start of the study, averaging 54%, 42%, 1.2% and 1.8% for H. contortus, Trichostrongylus spp., Oesphagostomum spp. and Nematodirus spp., respectively. Livamol® with Bioworma® supplementation had no impact on BW, BCS, PCV, or FEC in this study, averaging 75.4 ± 0.7 lbs., 2.5 ± 0.04, 34.7 ± 0.5% and 150.9 eggs per gram, respectively. While BioWorma® has no direct impact in the animal, there is an expectation that BioWorma® feeding will eventually lead to improved GIN indicators in the animals (healthier animals), due to reduced pasture contamination.
Under the conditions of this study, Bioworma® supplementation had no influence on gastrointestinal parasite indicators measured up to 100 days of grazing. This research will be continued during subsequent grazing seasons to determine the effect of continued supplementation on lamb parasite load and performance as well as pasture infestation levels.