Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
FAMACHA scoring your sheep or goats can help you identify which ones require deworming and which ones do not. (Image courtesy UAPB)
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Warm, humid conditions favor the survival of many parasites including barber pole worms. Sheep and goat produces need to be aware of them and their control, says Dr. David Fernandez, Cooperative Extension Program livestock specialist at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Barber pole worms are blood-sucking parasites that live in the true stomach of sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas. They can cause diarrhea, poor appetite, lethargy, anemia, bottle jaw, and if left untreated long enough, death. If untreated, a sheep or goat carrying as few as 5,000 barber pole worms can die in little over a month, says Dr. Fernandez.
Barber pole worm eggs are shed in feces. The eggs hatch, and the larvae live in the manure. In their third stage of development, they migrate away from the manure and climb up the grass. They usually do not travel more than 12 inches from the manure and then only climb about 2 to 3 inches up the grass blade. There they wait to be eaten. Once inside the host, they complete their development, mate, begin sucking blood and laying the next generation of eggs.
Chemical dewormers can be used to control barber pole worms, but overuse has reduced the efficacy of most of them, says Dr. Fernandez. A few natural products can be used, too.
“Good management techniques can help prevent infection in the first place,” says Dr. Fernandez. Rotational grazing can reduce the number of parasites livestock consume. By moving animals from one pasture to another, the larvae don’t get eaten and die.
Avoid overgrazing, he advises. Leave at least 3 and preferable 4 inches of grass when rotating. Don’t put hay on the ground. Instead, use a feeder that makes animals eat with their heads up.
“If you can keep them from grazing or eating close to the ground, they will eat fewer parasites,” he says.
Getting rid of all the worms in a herd or flock is impossible. Resistance to dewormers is a natural occurrence so even with deworming, some parasites will be alive and well. This is why only animals in need of deworming should be treated.
“It may not sound like common sense, but you actually want to leave some parasites untreated,” says Dr. Fernandez. Untreated worms are not resistant to the dewormer. When resistant worm eggs hatch, they are surrounded by worms still susceptible to the dewormer. When the worms mate, the resistant ones are more likely to encounter and mate with susceptible worms so their offspring are less likely be resistant to your dewormer.
FAMACHA scoring helps ranchers determine which animals need deworming. Keep track of the ones that do repeatedly and cull them from the herd, advises Dr. Fernandez.
Plants high in condensed tannins, such as sericea lespedeza, chicory, sainfoin and birdfoot trefoil can help control barber pole worms. Copper oxide wire boluses have also proven effective in reducing barber pole infestations. Chemical dewormers still work, but check to see which ones work on your farm. Resistance to dewormers must be determined on a farm by farm basis.
For more information about barber pole worms, FAMACHA scoring or other livestock-related problems, contact Dr. Fernandez at (870) 575-7214 or fernandezd@uapb.edu.
By Carol Sanders, writer/editorUAPB School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences(870) 575-7238sandersc@uapb.edu