Removal of tapeworm (Moniezia spp.) did not increase growth rates of meat-breed lambs in the Northern Tablelands of NSW

- We examined the growth rates of meat-breed lambs either infected with tapeworm (Moniezia spp.) or not infected in two experiments over 9 and 15 weeks.
- There were no significant differences in overall group mean daily bodyweight gain between lambs infected with tapeworm and those not infected in either experiment.
- Removal of tapeworm did not increase growth rates of meat-breed lambs.

This experiment tested the hypothesis that growth rates of meat-breed lambs would not be affected by infection with tapeworm (Monieza spp.). Two experiments, conducted in successive years (2012 and 2013) on a commercial sheep farm on the Northern Tablelands of NSW, assessed growth rates of meat-breed lambs, between 4 and 6 months of age, following the removal of the cestode, Monieza spp. (or commonly referred to as tapeworm). In 2012 and 2013, 93 and 85 lambs respectively were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. One group (Prazi) was treated with praziquantel, levamisole and abamectin to remove tapeworm and gastrointestinal nematode infection (GIN) while the second group (Control) was treated with levamisole and abamectin to remove only GIN. Tapeworm prevalence and egg counts of Control lambs ranged from 25 to 77% and 7 to 730 eggs per gram (epg) respectively and were significantly (p < 0.005) reduced in Prazi lambs, following treatment, at all time-points in both years. Pre-treatment GIN worm egg counts ranged between 1684 and 3368 epg with Haemonchus contortus the dominant species. Post-treatment GIN worm egg counts were similar between Prazi and Control groups, expect on one occasion (Day 65, 2013) when GIN worm egg counts were expectantly higher (p < 0.005) in Control lambs. No significant difference in growth rates were observed between treatment groups in either year with overall group mean daily bodyweight gains being 95 and 81 g/day (p = 0.053) in 2012 and 132 and 134 g/day (p = 0.784) in 2013 for the Prazi and Control groups respectively. This experiment confirmed that removal of tapeworm burdens did not increase growth rates in meat-breed lambs on a commercial sheep farm in the Northern Tablelands of NSW.