In April this year we rescued Mavis, the Muddle Headed Wombat, who was badly affected by mange. Mange is caused by the mange mite, sarcoptes scabiei, which lives on and under the skin of mammals. It causes a particularly painful itch, and eventually leads to the animal’s death, and is sadly common amongst our native wombats. Mavis was successfully rescued and is making a full recovery at a nearby wombat sanctuary.

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Unfortunately the mite that caused Mavis’ discomfort is still about and causing havoc. A couple of days ago I found evidence that it is affecting the cattle, and determined I needed to take action.

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The bare skin patches, especially in the calves suggest that the mite has started to affect their behaviour. Cattle with the mite put on less weight and are obviously uncomfortable. My research suggested treating the cattle with moxidectin was the most effective and least harmful approach to treating the mite. The cattle seemed to want to follow me when I brought them into the yards early one frosty morning.

The reason I chose moxidectin to treat the cattle is:

• It is effective on the mange mite sarcoptes scabiei
• It is safe for dung beetles
• It has no with-holding period for beef cattle and no export slaughter interval.

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I am now in a waiting game to see whether the treatment is effective, and will keep you posted.

As a side note, I had some old moxidectin in the shed. It was tempting to ‘use it all up’, however I am glad I went to out local ag store. Roger explained to me how old drench goes off and can cause the chemical to be less effective, whist leaving residue in the cattle. Whilst the drench is eye-wateringly expensive, it works out to be much more palatable when calculated on a cost per head basis to treat the cattle – even for small producers such as the Rock Farm. Roger even gave me a new applicator, which allowed me to accurately deliver the required 10mL/100kg of live-weight, ensuring we give the optimal dose per animal.

The out of date drench remains difficult to dispose of safely, but the regular chemical muster remains a must do activity on my calendar. We did it a couple of years ago when we bought the property ( https://rockfarming.com/2018/11/25/farm-chemical-disposal-with-chemclear/ ), and I keep an eye on when I am able to do the same again.