“Lice are the forgotten winter parasite,” Jerry Bertoldo said. “They tend to ‘bloom’ during the initial surge of cold weather. Lice will be more obvious after calves are weaned, although their exposure may have happened as early as the calving pen,” he said.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, November 10, 2016.
Bertoldo said visual diagnosis of lice is challenging because they are so tiny. Some easily blend into the skin and hair coat, and they don’t hop around like fleas. For control, he recommends anthelmintic treatment with a labeled dose of one of the older, alcohol-based pour-ons that are commercially available.
INSIGHTS: With all the last-minute scrambling to get VFD documentation in place, producers may forget about lice. Representatives and veterinary teams can work together to ensure lice controls get used at the right times.