Individual intake and antiparasitic efficacy of free choice mineral containing fenbendazole for grazing steers

Abstract

A 95-day study (June 25–September 27, 2001) was conducted using 120 steers (311.9 ± 2.4 kg) randomly allocated to two treatments: (1) mineral containing 0.55% fenbendazole (FBZ) and (2) control, no FBZ in the mineral. Animals in the FBZ group were individually identified by an electronic tag that was read each time an animal attended the mineral feeder. The feeder was equipped with load cells that enabled individual mineral intakes to be estimated. The FBZ group was provided with non-medicated mineral during a 14-day adaptation period (July 23–August 5) and an 8-day post-medication period (September 17–24). The intake of FBZ was monitored for 14 days during each of the two treatment periods; August 6–19 and September 3–16, separated by a 14-day non-medicated period, August 20–September 2. Control animals had access to non-medicated mineral for the entire 95-day study period. All steers were grazed on alfalfa-grass pasture for the duration of the study and had free access to flocculated, filtered and chlorinated water via an automatic waterer. Fecal samples were collected from steers three times during the experiment July 23, August 27 and September 27, and analyzed for nematode eggs and Giardia sp. cysts. Seventy-five and 83% of the steers in the FBZ group visited the mineral feeder during the first and second treatment periods, respectively. Individual daily mineral and FBZ intake for the first and second treatment periods was 52.9 ± 6.6 g per day and 10.1 ± 1.2 mg/kg BW; 72.3 ± 8.4 g per day and 11.8 ± 1.4 mg/kg BW, respectively. FBZ animals were separated into three groups during each treatment period based on the recommended dose (RD) of FBZ (5 mg/kg/BW), those that received >the RD, those that received <RD but >50% RD and those that received <50% of RD. Nematode egg counts and the number of animals infected with nematodes was reduced ( p < 0.05) in all cattle that consumed FBZ as compared to control animals. In contrast to nematode eggs, numbers of Giardia cysts was not reduced ( p > 0.05) by FBZ as compared to controls in either treatment period. These results may be a reflection of Giardia re-infection occurring following treatment and highlight the need for variation in treatment regimes specifically targeted at the parasite of interest.