There is no need to dose ewes for worms unless there's a demonstrated need to do so, Teagasc has told famers.

Speaking at a recent farm walk on the farm of Francis Gonley as part of the Teagasc Better Farm Sheep Programme, Damian Costello said: "The advice is not to treat adult ewes for worms.

"The only time ewes should be dosed is if there is a demonstrated need to do so. There is no benefit to treating healthy mature ewes for worms.

"There's no need to do that and also it's to help slow down anthelmintic resistance by not doing it," he continued.

Instead, the sheep specialist said that farmers should treat lambs strategically, based on the need for a dose via a faecal egg count.

"If this is done, it would hopefully mean less doses given in the year, along with not dosing your ewes, you're maintaining susceptible worms on the pasture which is helping to slow down the development of resistance," Costello said.

"We aren't saying to not dose ewes for fluke. You certainly need to treat ewes for fluke when needed.

"This is because from an anthelmintic resistance development point of view, it's an absolute disaster because by doing that you're increasing the number of resistant worms being shed out on the pasture.

"Like we said, there's no performance benefit from treating the ewes for worms, except for certain instances such as lactating yearling ewes as they may be compromised while rearing lambs and thin/compromised mature ewes may warrant a dose," he said.

"If mature ewes need dosing consult your vet/advisor as there may be an underlying nutrition/health issue."