How to survive the incoming fly wave
Flystrike - Reminder
Widespread, above average rainfall and increasing temperatures have provided ideal conditions for flystrike amongst our sheep.
Ways to mitigate the effects of the fly wave include:
crutching to remove dag and urine stains
aim to reduce scours, monitor worms and drench appropriately
chemical prevention such as jetting for interim protection
increased monitoring of stock
strategic paddock selection where possible - open windy paddocks have less fly activity
When treating struck sheep, remember to:
Leave a 5cm barrier of clean wool around strike zone.
Enclose maggots in a black plastic bag and leave out in the sun for a few days - this will reduce the risk of surviving maggots pupating into adult flies.
Dress the infected area with a suitable chemical to prevent re-strike
Keep struck sheep separate from the flock using a "hospital pen" to aid monitoring and prevent attracting flies to the healthy flock.
Other useful rescources
Free chemical resistance testing
The DPI NSW, in collaboration with AWI, are seeking your involvement in an important research project to investigate blowfly resistance to the commonly used flystrike chemicals.
As part of the project, your maggots will be tested for all the current chemical groups, see below.
A free helpful resource is Ag360. One of its many functions is it provides a 5 day forecast for the flystrike and cold snap risks, based on the real time weather events. Below is an example of the flystrike risk for the 1st December 2022. Click on the image to go to the Ag360 website and scroll down to view the national risk maps
