The development, clinical signs and economic losses of gastrointestinal parasitism in feeder cattle on irrigated and non-irrigated dikeland and upland pastures.

Investigations were carried out over three grazing seasons with parasitized and treated (control) steers on irrigated and non-irrigated upland and dikeland pastures. The stocking rate in each paddock was adjusted by either adding or removing animals so as to maintain as uniform a sward and rate of grazing as possible. Animals were weighed on and off the pastures and fortnightly during the grazing seasons. During the first grazing season clinically normal steers shedding low numbers of gastrointestinal worm eggs contaminated the parasite-free pastures sufficiently to give rise to large residual pasture infections and clinical parasitic gastroenteritis in grazing stock during the second grazing season. Worm burdens of 100,000 to 200,000 Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora were established in several steers showing marked clinical signs. In spite of treatments with high dosages of thiabendazole in attempts to keep worm burdens at a minimum, there was a slow but gradual buildup of pasture infections in the paddocks grazed by the control steers over the three year period. During the second and third grazing seasons there were significant differences in the daily rate of gain between the parasitized and control animals on both upland and dikeland pastures. The parasitized groups of steers had daily rates of gain ranging from 0.29 to 0.80 pounds less than their comparable control groups. Under Maritime conditions, irrigation did not have a consistent effect on weight gains and development of parasitism.