When Cervidae Oral was launched to market in 2020, Richard Greer already had his order in. He says the product is not only effective but saves on labour and is less complicated to administer, while the 28-day meat withholding period is ideal.
Richard owns 1,800 ha at Blackmount, in Southland, where he farms deer, sheep and beef. The property ranges from river flats to steep hills.
A long-time customer of PGG Wrightson, Richard has relied on technical advice and support from PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative Allan Carlene for the past 30 years.
“Allan knows our business inside and out. We have a great relationship with the local team in-store too, getting all our animal health, seed and cropping inputs through them,” says Richard.
Richard was an early adopter of Cervidae because he knew Nexan had put a lot of resource, research and effort into bringing the product to market. It was developed for New Zealand conditions and has been proven effective.
Before Cervidae, Richard says the biggest challenge for both himself and the industry as a whole was access to products registered for deer. “We had to use off-label products which meant 90-day withholding periods which is a long time for us. Also, lungworm was a big problem and drench resistance was huge.”
To keep on top of the worm burden, Richard and his team were using a combination of drenches made for cattle.
“It meant we needed two people in the weaner pens at drenching time. We had to be careful about how much drench was given and manage needles while the animals were penned up.”
Cervidae has made drenching deer as easy as drenching sheep, Richard says. “Being ready-mixed, it is easy to administer and we only need one person to do it. Also, no injection sites on the animals are good.”
To ensure they don’t create drench resistance, they dose the animals as little as possible. Only the weaners are drenched, twice in autumn and once in spring, after 10 to 15 days on pasture.
The triple combination drench is proven effective against gastrointestinal parasites, but Richard believes it controls lungworm too. “In the past, we used a cattle product for lungworm but for the past three years we have not needed to.”
Finally, the 28-day withholding period suits his farming operation. “We no longer have this problem of the 90-day wait. Thanks to Cervidae, we can kill at the start of October, which is perfect for the chilled market.”
SPONSORED BY AGRITRADE
Registered pursuant to ACVM Act 1997, Cervidae Oral #A011849. Always read the registered label before use.
