Context The third Australian national survey on control practices for internal and external parasites of sheep, following similar surveys in 2003 and 2011. Aims To document current parasite control practices and attitudes, measure change and to provide a benchmark against which to assess future practices and attitudes. Methods An online survey emailed to 6460 sheep producers, with a paper version supplied on request. A follow up short survey was conducted to assess non-response bias. Analysis by region and key sheep enterprise. Key results There were 354 and 250 useable responses to the main and short surveys respectively. Mean reported rainfall of 407 mm in 2018 was 27% lower than the average for respondents and >200 mm lower than mean reported rainfall in the previous surveys. The top three methods for worm control over the past 5 years were preventative treatments (74%), preparing clean pastures by spelling paddocks (62%) and treatment on the basis of faecal worm egg count (WEC, 54%). The proportion of respondents using WEC monitoring in 2018 was 40.4%, with a mean frequency of 3.1/year, and this was unaffected by sheep class. The frequency of anthelmintic treatment for ewes and lambs and weaners was 2.1/year. Of the respondents, 36.7% had performed an anthelmintic resistance test in the previous 5 years. The most popular flystrike control methods were timing of crutching (76.4%), preventative chemical treatment (75.9%), timing of shearing (63.1%), mulesing (46.8%) and genetic selection (46.4%). Pain relief was widely used for mulesing ewes (86.6%) and wethers (90.9%). Only 17.3% used Australian Sheep Breeding Values for traits in rams. Most respondents reported ‘evidence of lice’ in the past 5 years (55.8%) and had treated for lice off shears (50.1%), short wool (16.6%) or long wool (6.6%), with only 26.7% having not treated at all in the period. Web-based sources of information on parasite control have become increasingly important. Conclusions Notable changes since the earlier surveys were high rates of pain relief when mulesing, an increase in the use of Australian Sheep Breeding Values for parasite-related traits, an increase in WEC monitoring since 2011 and an increased use of web-based resources. Implications Parasite control remains important for sheep producers and continues to evolve with new drugs and approaches. The surveys highlight the effectiveness of extension networks and identify where more attention is required.

中文翻译：

---

澳大利亚绵羊寄生虫控制实践的基准：一项全国在线调查

背景 继 2003 年和 2011 年的类似调查之后，第三次澳大利亚全国绵羊内部和外部寄生虫控制实践调查。 目的 记录当前的寄生虫控制实践和态度，衡量变化并提供基准，以此评估未来的实践和态度. 方法 一项在线调查通过电子邮件发送给 6460 家绵羊生产商，并应要求提供纸质版本。进行了一项后续短期调查以评估不答复偏差。分地区和重点养羊企业分析。主要结果 主要调查和短期调查分别有 354 和 250 份可用答复。2018 年报告的平均降雨量为 407 毫米，比受访者的平均降雨量低 27%，比之前调查中报告的平均降雨量低 200 毫米以上。过去 5 年中控制蠕虫的前三种方法是预防性治疗 (74%)、拼写围场准备干净的牧场 (62%) 和基于粪便蠕虫卵计数的治疗 (WEC, 54%)。2018年使用WEC监测的受访者比例为40.4%，平均频率为3.1/年，且不受羊等级影响。对母羊、羔羊和断奶仔猪进行驱虫治疗的频率为 2.1 次/年。36.7% 的受访者在过去 5 年进行过抗蠕虫试验。最流行的飞击控制方法是拐杖时机 (76.4%)、预防性化学处理 (75.9%)、剪毛时机 (63.1%)、骡子 (46.8%) 和遗传选择 (46.4%)。镇痛被广泛用于骡母羊 (86.6%) 和天气 (90.9%)。只有 17 个。3% 将澳大利亚绵羊育种值用于公羊的性状。大多数受访者在过去 5 年中报告了“虱子的证据”（55.8%），并曾接受过剪除虱子（50.1%）、短羊毛（16.6%）或长羊毛（6.6%）的治疗，只有 26.7% 的人没有接受治疗在所有期间。基于网络的寄生虫控制信息来源变得越来越重要。结论 自早期调查以来的显着变化是骡子疼痛缓解率高，澳大利亚绵羊育种值对寄生虫相关性状的使用增加，自 2011 年以来 WEC 监测增加，以及基于网络资源的使用增加。影响 寄生虫控制对绵羊生产者仍然很重要，并且随着新药物和方法的不断发展。