Advice from a deer farmer on how to control ticks on deer using Ivomec (Ivermectin) and garlic
The dosage rate we use is 250ml of Ivomec (pour-on) per ton of feed [6 ml per pint of water for 50 pounds of food]. We prep the feed in the following manner. Using a small spray bottle, we mix 12 ml of ivomec to 2 pints of water. We then take 100# of feed and spread it out on a 4x8 sheet of untreated plywood. We spray a light coat( about 1/2 of the mixture) of the ivo/H20 mix over the feed, then allow to dry completely. If you use a feed with a water sheild on it, it less effective. Using a simple dust-pan, we scoop and flip the feed over, much like flipping a pancake on the griddle, then apply the remaining amount of the mixture to the other side of the feed and allow to dry completely. Replace it back into the bags and distribute it just like you are using normal feed. It is important to do this on a warm sunny day when possible, and always wear latex gloves. In our bulk trough feeders, we coat the top of the feed with the same dosage rate per pound, and allow the deer to eat through the layer of Ivomec.
We do this every 6 months, alternating with Purina Exotic Animal De wormer on a 6 month rotation, providing a worming treatment every quarter. We try to time it as to not have any of the treatments closer than one month to the birthing of fawns. This is easy if you have a single species in the enclosure, but in multiple species populations, it requires a good deal of thought to maximize the gaps between birthing cycles. Having said that, we have had births in some of the horned species within days following a treatment with no adverse affects. This works well in helping control ticks.
In addition to these treatments, we use powdered garlic in our feed at the rate of 2# per ton of feed throughout the year. I find it to be very effective in reducing ticks and the animals do not seem to mind the taste.
The video below shows a deer farmer using this method to control worms. Also reduces ticks.
Pregnant Does: One deer farmer advises avoiding use of Ivomectin during the first 100 days of pregnancy. Another suggests waiting until the does have given birth unless parasites are a significant risk. A vet encourages use during pregnancy to cut down on migrating larvae thereby increasing oxygenation to the fetus during birth.
Other parasite control includes Safeguard pellets and blocks.
Feeding Deer Corn With Tick-Control Drug Shows Promise in New Study June 5, 2023 Entomology Today
... Despite its effectiveness in deer, the use of systemic treatment with ivermectin fell out of favor, largely due to labeling restrictions that prevent human consumption of cattle for 48 days post-treatment—problematic in a species like deer for which there are regulated hunting seasons... moxidectin, a more modern derivative of ivermectin, was discovered and, in 2018, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in medicine in humans over 12 years old for curing river blindneness ...
The study: Experimental oral delivery of the systemic acaricide moxidectin to free-ranging white-tailed deer (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) parasitized by Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae) ... The systemic use of moxidectin for tick management in critical reproductive hosts has the potential to be effective in an areawide capacity while also permitting human consumption of treated venison...
Deworming Deer and Elk Deer DeerFamer.com
... Ivomec (ivermectin) is available in sub-cutaneous injectible form as well as pour-on. Veterinarians tell me that it is just as effective to give the injectible form orally. Promectin (generally used for horses) is basically the same thing. Ivomec Plus includes a liver-fluke additive. Ivomec F is NOT effective against liver flukes. Ivermectin’s withdrawal time is 28 days in New Zealand for the pour-on ...
Safety, efficacy, and tissues residues of ivermectin in reindeer Rangifer
... Safety, efficacy, and tissue residues of ivermectin, a broad spectrum parasiticide, were determined in
Alaskan reindeer ... Reindeer treated at 5 times and 10 times the standard dose of 200
mcg/kg had no detectable physical or behavioral reactions to ivermectin injected subcutaneously in the midcervical area...
J Med Entomol. 1996 May;33(3):385-94. Abstract:
Whole-kernel corn was treated with 10 mg ivermectin per 0.45 kg corn and fed at rate of approximately .45 kg/deer per day to white-tailed deer confined in the treatment pasture, whereas deer in an adjacent control pasture received a similar ration of untreated corn. Treatments were dispensed from February through September of 1992 and 1993, and free-living populations of lone star ticks. Amblyomma americanum (L.), were monitored in both pastures using dry-ice traps to quantify nymphs and adults and flip-cloths to assay the relative abundance of larval masses. Control values that were calculated for all ticks collected in both pastures during 1993 showed 83.4% fewer adults, 92.4% fewer nymphs and 100.0% fewer larval masses in the treatment versus control pasture. Serum ivermectin concentrations in treated deer averaged 21.7 and 28.3 ppb during 1992 and 1993, respectively. These values compared favorably with the goal concentration of 30.0 ppb which was anticipated under ideal conditions. This study demonstrates that a freely consumed, systemically active acaricidal bait ingested by white-tailed deer under nearly wild conditions can significantly reduce the abundance of all stages of free-living long star ticks.
Parasites and Deer Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
Waldrup indicates that, by doubling the cattle dosage of pour-on ivermectin to 1000 ug/kg, adult abomasal nematodes were controlled but encysted Ostertagia-type larvae were only reduced by 40%.(13)Ivomec® pour-on is registered for use in both cattle and deer in New Zealand.
Withdrawal Times: Meat
New Zealand (Deer) - Dosage 500 ug/kg: 28 days
New Zealand (Deer) - Dosage 1000 ug/kg: not reported
Deworming Deer and Elk Deer DeerFamer.com
... Ivomec (ivermectin) is available in sub-cutaneous injectible form as well as pour-on. Veterinarians tell me that it is just as effective to give the injectible form orally. Promectin (generally used for horses) is basically the same thing. Ivomec Plus includes a liver-fluke additive. Ivomec F is NOT effective against liver flukes. Ivermectin’s withdrawal time is 28 days in New Zealand for the pour-on ...
Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program Use of Ivermectin Corn USDA
... APHIS is proposing to treat white-tailed deer with ivermectin to control tick vectors of cattle fever ... White-tailed
deer would be fed ivermectin-treated corn from a closed gravity feeder ... Studies show that approximately 90 percent of the ivermectin dose administered parenterally or orally isexcreted in the feces ... For dosing, 200 ml of the formulation containing 5 mg ivermectin/ml will be pumped into one hundred pounds of clean corn to produce 10 mg of ivermectin a.i. per pound of corn. The feeding rate for deer is approximately 1% of body weight per day or approximately 1 pound per 100 pound deer per day. The daily intake dose of the deer is approximately 0.22 mg/kg assuming a 100 pound white-tailed deer eats 1 pound of corn per day... A study using penned female and male white-tailed deer administered by direct subcutaneous ivermectin injection or ingesting ivermectin-treated whole corn, showed ivermectin serum concentrations decreased below detectable levels (<2 ppb) within 21 days after injection and 14 days after ingestion (Pound et al., 2004) ...
A method to deliver to feed to deer
New game feeder feeds only your desired species July 16, 2017 North Carolina, North Carolina Sportsman
... The Species Specific feeder allows you to set it up to feed whatever animals you desire ... If you only want it to open for only deer, it will open for only deer, then close within seconds of the deer disappearing from the feeder’s view...