
This guidance aims to provide the owners and managers of land with a population of Red grouse with:
- Sufficient understanding of the issues to make an informed decision about whether or not to implement a worm control programme,
- Sufficient knowledge to carry out disease control in a legal, responsible and sustainable manner, and
- Information about the different techniques that can be used.
Red grouse is a wild bird and intervention through medication should only be considered after careful consideration of the risks, costs and potential benefits.
Three forms of worm control are available:
- Managing grouse numbers:
- Reduces densities and thus the transmission of worms; this was the traditional approach.
- Direct dosing:
- Catching grouse by hand and treating them with an oral drench wormer.
- ‘Medicated’ quartz grit:
- This is provided to free living grouse.
- The grit has been prepared with a digestible coating into which a wormer drug is impregnated.
Downloads
- Guidance
- Supplementary Information – additional technical detail