Why worm count?

A faecal egg count is a useful way to find out if your horses, pets or livestock have red worms or round worms, so that you can treat them appropriately. With no new wormers on the market, over use or unnecessary worming results in resistance to the drugs.

Regular worm counts will allow you to treat them when it is needed, instead of using chemicals every 12 weeks. 

There is usually only a small proportion of a herd which has a parasite burden. This small number reinfects the rest of the herd. If you identify these individuals through worm egg counts it is much easier to control parasites; this way the whole herd benefits.

High parasite burdens can cause weight loss, colic, performance issues and even death, parasite monitoring and strategic control can save you money in the long run.

Faecal egg counts are cost effective and can help reduce the need for chemical wormers by up to 82%.

How does it work?

I use the McMaster method, which is also the same method used by vets and other Faecal Egg Count providers. The eggs in a sample are counted under a microscope and the result is calculated to give an eggs per gram reading. The animal can then be wormed or not wormed according to the result.

Faecal egg counts detect adult egg laying roundworm (ascarids) and small & large redworm (strongyles). The test can not detect the encysted stage of small red worm or tape worm, although the occasional egg may be seen.

When to worm count?

Round worms

Monitoring the round worm egg count will tell you how often during the grazing season, but if the counts remain high, rotating the wormer drug class every six weeks may be necessary to get parasite populations under control.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are slightly different. Again, there are accurate ways of finding out whether your horse has a burden and I would advocate having either a blood test or saliva test done to check the levels of parasite burden. However, we still recommend that tapeworm treatment is done twice a year, in spring (March/April) and autumn (September/October).

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