Modern worming for foals

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soloequestrian

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I have a foal arriving soon. It is 6 months old, and is being wormed with Equimax this week. It is currently in a deep litter barn.
I think I'm fairly with it in terms of worming adult horses - mine are egg counted and wormed once per year, in the autumn, for tapeworm. My older horse usually has a relatively small redworm burden by the time he is wormed, the younger one very rarely shows any eggs. I had a yearling here for a few months about four years ago, so there is a chance there are viable roundworm eggs on the pasture.
How do I worm my foal to both keep her healthy and allow for development of a reasonable immune response to worms? I don't want her totally 'clean' - I don't think that is healthy, but obviously I also don't want to risk any ill health.
Anyone with information on current thinking on this area, or recommendations for reading material?
Thanks in advance!
 
I'd use Panacur (fenbendazole) rather than Equimax (ivermectin + praziquantel) as the major worm to worry about in young foals is roundworm and there is some roundworm resistance to ivermectin. Don't think (although willing to be corrected) you need to worry about tapeworm at this stage, if that's why you're thinking of using Equimax.

eta suggest you follow up with a worm count to check it's worked
 
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I don't get much choice with this one - the stud is worming her! I'll do an egg count in a few weeks time though - from what I can see, P. equorum eggs are about the same size as strongyles? I've never worried about encysted redworm in my older horses because none has ever had a high burden (over 10 years of FEC's), but I'm wondering if I should treat the baby for them, perhaps in the early spring when she is settled here? What is the recommended treatment schedule from then on - would it just be the same as the adults ie regular FEC's or should I be more cautious?
 
soloequestrian said:
I don't get much choice with this one - the stud is worming her! I'll do an egg count in a few weeks time though - from what I can see, P. equorum eggs are about the same size as strongyles? I've never worried about encysted redworm in my older horses because none has ever had a high burden (over 10 years of FEC's), but I'm wondering if I should treat the baby for them, perhaps in the early spring when she is settled here? What is the recommended treatment schedule from then on - would it just be the same as the adults ie regular FEC's or should I be more cautious?
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If she hasn't already been treated for encysted then you need to do it when she arrives if the stud won't do it for you. Young foals can and do get encysted redworm which won't show up in wormcounts. Whatever worming plan you decide make sure you worm her Sept/Oct and Feb/Mar for encysted for the first few years.
 
Contact Westgate to discuss your plans. Roundworm (parascaris equorum) are the greatest threat at that age and not well covered by ivermectin. They are huge white worms about a foot long, much bigger than strongyles. Studs are some of the worst places for worms as have so many vulnerable babies.
Panacur 5 day will treat encysted reds and roundworm.
Worm counts for babies under a year should be used to monitor, use 6-8 weekly rather than longer gaps. Worm problems can escalate quickly in foals but simply dosing them does not guarantee good control.
 
I really appreciate everyone taking the time to post replies, and don't mean to sound ungrateful, but please could I have some of the nitty gritty science, or pointers re where to find it.
Panacur 5 day will only treat non-resistant strongyles, so I'm wary of using it in a horse whose history I don't know very well, at a time of year when I can't do an egg reduction test. I'm also quite reluctant to give my new foal something nasty in her feed for five days in a row - I suspect she will be difficult to feed as it is. I do my own worm egg counts, and the question about size was egg size, not worm size. From what I read on the web, P equorum eggs are easily visible when using the McMaster flotation test, and I think they should show up all year unlike the strongyles, but I've never looked at youngster poo before so don't know for sure.
What I really want to know is if there is any information out there on the balance between allowing a growing foal to develop a good immune response to helminths and making sure that their parasite burden doesn't actually cause harm to them.
Thanks again.
 
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