No poo picking for months what would you do?

Polos Mum said:
DR - interesting.

I think individual horse resistance is an interesting topic as I've had 2 here that never had a single egg in a count over several years, one of which had a companion from a rescue center that often had counts over 1000 initially (a whole nother subject of whether poor worming in youngters can make them perminantly prone). The nil count and the 1000 count horse were out 24/7 for years and never grazed more than a few meters apart (we called the companion his shadow)

Other random fact is that in humans they think the lack of worms currently is the cause for lots of allergies (ie our bodies are designed to be fighting a low level of infestation and have gone 'wonky' when we are not) and indeed they are trialing allergy treatments that involve giving people worms again as a few worms causes a lot less damage than nasty allergies!
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Worms (and other parasites) have certainly lived reasonably contentedly with their hosts for a VERY long time. It is not in the interests of the parasite to kill it's host!

It is certainly true that some exposure to dirt builds up a natural resistance. There used to be an old saying that you had to eat a peck of dirt before you die! (1 peck = 2 gallons).
 
So, does anyone know:

How far larvae travels from the site of the poo/egg?

How long they survive in the pasture if not eaten by the horse?

What extremes of temperature kill them before they hatch? ie - if I went round my field tipping boiling water on the droppings, would that kill anything living /not hatched in the droppings?

I've got a healthy crow flock in my field who sift through droppings, I'm sure they're providing a very valid service!!

Fresh droppings are acidic, hence in very heavily covered areas you get dock, nettles and buttercup growing as they like acidic soil. Fresh droppings also burn the soil and kill the grass - but when rotted, it is more alkaline, or so I believe, hence, better to spread on the soil to improve the ground in providing nutrients - I think!!
 
Twinkley Lights said:
Hi folks some may be familiar with the saga of my ex groom who didn't like yard chores etc but liked to overcharge for doing them.

Well I walked all the land last week (i've been working away and she was on point) and it's clear that at the back fields that you can't see from yard that no poo picking has been done for months.

Obviously my worming plans are vital now now but aside of that how would you manage this?

Should I try and pick - looks like a week or so work 2 hours a day. Or am I best to start fresh and harrow once the land is dry enough for a tractor?

I have 4 acres the horses are in two small paddocks at the moment because one is a new companion and they are slow to bond.
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If the horses are not on the field I would do 2 barrows a day till cleared. IMO I would not leave it down.
 
I believe that they are killed at temperatures above 25 degrees, but can hibernate in cold temperatues until Sprintime, when they become infective again. Hence, there is no point in harrowing other than in the height of summer.

And honestly, if a field is too wet to poo pick, then IMO its too wet to have horses on.
 
pixie said:
And honestly, if a field is too wet to poo pick, then IMO its too wet to have horses on.
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Where do you live??? I don't know anyone who hasn't got wet fields this year, and even if the field itself isn't sodden, the high traffic areas will be too poached to get a barrow through. In an ideal world, maybe, but most of us don't live in that ideal world, and my fields are too wet to poo pick in a normal winter, never mind this one. Or do you keep your horses in 24/7 throughout the whole winter?
If you have a good worming programme all egg laying adult and larvae will be killed before being expelled, so the risk of contamination is minimal, which is why every new horse that comes here has to be in a 3 monthly worming programme or have been wormed within the previous twoo weeks.
 
pixie said:
And honestly, if a field is too wet to poo pick, then IMO its too wet to have horses on.
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Lol at this. The horses with their four legs do not struggle across the wet ground, some areas worse than others. I with two legs, one wheel and two handles certainly do struggle, and its not something I'm going to waste my time on. It will get harrowed and rolled in spring when the ground is ready for it.
 
Dont remind me :o our paddock is a nightmare - its only 1 acre, we have two ponies on it and I haven't been able to poo pick for about 3 weeks because I couldn't push the barrow through the mud. The lady who owns another field in the village taht I was planning to move them to has said no as it is too wet. They've been eating a bale of hay a day. I am starting today with a barrow and a skipper. The entrance to the paddock is through someone's garden and they won't let me drive anything through it at the moment as it is too wet and will ruin her lawn :rolleyes: so its just me and the barrow. I feel terrible about it as I HATE having poo down and its just awful at the moment. There's still lots of grass although paddock very muddy. I feel like the worst pony owner alive although both ponies seem very cheerful and full of beans.
 
If you can't push a barrow through the mud then just carry a trug around. Surely you walk around the field every day to check it anyways? Approx one full trug/horse/day is not much at all. Plus, you don't have to necessarily go in via the muddy gateway...

My neighbouring yard hasn't had any turnout at all this year until Sunday, and driving past today and yesterday they didn't have any out. Our other neighbouring yard has had slightly more turnout. Meanwhile I've had mine out virtually every day and only in overnight about six times so far this year. I like them to be out in nice clean fields 24/7 if possibly, so I poo pick daily. Takes about 10 mins to do 3 acres.
 
SpruceRI said:
Does anyone actually know how long larvae lingers in the poo before it dissipates?

I've never actually been able to find that out?

So once it leaves the dung and 'infects' the surrounding grass - how long does it survive there?

Because, if it leaves the dung within 24hrs, unless you literally follow the horse around the field picking up the poo, surely you're too late anyway?

And how far does it travel from the dropping?
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Spruce the general consensus (well from a man who has spent his life's work on worms ;) ) is that the generation times for the eggs to get to L3 mean that picking once a week in winter and twice a week in summer should be sufficient for removal of the poo.

OP you could be waiting a long time for it to be dry enough to harrow and its not a huge area (we have similar) so I would pick it.
 
pixie said:
If you can't push a barrow through the mud then just carry a trug around. Surely you walk around the field every day to check it anyways? Approx one full trug/horse/day is not much at all. Plus, you don't have to necessarily go in via the muddy gateway...

My neighbouring yard hasn't had any turnout at all this year until Sunday, and driving past today and yesterday they didn't have any out. Our other neighbouring yard has had slightly more turnout. Meanwhile I've had mine out virtually every day and only in overnight about six times so far this year. I like them to be out in nice clean fields 24/7 if possibly, so I poo pick daily. Takes about 10 mins to do 3 acres.
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I normally pick once a week or more in summer, and I do feel awful that they are next to poo ridden paddocks just that ex groom didn't do her bit when i was working away bad given one was hers. I am turning out bit have to have the odd day in yard turnout too. We are on heavy clay and there is no drainage at the moment. I have never known a time like it :eek:

I'm going to do a mega pick this weekend so I'm hoping for a light ground frost.
 
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