Quick Wormer Quiz

G

gfb110g

Member
Joined
30 September 2013
Messages
22
Visit site
Hi,

I believe that there is quite a lot of confusion about worming and so for my college assignment I have compiled a very short quiz to see if I can get some useful data.

I would be very grateful if anyone could spare me a couple of minutes to complete and submit the quiz as it may get you thinking and while away a spare moment.

It will only be available to use for the next week or so and I hope to reveal what I believe to be the optimum answers to the questions after the 20th April.

It is a Google Forms survey and can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13_i5Uz2QiNYtT1SATbkbW24PL-LAfgif9kQDb_7Kzl0/viewform

Thank you for your time.
 
Hi,

The Wormer Quiz is producing some very interesting results!

It will be live until the 16th April so have a go and I'll give what I believe to be the optimum answers after the 20th April and further overall trends later.

Thanks again for those who have spared a couple of minutes and answered the quiz.
 
not sure if its just my work internet access that is rubbish, but when i click the dots it doesn't accept my answers, so i can't complete the survey for you. Sorry
 
Hi Kezzabell2,
Thanks for trying to do the quiz. I suspect your work internet may be the issue as I have had many completed answers, in fact one only 4 minutes ago!
If you can spare the time later I would appreciate if you could try again as the trend in results is really interesting. Thank you for your help and interest.
 
Hi everyone,

Just to say Wormer Quiz will be closing after today so this is your last chance if you want to be included.
I have been amazed at the response already ....... you have been fabulous, thank you!

I hope to get the results organised and report back with my answers after the 20th April.

Thank you again for taking part, I hope you find the results and answers interesting.
 
Only too happy to report the results and my own justifications for the correct answers. Hopefully this will be on or just after 20th April ........as you have all very kindly given me one hell of a lot of work to do!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Wormer Quiz Feedback
First of all a huge thank you for the 166 of you who took the challenge! This is the first time I have done anything like this and I was quite amazed at the response in such a short time slot and the results have been fascinating.
Most importantly I want to stress that I am only a student and the information given here is only my own view from the research I have personally conducted. By choosing this subject for my research project I hoped to at least highlight that there is confusion. It is always a good idea to get advice from a professional, suitably qualified, wormer expert who will undoubtedly ask many questions about your own horses and their particular history and environment before offering advice.
The Results
Q.1. How many horses do you have to worm?
I think you probably all got this right! Interestingly 35.2% had a single horse, 48.8% had 2-5 and 48.8% had 5+.
Q.2. What age group do you belong to?
5.5% were under 18, 21.2% were 19 to 30, 24.8% were 31 to 45, 31.5% were 46 to 60 and 17.0% were over 60.
Q.3. Should you use faecal egg counts to assess your horse(s)’ encysted red worm burden?
34.4% said Yes, 8.6% were unsure/didn’t know and 57.1% said No.
I believe the people who said No were correct as faecal egg counts rely on the presence of adult worms to produce the eggs to be counted and encysted red worms are still only larvae.
Q.4. Should you pick up poo from the field?
75.3% said Yes, every 1-2 days, 7.2% said Yes once a week, 13.3% thought it unnecessary as it can be harrowed in so that it breaks up and fertilises the field, 3.6% thought it could be left as it decomposes naturally and 0.6% were unsure/don’t know.
Once again I agree with the majority for the following reasons: if the poo is removed quickly enough the eggs in it will not have the opportunity to develop so you are removing the problem. 1-2 days would be the ideal. Although the poo will decompose naturally left in piles, the eggs have a better chance of developing as they are ‘protected’ in a moist environment and I have read that harrowing is likely to confound the horse’s normal selective grazing behaviour, which makes them avoid the poo areas, and so they graze on ground that has been spread with worm eggs. That said if the land is rested long enough and/or grazed with sheep or cows and the temperatures high enough these factors can be counteracted.
Q.5. Which are more likely to need wormers?
74.1% said horses under the age of 4, 1.2% said stallions over the age of 4, 7.2% said Horses aged between 4 & 10, 1.8% said Stabled horses and 15.7% were unsure/didn’t know.
My understanding is that it is the young horses that are generally more vulnerable to worms as they develop their own resistance as they get older but a minority will remain more susceptible throughout their lives and these horses need to be identified using egg worm counts and treated accordingly.
Q.6. When would you worm for Tape Worm to be most effective?
12.5% chose When the temperature is below freezing, no one chose When the weather had been dry for a week, 82.5% thought Spring/Autumn, 1.2% chose the Mid-Summer option and 3.6% were unsure/don’t know.
I have read that autumn is probably the best time in this country as horses have been found to have more noticeable burdens at the end of a grazing season.
Q.7. Would your worming plan utilise Refugia?
15.8% chose No because that wormer is outdated & the worms are resistant to it, 15.8% chose Yes because the existing genepool could be weakened, 68.5% were unsure/don’t know.
Firstly I apologise about this question, I was trying to be too clever and I’m concerned things back fired! I deliberately capitalised the first letter of Refugia to put people off the scent as I felt certain that people who really knew about refugia would not take that option. Because of the high number of unsure/don’t knows, I fear I may have put a lot of people in complete doubt. Refugia are worms or stages of worms that have not been exposed to wormer drugs. It is thought we can benefit by allowing these to dilute the gene pools of worms that have modified to be more resistant to our drugs and so keep our existing wormers effective for longer until new methods can be developed.
Q.8. Do horses sharing the same grazing need separate worm egg counts?
3.6% thought they could be treated with the same drugs because they live together, 95.2% chose the Yes option and 1.2% were unsure/don’t know.
I again agree with the majority who said Yes. Horses’ own resistance to worms can vary tremendously in fact there is an 80/20 rule which claims that 20% of horses shed 80% of the egg worms so to be effective we need to find the high egg shedders and target the wormers more effectively.
Q.9. Which worms are the biggest threats to horses over four years old?
81.8% said Encysted Red Worms, 7.9% said Large Red Worms and 10.3% were unsure/don’t know
Encysted Red Worms are thought to be the biggest threat but scientists still don’t know their full potential threat and more research is needed.
Q.10. Should you keep receipts for wormer purchases?
65.1% chose the option Yes, 10.8% thought No and the remaining 24.1% selected no/don’t know.
My own equine vets have advised clients that they have had equine insurers requiring proof of worming in some colic cases.
Q.11. Do you find information available to you regarding worming confusing?
57% of you said Yes and 43% said No.
This was what I wanted to know.
Interestingly enough I separated the age groups into two groups, the under and over 45s to see if there was any age pattern in the answers but they were surprisingly consistent.
I hope you have found this interesting and it will make you seek qualified advice over areas you are unsure about. Once again I thank you for your participation.
 
Nice little quiz and good to see the answers explained so well, good for you. I really hope that people are becoming less confused about worming as we (at Westgate) and many others spend hours answering worming questions. We don't mind doing this of course! Knowledge is slowly spreading. We find not many people understand refugia. Also one of the most important points is not to move to clean pasture after dosing as it simply selects for increasing numbers of resistant worms.

Do people keep all their wormer receipts? I don't keep mine. Has anyone been asked for proof of worming by an insurance company? Interesting to know this.
 
Very interesting to read the answers and your insights into the answers.
I have never heard the word refugia (hence my don't know).
That is interesting regarding the wormer receipts as well.

We had 9 horses on a previous yard and one always had a medium-high worm count. His field was poo picked every day, he was wormed correctly but just had low resistance. All other horses had low worm counts so this ties in with the Q8 answer.
 
This exercise has been a steep learning curve for me as I found choosing and then wording the questions quite a challenge. I am so glad people feel they have gained something from this.

Thank you for your kind comments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top