What wormer?

[JaneMBE]

Have lost track of what I last wormed with (Usually write it down but forgot last time!)

What wormer are you using just now, please? Mine are due this week, and want to get them done before foalie is with us, so they can all then be done together

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Traditional worming strategy

Use one type of wormer for an entire grazing season i.e. 12 months starting in the late autumn.
Worm every six weeks, except with EQUEST (13 week interval).
Change the wormer to an entirely different one every 12 months. A suitable rotation would be, (a) Equest (b) Strongid - P, (c) Eqvalan.
The autumn wormer must be Eqvalan (or Equest) every year to help control Bots.
Check faecal egg counts once every 12 months to ensure that the adult worm population is under control (remember encysted larvae do not produce eggs, and cannot be detected clinically).
An annual worming with a double dose of Strongid - P will protect against tape worms.
Only two wormers can kill hibernating small red worms. Equest and Panacur guard. All worm programmes should include at least one treatment with one of these per year.

A good traditional worming schedule would be :-

July Equest
Oct Double Strongid P (to kill tapeworms).
Mid Nov. Equest (this will also kill bots.)
March Equest
July Equest.

Pasture Management. (Applicable to both worming systems)
Collect droppings from the pasture twice weekly.
Many large studs and stables alternate the grazing of pasture with cattle and sheep.
Do not overstock pasture.
(Courtesy of Poolhouse Equine Veterinary Clinic)

 

[JaneMBE]

Thanks Toby. It was equest I used last time (I remembered soon as I read this!)

As it is just me in the field, I manage to keep it clean, have never had problem with worms but like to keep it ongoing (I know some people don't)

JJ

 

[JaneMBE]

OO, just a thought.
When foalie comes home, would she need worming straight away? I know the stud will have done her (and will obviously ask when and what)

JJ

 

[the watcher]

I use Equest and Equitape (or Pramox) all year round and do not change - having had long chats with the technical staff at Fort Dodge, who assure me that this wormer is safe and effective to use year round and for the lifetime of the horse. It is far less complicated that way.
As for the foal, check with the stud as to what the routine has been so far, Panacur is a gentle wormer suitable for younger foals so you could start with this and then just slot your foal into the Equest rota later in the year

 

[Shilasdair]

mother_hen, although I'm sure Equest and Equitape are good wormers, continual use of one type of drug can develop a 'resistant population' of worms over time.
By alternating wormer, you kill this resistant population and therefore stop them evolving any further.
Hence why you should alternate worming drugs.
S

 

[the watcher]

I understand the rationale around rotating chemical groups, and this is why I went into the subject in some depth. In years of testing there is no record of any resistance to the chemical groups in Equest, unlike older wormers such as Panacur and Strongid.

If there is ever any suggestion of resistance (and I have been on this system for 3 years now so will worm test from time to time) then I would of course revert to rotating wormers annually as I did for the previous 20 or so years

 

[Shilasdair]

[ QUOTE ]
I understand the rationale around rotating chemical groups, and this is why I went into the subject in some depth. In years of testing there is no record of any resistance to the chemical groups in Equest, unlike older wormers such as Panacur and Strongid.

If there is ever any suggestion of resistance (and I have been on this system for 3 years now so will worm test from time to time) then I would of course revert to rotating wormers annually as I did for the previous 20 or so years

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, but there are suspected instances of resistance to moxidectin now...although much more to the older wormers such as Panacur, and even now Ivermectin.
Here's one study...(the fact the hosts are donkeys is incidental.)


Trawford, A.F., Burden, F., Hodgkinson, J.E., 2005. Suspected moxidectin resistance in cyathostomes in two donkey herds at the Donkey Sanctuary, UK. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Science.

S

 

[LCobby]

We worm for bots, encysted small red worms and tapeworm, so two doses a year, and worm count in between.
This reduces the risk of resistance developing, and the
faecal egg coutn woudl show if ther was a problem.

Another issue is ensuring that all horses get the correct dose.Uderdosing can resutlin a partial worming, and lead to ressistance worm populations building up.

The majoirty of syringes are well under 600 kilos.
Many cobs and horses are over 600 kilos when on a weighting stall, ( in our case, wieght tape result plus 20%, to get real body weight) so 3 syringes between 2 horses,

 

[kookymoose]

I have always done worm counts to check whats going on in there before I give my horse chemicals! So far had under 50 so only tape worm as it doesn't pick that up much cheaper!

 

[star]

i use equest year after year. i did parasitology at uni and it's no longer recommended to rotate wormer groups. there's too much resistance to panacur and strongid-p and all the others ones are related to equest anyway. the main things to reduce resistance are poo-picking, reducing worming as much as possible and correct dosing.