Worm Count...Need Advice

Spit That Out

Spit That Out

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Hi,
I've had our latest yard newsletter and the YO has taken advice from their vet and next Feb we will be having a yard worm count.

They have put in the letter...

"Worming is due the weekend of the 13th of November with Equest Paramox.

We have taken advice from the vets regarding our worming program, with horses getting resistance to wormers nationally. We would like you all to participate in a worm count of every horse on the yard. This will take place around the middle of Feb 2011 when the next worming is due.
This will then tell you if your horse has worms and needs worming, or has no worms and doesn't require a wormer. The less we worm our horses, the less resistance to wormer's they well be, as there is no point worming your horse if it hasn't got worms."


This sounds ok...I've never experienced a worm count before as I've always wormed as the vet has recommended on a regular basis. So I'm not sure what is involved.

1) Do you send the poop off to someone to check?
2) How much does a worm count cost?
3) Our field gets poop picked daily what are the chances of my horse having worms considering he's been regularly wormed?
4) How often do you do a worm count compared to normal worming?
5) Wouldn't it be prudent to use a wormer anyway and save the hassle of a worm count?
6) How long does it take to get results of a worm count?

We don't field rotate and there are only our 3 horses in the field which is looked after, although there are 80 horses on the yard. All 3 horses are wormed regularly.

Sorry if these are really basic/stupid questions but i was wondering if you could just advise using your experiences.

Thank You
xx
 
No, it wouldnt be prudent, because some worms will survive the wormer because they have resistance, and then breed, and then they will all become resistant and then they will eventually kill everyones horses. Worm problems are going to be the biggest killer in horses in the next decade. Normally, companies just create new wormers but now they cant find another.

Worm counting is the easiest thing ever. Shove some poo in a pot, send in post. Get results 2 days later. Worm as appropriate.
 
We do the same on our yard. The worm counts work out cheaper than the wormers and if you have a nil worm count as we often do then it's better not to put chemicals into your horse if you don't need to.
If horses are becoming resistant because of worming them when we don't need to then it's going to be harder to develop new wormers.
 
1) Do you send the poop off to someone to check? There are several companies that do worm counts and you can send to them to get sample pots sent to you. You put the poo in the pot with the glove thats provided and then send it off.

2) How much does a worm count cost? Ours are slightly more expensive due to yard taking an admin fee. £7.50 each.

3) Our field gets poop picked daily what are the chances of my horse having worms considering he's been regularly wormed? It can depend on horse. One horse on our yard was poo picked daily and he always had a medium count. Generally speaking it should contain none or very low count.

4) How often do you do a worm count compared to normal worming? If I remember correctly we worm count about 3 -4 times a year.

5) Wouldn't it be prudent to use a wormer anyway and save the hassle of a worm count? Nope, the last few worm counts I've done, I haven't needed to user a wormer. As said, the worms are getting immune to the wormers.

6) How long does it take to get results of a worm count? We get ours within one week of sending them off.

Hope this helps and would HIGHLY reccomend it.
 
Every three months I worm count, although as many horses are off the pasture for some months during the winter it's less imperative if they're in a closed herd. I use a great lab who will also advise which active chemical to use IF you do need to worm, and of course, you do still have to for tape and bots.
 
equine vets are now very worried about resistance to wormers through over worming and most are recommending worm counting rather than blanket worming.

our yard is now on the intelligent worming system and I have been very impressed so far. they work out a program for you using worm counts and also send you the wormers according to the results, though everyone has a tape wormer. tape worms are apparently spread through harvest mites and horses can get them from hay as well as grass and they are not detected in worm counts.

I need to do a worm count on my pony this weekend - I collect a bit of poo and put it in a sample pot and send it off. he also will have an equest for encisted worms.

it more expensive than blanket worming but it is better for the horses and I don't need to remember when to worm or decide what wormer to use.
 
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