Faecal Egg Counts

Faecal Egg Counts

Faecal Egg Counts for Horses in Brisbane, Ipswich and Lockyer Valley

Faecal egg counts assist in making your worming program more effective.

While regular worming is essential to your horse’s health, conducting a faecal egg count provides helpful information on how effective your worming program actually is.

Without regular faecal egg counts, you may be ineffectively worming your horse against harmful parasites. This can lead to the development of dangerously high worm burdens as well as significant financial loss. In simple terms, ineffective worming may be wasting your money.

What is a faecal egg count?

A faecal egg count is where a sample of manure is collected and analysed for signs of parasites. Following instructions from a veterinarian, horse owners can collect their own samples, and send them off to a veterinarian or independent laboratory for analysis.

How often should I conduct a faecal egg count?

At a minimum, you should conduct a faecal egg count once a year. This should be done right before worming for the first time in Spring. A faecal egg count will identify how many eggs are present per gram in your horse’s manure, giving you a good indication of which parasites you should be worming against.

If you can, you should conduct a second faecal egg count 10-14 days after the first worming. This is called a faecal egg count reduction test and it will show if your choice of wormer was effective. As worm resistance is rising, it’s crucial your worming program is reducing the number of eggs present in your horse’s manure.

Where do I send my horse’s sample?

At our practice, we can perform both faecal egg counts and faecal egg count reduction tests. Samples can be sent directly to our practice in Hatton Vale where they’ll be analysed under microscope. The results will usually be provided to you within TWO business days.

Your Next Steps

To find out more about faecal egg counts or request a faecal egg count for your horse, call us today on (07) 5411 4554 to speak with a qualified veterinarian.