How to take a Worm Count

You can ask your vet to do a faecal egg count reduction test to find out if you have a worming problem. Ask them for a cost estimate (around £7 per sample).

There are companies who will also do this test.

Before worming take a fresh dung sample in a plastic bag or carton.

An egg count will be arranged.

Worm all horses grazing together.

One week after worming take another fresh dung sample for analysis.

If the wormer that has been used is effective the number of eggs in the second sample should be significantly lower than the first sample.

Benefits of doing a worm count:

By taking a worm count you can have peace of mind if your horse has a low worm burden and if high, you know that you are treating the problem effectively.

You can save the cost of worming by targeting treatment at infected horses.

Worm resistance will be reduced if there are fewer worm doses in use.

NB: the worm count cannot test for larval parasites in the walls of the intestines.  It is therefore important to dose all horses for this problem. A faecal egg count will also not detect levels of tapeworm present in a horse. The only method of assessing tapeworm infection is to use a blood test as created by Dr Chris Proudman at Liverpool.

Worming Programme    Drugs to use to combat worms    Worming Information    Worms that affect horses