Effective - Equine Worm Egg Counts

06/10/2024

Please note change in hours.
First appointment: 9am
Last appointment: 4pm.
Early morning and evening appointments will be available again in 2025!

27/09/2024

Please read.

*** STEP AWAY FROM THE EQUEST (at this time of year) ***

A repeat post, but people STILL don’t understand!

Just a little reminder that you should absolutely NOT be using Equest or Equest Pramox during the Spring, Summer and early Autumn months. It should be reserved for the main purpose of Moxidectin; targeting the ENCYSTED stages of Redworm. Redworm encyst into the gut wall when it is COLD.

The emergence of these encysted redworm as the temperatures warm up in March/April, can result in fatal cyathostominosis. We only have TWO drugs that can treat encysted redworm, and there is already widespread resistance to one of them (Fenbendazole), and rapidly developing resistance to the second one - MOXIDECTIN. It’s imperative that you DO NOT USE EQUEST or EQUEST PRAMOX during the warm months, unless specifically directed to do so by your vet.

Lots of people correctly use worm egg counts during the spring and summer months, but some are then very dangerously worming with Equest if they have high egg counts. This is both a waste of Moxidectin, and a danger, due to helping increase the resistance to this drug.

DO NOT WASTE MOXIDECTIN WHEN IT’S WARM! The whole point of the drug is that it treats ENCYSTED redworm. The redworm burrow into the gut wall to keep warm; it’s as simple as that to understand! They need eradicating AFTER they have burrowed, so AFTER it gets cold, and BEFORE it warms up in the Spring!

16/05/2024

Warmer weather = eggs developing quicker. This is why I advocate for mobile egg counts over posting to a lab. This poo was less than 24hrs old, but look whats already developed and hatched from an egg. Your counts are more accurate & reliable the fresher the sample. Don't add delays to testing by posting your samples off, book in for a mobile egg count.
www.effectivewormeggcounts.co.uk

01/05/2024

Worm count every 8-12 weeks to keep an eye on counts and know when to worm. We can come to you and you get results straight away before we leave.

07/02/2024

Spring is coming 😃: Along with the increase in daylight hours, can come an increase in parasites! Don't forget to book in for your worm egg counts, especially if your equines will be increasing their grazing time, as they pick up Strongyles lavae from grass and worm burdens can increase at a higher rate over spring/summer.

07/02/2024

How to collect your sample.

05/02/2024

Please take a moment to read our terms and conditions.
1. Payment in full is required if an appointment is cancelled within 48 hours of the appointment date.
2. Samples must be collected and labelled ahead of our arrival (excluding Equisal tapeworm tests). Additional fees for delays due to waiting for samples to be collected may be applied, as this impacts upon appointments for the remainder of the day. For Equisal tests, horses must not have eaten, drunk or been exercised for 30 min ahead of arrival). Please be at farm at least 20 minutes before appointment slots incase we are running early.
3. Unless otherwise agreed, you are required to pay for the number of tests you have booked, even if you are unable to provide samples on the day.
4. We may ask you to make a payment of 50% of your service to secure your booking, this will then be deducted from your bill on your appointment. This is non-refundable but it is transferable.
5. Unless otherwise agreed, payment must be received in full before leaving the yard. For collection service, payment must be received in full, before samples are processed and results released.
Outstanding payments will incur a late payment charge.
6. Worm egg counts can only report on eggs found in the sample provided. Results are more accurate the fresher the sample is. Samples over 24 hours old are less reliable.
7. We will not visit premises with an infectious disease (including, but not limited to, Strangles) under any circumstances. If we discover there was an infectious disease present on the day of your appointment which you were aware of and did not inform us of at the time of visit, you will be charged a sanitisation fee of £100.
8. We reserve the right to refuse any future bookings to customers that do not abide to our terms and conditions.

23/10/2023

It's fine for your horse to have a small amount of worms. Worming when saliva/blood test for Tapeworm or FECs come back as low is going to create problems in the future with worms that you just can't get rid of.

16/10/2023

Only worming when needed and with the right product is really important, as is getting the correct dose. If you had a chest infection you'd be looking for antibiotics to help clear the infection, not just paracetamol to reduce a temperature. You'd also want a course of antibiotics to take over several days/weeks and not just two days worth, as its not enough to clear your chest infection. Same for wormers, you need to give the right dose and the right treatment. Too little and you'll build up a resistance, wrong drug and you won't target the actual issue.

13/10/2023

I'm in the red and blue areas a lot of the time so can plan dates of visits according to area. Orange areas will also cover but needs to be several yards on same day or a bigger yard visit.

08/10/2023

No worm egg counts today as I was busy riding Emma a beautiful 18.3hh Shire at Cumbrian Heavy Horses. But rest if the week has been very busy with 106 Egg counts done this week. A lot were under 200EPG :)

05/10/2023

04/10/2023

Though I'd share some more information for those that want to know more about the worms your horse has and what it means.

03/10/2023

Limited availability remaining for this week as just taken a booking for a whole yard on Saturday afternoon and no appointments available for Sunday.
Couple of collections booked in for Saturday morning (7th) Rossendale way if anyone else wants collecting from that way?
Next week availability:
Monday and Friday after 5pm.
Wednesday - Ashton/Oldham/Tameside area from 3:30pm
Sat 14th will be over Burnley and Littleborough way in morning, fully booked from 3pm.
Sunday availability later in the afternoon.
Week commencing 15 Oct have more availability.

01/10/2023

This week has had a range of egg count results from Olly with a lovely low 175 EPG (eggs per gram) this is actually under recommended wormer amount (having some worms is good for your horse) to Rocky with high count of 1650EPG and quite a few horses between 525 and 850. Strongyles, Tapeworm (a rare find in a FEC) and Pinworm eggs were detected in this week's samples. A high egg count is no reflection on an owner, horses have worms, some have higher burdens than others. By regular testing you'll get a good picture of how your horse's is over time and if your worming programme is effective as it can be.

01/10/2023

As well as faecal egg counts, we also offer a Pinworm tape test. A pressure sensitive adhesive tape is pressed against the skin on your horse's bottom, under it's tail and then is examined under a microscope for Pinworm eggs. Samples for this are best collected 1st thing in the morning due to the female laying her eggs outside the a**s in the night time.

01/10/2023

What happens after the poo is collected? I process it in a floatation solution and then examine a sample under the microscope on a McMaster slide. Here's a video incase you're interested. I've circled the strongyles eggs for you to see.

28/09/2023

Do you weigh your horse before worming? According to research almost half the horse owning community don't.
Most people will underestimate how much their horse weighs. Most wormers come with dosing instructions based on the weight of your horse. Underdosing means too many of the worms survive and create a resistance to the wormer. They then pass this resistance on to the next generation of worms. Before you know it your horse will have a high worm burden that's resistant to wormers and can lead to complications for your horse.
Ideally before giving any wormers you should look to do a FEC to know how many eggs they have and what worms your horse has as this will inform which wormer to use. You should then look to use a weighbridge service to get an accurate weight for your horse before giving them a wormer.