Got Worms?

Got parasites in your poop? We do. Well, some of us anyway. Last week I collected fecal samples from our farm animal groups (donkey, sheep, goats, lambs). Seamus and I dropped them off at the vet for testing.

Internal parasites are a leading cause of death in livestock (Maggidans 2018). Parasitic worms lay eggs, called oocytes, which are passed out through the feces (Christensen 2015). We can determine what types of parasites an animal has by examining the feces which contain the microscopic eggs (ibid). The overuse and misuse of chemical dewormers has made parasites very resistant, so that routine all-herd dosing with dewormers is not effective nor advised (Maggidans 2018). In addition, different parasites respond better to one class of wormer than another (Christensen 2015). So, to keep parasites in check, we monitor egg counts by doing routine fecal exams and then tailoring a treatment to the animals that need it.

Our test results came back today. The goats and adult sheep are clean. Charlie, however, had a high count of 300 eggs. According to our vet, it is best to keep equines below 200 eggs, so she will need to be dewormed. The lambs also had a high count of 850 eggs. It is typical to deworm ruminants when they measure between 500-1000 eggs. Molly, Lego and Cobalt also have a dose of dewormer in their future.  The vet is going propose a treatment plan and we will pick up the required medications shortly.

I've got worms?!  EW!

Fecal testing is admittedly kind of gross and but it is an important part of keeping our animals healthy and preparing them to over-winter as successfully as possible. Isn't there some old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure?

References

Christensen, K. (2015). The Biology of the Goat. http://www.goatbiology.com

Maggidans. (2018). Know Thine Enemy Fecal Testing Kit and Supplies. http://www.maggidans.com