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De-worming: How often do you do it?

2K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  OutOfTheLoop 
#1 ·
There seem to be 2 main schools of thought here...

1. De-worm every 8 weeks, rotating the med types
2. Do fecal egg counts to find out whether horse sheds/what they shed and create de-worming schedule accordingly.

I continue to hear that #2 is the way to go if you can, according to most vets because well, it's less $ and meds pumped into your horse's system AND (more importantly) the worms are becoming resistent to certain med types due to overuse.

The barn I'm boarding at now uses method #2. Every other barn I had ever been at used #1. The difference seems to be the barn size. At those I've boarded at who de-worm every 8 weeks, there were 40+ horses. The one I'm at now has I believe between 16-19, so a lot smaller. So maybe the smaller barn with less horses is better able to manage #2?

What are your thoughts on the 2 main schools of de-worming? And for anyone who also does #2, can you give me any additional info about it (just because I love to learn!)? :wink: All I know is that when I moved my mare in, she had to get a fecal egg count done before she could go out with the other horses...and she was a 0 shedder (yay!) so she was put out with them once that was confirmed.

That was a few months ago, and when I went to the barn this week they were all being de-wormed. I asked the barn manager how often they de-worm and he said just twice a year with egg counts being done in the spring to determine whether that needs to change for any of them. He really knows what he's doing so I'm not questioning that at all...just interested in gathering up some more knowledge!! :D
 
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#5 ·
I board my horse at a large barn- 76 stalls, currently housing about 65 horses- the horses are rotated through the different paddocks and pastures. They do a barn-wide de-worming once yearly with ivermectin, and any other de-worming care is the responsibility of the owner.

This year was the first time I've made the decisions about worming, since this is the first year I've actually owned my own horse and not been leasing. I've decided to do de-worming two times annually (ivermectin in the spring with the rest of the barn, and Quest Plus in the fall) with FEC's in between. So far, my horse has come up with nothing in his FEC's despite the exposure to a large number of horses' manure, so no extra worming.

Many of the horses at my barn are on a daily dewormer; that's something I would consider for my horse (despite the possibility of resistance) if he seemed to pick up worms easily, but luckily it doesn't seem to be an issue at this point.
 
#7 ·
I do babies every 2 months until they are 6 months old with safe guard. Recommended by a vet, then every three months.
I use ivermectin in fall and winter and then rotate. Animals always have worms/parasites its a matter of keeping them under control and to nail the different kinds and the diffferent life cycles to keep your horses healthy.
 
#8 ·
This is what I don't understand about #2- things like pinworms don't show up in the fecal count. As some probably know, I fought pinworms for months (fingers crossed we finally seem clear after completing a powerpac recently). So if you're making decisions based solely on what the fecal tells you, how do you get things that would never show up on the fecal?
 
#9 ·
Hmmmm I was always told, once every 3 months, and rotate your wormers....:shock:
 
#13 ·
I do once a year with Equimax:)
BUT...only because I have a closed herd, clean the pasture and paddock and am very generous with straw, like all soiled out, leftover good in the middle on the wet spots and new on the edges.
I, of course, didn't start out that way, it developed over two years time. Fecals and a blood test for encysted, again after the wormer, and then off to my current schedule. If it wasn't for bots and tapeworms, who appear, no matter how clean I am, I would only go by fecals.
 
#14 ·
Worms are becoming resistant to wormers, so it's important to only worm when it is necessary. So I think doing it via fecal count is not only more economical, I think it's better for the horse community in general.

While it's true fecals won't show everything, it can certainly be used as a guide. I deworm for tapes in the spring and fall (I use something that will get encysted worms as well as tapes). Then, I only deworm at other times if the fecals indicate I have a problem.

I think it's important to worm a horse for tapes at least once a year whether or not the fecals show anything. But aside from that, I think a targeted worming program using fecals is the best way to go.
 
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