Wednesday 24 October 2018

Useful Advice On Horse Wormers

By Cynthia Snyder


All domestic animals need to be dewormed from time to time to prevent worms from seriously affecting their health. However, there are very many worming products while they are growing resistance to a number of them. This may make it difficult for a farmer to pick the best horse wormers. This article provides you with guidelines for selecting and using the dewormers.

You should first start by establishing what level of worms are available in the horses. This can be done by a number of various tests. One of the main tests is the fecal egg count. It is capable of determining the number of adult worms that can produce eggs. It is basically done from three to four months. The test is able to identify those that have a higher burden which should be subjected to treatment. It can also be used in identifying horses which have grown resistance to treatment done.

Other tests that can be done are blood and saliva tests. A blood test is able to identify tapeworm infections. A high positive outcome acquired is an indication that the animal is highly infected and should be treated right away. A lower positive outcome is an indication of lower infections hence giving dewormers is not necessary. Saliva tests may include, analyzing the saliva taken. This procedure is quite cheap and is able to effortlessly fit in the plan you are using.

Horses should be treated only when necessary. These animals have been able to grow with the internal parasites hence a small population does not have an effect on their well-being. Exposing such a population only encourages resistance which with time will be a huge issue. It is imperative you make use of the correct deworming plan to avoid these problems.

Ensure that you give the correct dosage. Giving an under-dose can lead to resistance while overdosing the animal is not beneficial. You should always determine the weight of the animals to conclude on the amount that should be given. Their weight can be determined by use of a weighbridge. To add on this, giving tablets is recommended that the liquid dewormers due to spitting out. This prevents under-dosing.

When you are rotating the drugs each season, ensure that you change the active ingredients and not just switching brand names. This greatly helps especially when they have developed resistance. In addition, make sure you consult your veterinarian to confirm whether there is no resistance in your location to the active ingredient that you plan on using. This will enable you to buy and use the required type.

It is important you reduce the usage of the drugs by worming less frequently. This is possible by using drugs that have longer dosing intervals and making use of fecal worm egg count which allows you to treat specific horses whose worm egg count have reached a given level. This normally two hundred eggs and above in a given gram.

Lastly, ensure pastures and shelters are clean by removing droppings. The droppings harbor worms which escaped treatment. The worms have the probability of growing resistance to the dewormer you are using. Getting rid of them denies them the opportunity of reinfecting your horses.




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