Friday, October 26, 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.

The first step you should take as a farmer is determining the level of worms in the horses. This is very easy as there are a number of tests that can be done. The first one is fecal egg count. This test indicates levels of adult roundworms that produce eggs. It is normally carried after three to four months and can identify animals with higher burdens which require treatment. The test is useful in identifying the animals showing resistance to treatment.

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.

The correct dose should be given at all times. Under-dosing leads to resistance whereas overdosing is not beneficial. The weight of the horses will help you determine the amounts that should be given. A weighing tape is normally used in determining the weight. When giving the correct dosage, tablets are preferred as compared to the liquid dewormers since the animals tend to spit out some of it which can result in under-dosing.

When rotating the drugs every season, make an effort of changing the active element instead of switching brand names. This will help more so if the animals have developed resistance. To add on this, remember to talk to your vet who will inform you if there is resistance to the active element you want to use in your location. This allows you to make the right choice.

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.

Learn to regularly remove droppings from shelters and their pasture. By doing this, you are removing almost all worms which managed to survive treatment. Such worms have the ability to become resistant after a while to the type of drug you are using. By removing them, you are preventing them in reinfecting your horses since they will not be capable to complete their life cycle.




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