Faecal Worm Egg Count (FWEC)
A Personal and Gentle Approach to Veterinary Physiotherapy
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Why do I need to do this test?
Faecal worm egg counts detect eggs of strongyle type worms such as large redworms, small redworms and roundworms, but not tapeworms.
Regular faecal worm egg counts throughout the grazing season will help to assess whether your horse needs to be wormed. By only worming your horse when you need to will help to reduce resistance to the drugs used in wormers and is better for your horse.
We need to do all we can to reduce resistance to wormers as, if we do not take these steps, wormers will cease to work effectively in the future.
What does the result mean?
It is generally recommended that you worm your horse if the result is 200 eggs per gram or above. Your vet will be able to give you advice on a suitable wormer.
If the result is under 200 eggs per gram, you will probably not need to worm your horse.
It is important to continue with regular faecal worm egg counts throughout the grazing season (approx. every 12 weeks) as the worm life cycle includes larval stages that are not detected from a faecal worm egg count.
As faecal worm egg counts do not identify all types of worm, it is important to carry out a test for tapeworm (usually in the Autumn/early winter via Equisal test) and also treat your horse for encysted small redworm larvae a few weeks after the first frost in the autumn/winter.
How can worms affect your horse?
Worms are a normal occurrence in horses and are present in the vast majority of horses at varying levels of infestation. Eggs can be ingested from infected pasture, and develop inside the horse’s gut or lungs where they have the potential to cause disease. Eggs produced by the adult worm will then be shed in the faeces to increase existing worm burdens on the pasture and to potentially infect new horses.
When present in low numbers, worms cause minimal problems. However, when present in moderate or larger numbers, they can severely affect our horses’ health and can result in poor body condition, colic and general ill health. More seriously, they can also damage a horse’s intestines and other internal organs, often causing irreversible harm with potentially fatal consequences.
It’s vital that horses are treated with the right wormer at the right time of year: this can be achieved through a targeted worming programme.
Whilst most of us understand the need to worm our horses regularly, there is evidence to suggest that many of us are not treating our horses in the most effective way. With an increasing risk of resistance to anthelmintics (wormers), it is vital that we adopt a proper worming strategy to protect our horses and ponies from the threat of irreversible damage.
Prevention is better than cure
By incorporating home modifications, diet changes, regular targeted exercise and more helps to ensure that the need for chronic medication is reduced or eliminated for as long as possible.
Equine prices and how to book
Other species coming soon.
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A single FWEC test for one horse
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A single FWEC test for five or more horses
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Four FWEC tests through the year for one horse.
Equisal is a seperate test which we send out to you at the appropriate time.
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