What is your de-worming routine?

[dappleton]

Was just wondering what you all use to de-worm? how often? and why you use the products that you do?
I'm not in the UK and i'm feeling that perhaps things are moving on in this field and i'm a bit behind with the times...so if you have a spare moment your comments would be of great interest. Thanks

Worm count, then treat with whatever the lab recommends. Depending on who has what worms, maybe twice a year.

I also worm count twice and only worm if needed for what is found (90% of the time they are clear and I don't worm), then I also worm for tapeworm twice a year when the frosts start and as soon as the frosts finish.

I also worm count. We're with Intelligent Worming and the wormers/counts just come through the post and I do as I'm told. Not sure we're actually worming less though, which is what they advertise. Really rather ambivalent about it, but it os one less thing to think about

I also worm count when I think of it and they are always clear or low. They then just need doing for tapeworm once/twice a year plus encysted redworms/bots in the Winter. So quite cheap these days! I have never poo picked.

Twice a year , no worm counting ,except the ones we dig out of the muck heap for the chickens , poo pick every day .

Need a reality check on what I'm doing here, (sorry to hijack dappleton, but my regime seems crazy and costing loads compared with what's described here and what others on yard are doing)

So, we pay £30 a month for 4 horses (includes wormers). They are all returning negative worm counts consistently, they don't swap fields or grazing companions and the poo is picked daily. This is the programme:

26/9/11 egg counts (2 horses)
17/10/11 egg counts (1 horse) & equitape (2 horses)
31/10 panacur guard (one horse) equitape (1 horse)
7/11 egg counts (2 horse)
21/11 panacur guard (1 horse)equest (same 2 horses as equitape on 17/10)
26/12 equimax (1 horse)
16/1 equimax (1 horse)
6/3 equimax (2 horses, same ones as equitape on 17/10/11 and 21/11/11)
23/4 egg count (1)
18/6 egg count (3)
4/9 egg count (2)

Apparently they can't treat them as a herd as we got them at different times. The two we've had longest will have 3 tapeworm treatments between October and March, one of the others will have one, and one will have two. Is it me being lazy and tight fisted or is this a bit ridiculous? Would you renew, or just worm to a programme?

Sorry it's long and detailed, won't be surprised if you've all glazed over by now!

You don't need to egg count every month! That's madness! At most I'd do every 3 months. I actually do every 6 months. And of course you can do them as a herd! You just string everybody out a bit overdue and then start again. But if you are counting, you shouldnt neet to do everyone all the time. Just the ones who return with a worm burden. If your egg count is clear, don't use a wormer. That's the point. It stops people using them needlessly and the worms getting resistant.

Ditto Saggyold. The point of work counting is not to work unless they need it to avoid worms building resistence. I worm for tapeworm because worm counts do not check for tapeworm you need a blood test for that, but if you were to blood test you would not need to do this either. If you are in the UK get in touch with Westgate Laboratories, they are very helpful and their website has a lot of information.

That's why I need a reality check here. I'm spending a fortune with this company who 'guarantee' that you immediately stop giving unnecessary chemicals and stop worms developing resistance, yet I seem to be worming far more than other people, despite all worm counts being clear.

I also queried the 3 tapeworm treatments and was told that they were including an extra one now so as to make strategic use of combination wormers in the future. Does that actually make sense? And one horse isn't getting tapeworm (and bot) treatment till end December, yet we had loads of bot eggs which we told them about. I can't quite make sense of this.

I don't worm mine at the moment-they're all kept in a herd, remain on our land and we have no other equines who use our fields. I also poo pick regularly.
I used to religiously work when my competition mare was at a diy yard, however I feel it's better for them if you can avoid worming, assuming they don't get worms!
If I was to start worming I'd been keen to do the kits then you know if your horse has worms and what worms you're trying to get rid of, then you're not just pumping them full of wormer for no/wrong reason.
One of the worming companies does give a good 'calendar' of what to worm when-can't remember which one sorry!

We worm as little as possible, don't want the worms getting resistant and don't want to give the horses unnecessary chemicals either.
BUT, we don't share a field with anyone else or go to shows/rallies etc and we poo pick every single day. Plus the field is divided and each part gets rested. They get wormed a couple of times a year, although we did give dhorse a really good dose recently as he spent some time at another yard. It wasn't easy, you can't get near him with a syringe and he won't eat the paste type stuff in his feed. We eventually used the tablets that are supposed to taste like apple, crushed to a powder in his dinner after trying and failing to hide them in bananas (his favourite!).
My sister works at a vet's and gets the wormers for us on staff discount (they are a small animal vet but all the staff are horsey so can give good advice!) and I just go along with whatever she brings home.

Apart from anything else, many wormers remain in the system for up to 3 months, and using more often is actually overdosing. I'd ditch this. Ompany straight away if I was you!

twice a year - poo pick daily and they don't graze with any other horses - use Ivermectin in late spring and Ivermectin/Praziquantel or Moxidectin/Praziquantel in late autumn to get the bots as well

I'm just having to take care of my mare's worming myself for the first time in 5+ years.

Can anyone recommend a website which will analyse and sell?

I can't get paste down her because I am a midget and she sticks her head up in the air, so in the past I've squirted it on her dinner.

Any recommendations?

Westgate laboratories. You can now get wormers in treat type form. You get a few placebo tabs to see if the horse will eat them, but they are really palateable.

Tried those. Dhorse ate the first one then refused to eat the rest. Had to crush them up in his feed in the end.

This is interesting, you're all de-worming less than I thought. Worm counts and all these lab tests slipped me by....didn't deworm much in UK as just 2 horses on 4 acres, rotated grazing, poo picking didn't ever see the point of regular de-worming. Now have 13 horses mainly stabled and all sharing small grazing areas for limited periods of time each day. I don't have access to a lab for worm-counts and the only de-wormer I can find is Ivermectin so i've been using twice a year but feel it can't be treating all worms - feel I should be using in combination with something else. I was also starting to think i should de-worm every 3 months but it seems most people are not doing this now which is re-assuring (i think .

I spoke to a NH guy yesterday about this - he doesn't like sticking his horse full of chemicals, yet at the same time you don't have any control over what "other people's routines" are. So he recommended 2 good goes a year and then using common sense the rest of the time - i.e., keeping an eye on her condition.

If they're all yours dappleton and your routine is good then I don't think you need to go at it with the metaphorical sledgehammer.

Having just been doing twice yearly Equest (the Equest 'extra' one! I know that is not what it is called, but I can't remember the other part - begins with a P), and worm counts, my mare just had a high worm count :(

She has since had the Panacur 5 day course, but I am now just as wary of relying on worm counts, as I was of her developing a resistance! Can't win :-/