Faecal Worm Egg Counts (FWEC)

Worming-based on FWEC results are vital to prevent resistance from becoming a real problem in our horse population. Blanket worming all horse regularly is no longer recommended and should be based on FWEC results, and risk factors that make them more predisposed to have a higher worm burden.

Risk factors for high worm burden:

• Horses under 5 years old
• Older horses or horses suffering from concurrent diseases
• Busy yards with little pasture rotation or picking up droppings

Your FWECs should be collected and labelled individually and dropped off for a 48-hour turnaround on results. All FWEC will be interpreted by a vet, and worming advice given accordingly.

Samples should be collected, in general:

1. Late March/early April
2. Early June
3. Late August

If your horse requires worming outside of the annual worming window (November/December time) based on FWEC results – it is recommended that a follow-up FWEC is completed 14 days after the treatment to ensure it has been successful. This is free of charge, as long as the wormer is purchased from the practice.

How to collect an FWEC for your horse:

• Request a FWEC sample bag (below)
• Watch the video on how to take sample correctly
• Label bag 
• Pop into post

Pick a fresh dropping (less than 24 hours old), take several pinches from different faecal balls of the same dropping to get a representative sample.