The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Clay on July 30, 2017, 04:36:07 pm
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Is anyone out there getting worm accounts done for their sheep? My attitude is I did not want to worm unnecessarily. I was thinking about sending them off to a lab independent from the vets. Can anyone recommend a reliable lab to use?
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Are you near a Mole Valley or Mole Country Store? If so you can buy a prepaid kit from them for £9.00 including VAT. Otherwise you can buy them online. When I sent my last one off on a Monday, they rang me before lunchtime on the Tuesday with the result and then emailed it too! See the link here
http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/sheep-faecal-worm-egg-count-kit (http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/sheep-faecal-worm-egg-count-kit)
CONTENTS OF A FAECAL WORM EGG COUNT KIT:
Prepaid, addressed envelope
10 Blue Gloves
2 Clear Plastic Bags
Instruction Card
INSTRUCTIONS:Write YOUR SURNAME, SAMPLE NAME and the DATE on the white strip on the small resealable plastic wallets provided.Place the glove provided on your hand and pick up a golf ball size of fresh (preferably warm) dung.Turn the glove inside out while holding the dung sample so that it effectively lands up inside the inverted glove, tie a knot in the glove.Place the 10 gloves with samples in them inside the plastic wallet and seal (5 samples per wallet).Fill in all the necessary detail inside this leaflet.Place the sealed wallets and this leaflet in the prepaid envelope provided.It is important to send the sample BEFORE the LAST POST of the day, to ensure we receive it while still fresh.ONLY POST MONDAY TO THURSDAY to avoid any delays.This card will be returned to you and the results will be reported and discussed over the phone, so please provide the most accessible PHONE NUMBER.Results will also be emailed or posted so please tick your preference.Sheep must not have been wormed 14 days prior to testing.
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what's wrong with sending them to the vets?
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In the past found vets very expensive .
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Are you near a Mole Valley or Mole Country Store? If so you can buy a prepaid kit from them for £9.00 including VAT. Otherwise you can buy them online. When I sent my last one off on a Monday, they rang me before lunchtime on the Tuesday with the result and then emailed it too! See the link here
http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/sheep-faecal-worm-egg-count-kit (http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/sheep-faecal-worm-egg-count-kit)
Thank you for the recommendation of Mole Country Store
CONTENTS OF A FAECAL WORM EGG COUNT KIT:
Prepaid, addressed envelope
10 Blue Gloves
2 Clear Plastic Bags
Instruction Card
INSTRUCTIONS:Write YOUR SURNAME, SAMPLE NAME and the DATE on the white strip on the small resealable plastic wallets provided.Place the glove provided on your hand and pick up a golf ball size of fresh (preferably warm) dung.Turn the glove inside out while holding the dung sample so that it effectively lands up inside the inverted glove, tie a knot in the glove.Place the 10 gloves with samples in them inside the plastic wallet and seal (5 samples per wallet).Fill in all the necessary detail inside this leaflet.Place the sealed wallets and this leaflet in the prepaid envelope provided.It is important to send the sample BEFORE the LAST POST of the day, to ensure we receive it while still fresh.ONLY POST MONDAY TO THURSDAY to avoid any delays.This card will be returned to you and the results will be reported and discussed over the phone, so please provide the most accessible PHONE NUMBER.Results will also be emailed or posted so please tick your preference.Sheep must not have been wormed 14 days prior to testing.
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In the past found vets very expensive .
So did I !
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In the past found vets very expensive .
So did I !
Did you try anywhere else?
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In the past found vets very expensive .
I think ours were about 12 quid, and then we treated for fluke only.
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No I didn't, once I had found the Mole system I have stuck with that.
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Hi there,
Yes, my husband and I have a small flock of Finnsheep and we certainly do bring labeled bags of our sheep's pellets to tufts every 3-4 months or so. High parasite counts are very disturbing...cause discomfort for sheep and can lead to severe issues. We used to take them once a month bc the young ones seemed to have very high numbers---and we have a postage stamp size farm (so cleanliness is a definite requirement here). I can share what we have learned and implemented to get our fecal count numbers down to zero to 150!
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How many are you doing that cost is an issue? Can you trust Mole for interpretation?
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I do hope you can trust Mole interpretation as I've just ordered a pack from them.
Prior to ordering them I have done a bit of research. The samples can be sent direct to the lab Mole are using which is currently a large animal practice - St Davids Farm Practice in Exmouth. I spoke to the receptionist at the vets who told me that a qualified person would look at the samples and forward the results to me. She also assured me that the samples would be looked at in a timely manner.
I hope this helps
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How many are you doing that cost is an issue?
The flock plan we received from our original vet (we changed when a closer one opened up), called for at least six samples a year, at £12 each, which soon adds up for a small number of sheep.
In the end I bought an old 1960s microscope on ebay, and am in the process of learning to do my own FECs (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=78702). It's really not that difficult, and once you have the kit (mine cost £75 all told), you can do as many tests as you like. I do intend to split samples and send to the vet occasionally as a cross-check too though.
We had some squitty lambs last week, and it took me fifteen minutes to run a couple of samples (both clear). To check I wasn't doing anything wrong with the microscope, I nipped over the fence into our neighbour's field and stole some poo..... they were absolutely riddled! :o
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Single , when you say £12 per sample , my vet charges £8.50 but I take in several separate samples , the number depends on the number of sheep or lambs I have. They then do a pooled sample which is well worth it in my opinion. I can take in six or eight samples for that .
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Correct me if I'm wrong but a pooled sample is just mixing together all the individual samples and then counting the eggs
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Yes Shep it is but an exact amount of each and an overall better ,IMO , idea of the general worm count. Have done individual ones before and had neg and over a thousand so I prefer an overview unless I am concerned about any individual sheep / lamb