Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Worm egg counts  (Read 4405 times)

Clay

  • Joined Oct 2016
Worm egg counts
« on: July 30, 2017, 04:36:07 pm »
 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?


nimbusllama

  • Joined Nov 2010
  • Near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2017, 09:57:16 am »
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



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.

DartmoorLiz

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • Devon
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2017, 05:09:19 pm »
what's wrong with sending them to the vets?

Never ever give up.

Clay

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2017, 06:29:40 pm »
In the past found vets very expensive .

Clay

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2017, 06:31:45 pm »
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

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.

nimbusllama

  • Joined Nov 2010
  • Near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2017, 06:52:42 pm »
In the past found vets very expensive .
So did I !

Clay

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2017, 07:56:57 pm »
In the past found vets very expensive .
So did I !

Did you try anywhere else?

davet

  • Joined Sep 2016
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2017, 09:43:58 pm »
In the past found vets very expensive .

I think ours were about 12 quid, and then we treated for fluke only.

nimbusllama

  • Joined Nov 2010
  • Near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2017, 11:24:13 pm »
No I didn't, once I had found the Mole system I have stuck with that.

Finnsheep

  • Joined Aug 2017
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2017, 02:16:45 pm »
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!

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2017, 06:24:36 pm »
How many are you doing that cost is an issue? Can you trust Mole for interpretation?

Clay

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2017, 08:17:22 pm »
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

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2017, 08:20:33 pm »
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. 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
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Melmarsh

  • Joined May 2014
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2017, 10:40:13 pm »
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 .

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Worm egg counts
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2017, 12:57:54 pm »
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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