Aside from drenches at one or two strategic times the mob’s average worm egg count should be the basis for other drenching decisions.
For those who like to see all the information and simply read through it in order. Each heading is a link to a page of information—the dot point provides a summary of the page.
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Checking a mob of goats for worms with a WormTest
How-to guide to collect and submit samples for a mob worm test to a laboratory.
Worm egg counting
How worm egg counting is carried out.
Assessing worm burdens without a WormTest
Other ways to assess whether goats have worms and what level of worms exist.
Collecting dung samples from individual goats (optional)
How-to guide on collecting dung samples from individual goats (for drench resistance tests or genetic assessment of worm resistance).
Worm testing for stud goat breeders (optional)
How-to guide for stud goat breeders who want to gain worm egg count values for individual goats.
For those who prefer a problem based approach to learning, answer the following questions.
Each of the questions below links further down the page to the answers.
Questions:
Answers:
You can also click on each question below to go to WormBoss pages with related information.
1. How many individuals should be sampled for a WormTest?
Collect the number of samples per mob as recommended by your laboratory. Ideally this would be from at least 20 goats or if you have less than 20, from all the goats you own.
2. Name a standard time when you should WormTest.
WormTests can be done at any time; however there are certain routine times to WormTest (preferably with a larval culture):
3. What 2 things does a larval culture tell you and how these help you make a drenching decision?
A WormTest refers to a ‘Worm Egg Count Test’ or ‘WEC test’; it will identify the number of worm eggs in faeces, which is a good indication of the worm burden of the goat. Some laboratories can also perform a ‘Larval Culture’ (also called a ‘Larval Differentiation’) to identify the types of worms present and their proportion (the importance of this varies according to your location).
4. Name a situation when you would drench without a WormTest?
A) When giving a quarantine drench.
B) When giving a strategic drench. The timing of strategic drenches depends on the region and the class of goat, as their use is closely associated with times when goats are most susceptible to worms or when development of eggs to infective larvae on pasture is likely to be extremely low (to reduce pasture contamination) or high (to pre-empt likely immediate problems). Strategic drenches are given regardless of the average worm egg count of the herd.
There are six common strategic drenches; not all are used in every region. The WormBoss programs outline which strategic drenches to use in each region.
Details of when/how to use strategic drenches are in Your Program.
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