Individual Faecal Egg Counts

Worm egg counts (WECs) are an accurate method of checking the worm status of a mob, or individual animals. An individual test provides an indication of the type and size of worm burdens present. This allows the animal owners to choose whether a drench is required. Furthermore, WECs can minimise the use of drenches when they are not required.

An individual WEC gives you 15 individual counts, one from each of the wells in our sample collection tray in our WEC test kits. Eggs per gram (EPG) are calculated for each of the 15 samples to show the highs, lows and distribution of eggs in a mob. This provides valuable information on existing (adult) worm burdens and paddock larval populations if samples were collected just prior to drenching, or, for anthelmintic efficacy, if faecal samples were collected 10-14 days post drenching.

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Our individual tests are conducted using one of two methods, McMaster or Mini-FLOTAC.

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The McMaster method is the traditional standard when it comes to parasitology and worm egg counts. On the submission form, it is just referred to as an Individual. We use this test for all herd checks and monitoring purposes, basic faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs), and ASBVs. For sheep, results are reported at 50EPG. For cattle & horses, we report results at 20EPG.

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The Mini-FLOTAC method is our sensitive test. On the submission form, it is referred to as a Sensitive Individual. This test should be used in Drench Resistance tests and in cattle monitoring as they are the tests that can really  take advantage of a 5EPG sensitivity.