We are pleased to announce that we have invested in a Parasight faecal egg count (FEC) machine, which will enable us to quickly test samples in-clinic.
Created and developed in Australia, this machine can give a FEC for a calf sample in less than 6 minutes. We have previously had to send samples away to the laboratories in Christchurch, or spend around 20 minutes preparing and then manually counting the samples.
The machine, which works for cattle, sheep, horses and poultry samples, can also identify the type of eggs present.
In recent years, triple resistance to drenches has been identified in cattle, after being an issue in sheep for quite a few years. So, it is becoming more vital than ever that we use good management practices and animal husbandry to deal with parasite burdens on-farm to ensure your properties continue to have effective drenches, giving profitable results for years to come.
Testing options
For individual samples, we need around 10g (2 tablespoons/a small yoghurt pot amount) taken from individual animals, either yarded or fresh from the paddock. Alternatively, we can run composite samples, where at least 1 tablespoon amount is needed from 10 different animals.
We would like to test samples prior to drenching and, if counts are low enough, recommend you hold off on drenching for an additional week. If we can push out 4-weekly drenching to 5-weekly drenching, this will save a whole drench by the end of the season, and less time spent dosing stock.
The Parasight machine will also enable us to do post-drench checks, to ensure you are spending money on a product that is working and providing benefit to you.
For a more in-depth check that your parasites are responding to the drenches, we can do a Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT). For this, samples are taken before drenching, and again 10-14 days post-drenching (depending on the active ingredients). We can then see how much the egg burden has reduced (hopefully it is down to zero)!
The machine currently cannot detect lungworm, or liver fluke.
Bring your FEC samples in for testing!
