Announcements
Updates from Dr. Byrd and Horsemen's LaboratoryPrice IncreaseThank you for your loyal support over the years, we look forward to continuing to help you evaluate your horses’ worm control program. However, due to the increases in labor, materials, and postage we must increase our prices. Therefore on May 1 2013 the price will increase by $2 per sample. Any samples purchased before May 1st will be processed for the fee prior to May 1st.
Example: If you purchase 6 samples before May 1st and do not use any sample before May 1st they will still be processed at the price you paid for them not at the new price.
McHenry County Horse ClubThe visit to the Hooved Animal Humane Society in Woodstock on April 8th where I spoke to the McHenry County Horse Club was a great evening. The meeting was well attended and there were many great questions that indicated the members are very interested in protecting their horses from worms. Becky and I enjoyed visiting with the members after the discussion and would like to thank Vern and Judy Scacci for their invitation to speak. We would also like to thank all the members for their participation and especially Mark Boettcher for all his help.
Woodstock Il. speaking engagementDr. John Byrd will be presenting “ARE THE WORMS WINNING” (a discussion about internal parasites developing resistance to dewormers) at 7:30 P M April 8, 2013.
The discussion will be held at the HOOVED ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIATY office 10714 McConnell Rd. Woodstock Il.
Ill Horse FairThe Illinois Horse Fair appeared to be very successful. Friday started a little slow but later in the after noon there appeared to be an increase in activity. Saturday was very active from the start. My lecture was very well attended with a full room and very attentive crowd. I deeply appreciated the opportunity to speak on a topic (developing resistance in equine parasites)that I think is very important. The best method of getting the word out about this problem appears to be a one on one campaign.
Horses in the Morning Radio Interview Oct. 5Did you miss the interview with Dr. John Byrd on Horses in the Morning radio? Download the episode or listen to the interview using the default or your preferred player from
here. The interview starts at 29:00 minutes and goes to about 46:30.
Want to know why equine parasites are the ultimate survivors?Watch for Horsemen’s Laboratory article in the June 2012 edition of
Trail Blazer magazine.
FDA Meeting on Parasite resistanceBecky and I (John W. Byrd, DVM) attended the meeting put on by the FDA on internal parasite resistant in horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. Great deal of material on the subject was presented. We hope to share some of this material with our clients over the next few months in Horsemen's Laboratory's e-newsletter.
Dr Byrd's Speaking dates
Deworming your horseFor more up to date information on controlling intestinal parasites (worms) that may be affecting your horses go to www.thehorse.com/Videos.aspx?tab=webinar. Watch the webinar DEWORMING YOUR HORSE the latest information on deworming strategies and how you can help prevent resistance to dewormers by Dr Craig Reinemeyer and Dr Wendy Vaala.
New Deworming ProtocolThe new deworming protocol is based on the fact that all horses in a group or herd will fall into 3 categories light, medium, and heavy egg shedders. The heavy shedders are responsible for 80% of the eggs that hatch into larva that develop into infective stages in a pasture. It is suggested that horses shedding 200 eggs/gram or less are light shedders. Horses that are shedding 200 eggs/ gram – 500 eggs/gram are medium shedders. Horses shedding over 500 eggs/gram are considered heavy shedders. Light shedders should be dewormed 2 times a year, medium shedders should be dewormed 3 times a year, and heavy shedders should be dewormed 4 times a year. This protocol was suggested by the equine parasitologists that spoke at the Symposium on Equine Parasite Resistance. Horsemen's Laboratory recommend owner deworm all horses 1 time a year to insure that tapeworms or bot and pinworms do not get out of hand. There may be circumstances that cause this schedule to be altered.
The aim of this protocol is to slow down the progress of resistance by leaving some sensitive worms to mate with the resistant worms causing their offspring to remain sensitive to the dewormers that are available. Since there are no new dewormers on the horizon in the near future it is important to delay the development of more resistant as long as possible. Certainly fecal egg counts are critical to this deworming protocol.
2009 Equine Parasite SymposiumI just returned from Lexington Kentucky where I attended the 2009 Equine Parasite Symposium at the Gluck Equine Research Center on the campus of the University of Kentucky. The main topic at this meeting was the developing resistance of parasites to the dewormers that are available including ivermectin. The two main concerns of the parasitologists attending the meeting were.
1. If something is not done to slow the rate of this developing resistance the parasite problem in horses could become critical because there are no new deworming medications ready for use in the horse.
2. There is a need to change the deworming practices and indentify the areas where resistance to these medications exists. This can be done by developing a combination of dewormers and other husbandry practices to protect horses from parasites.
Doing stool samples before deworming can identify which worms are present so the proper dewormer combination can be used and only those horses that need to be dewormed will be dewormed. By following this plan it is felt the rate of developing resistance can be slowed. By doing a stool sample again after deworming can also help to identify where resistance to dewormers may already exist.
Practical Horseman ArticleYou may want to check out the article TARGET: WORMS on page 78 March 2006 edition of Practical Horseman.
This article actually refers to Horsemen's Laboratory for doing fecal egg counts to evaluate your horse's worm control program.
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