Followup to ikky worm picture - question about worm burden!

[Scarlett 001]

Ok, aren't all horses supposed to have a worm burden even if dewormed? How come we don't normally see worms in the manure? Are the worms microscopic, or do only tiny eggs come out in the poo or something?

Do all of our beautiful horses have some amount of tiny worms creeping around inside of them? I would guess they are much smaller than the one in that photo someone posted... :confused: :eek:

[galadriel]

The worms live inside the horse. The eggs come out in the manure. The horse picks up the eggs, they hatch in the digestive system, and live in the gut. And lay eggs that come back out in manure.

Generally worms that come out with manure will be dead worms, or live worms if there are just so many that some of them get passed on out of the system.

[Gill]

They say all horses carry some worms, but some carry very few or none I think. We have lots of clients testing regularly and there is never anything to see.

Worm eggs are microscopic so you will not see them in dung. After worming you may see worms if there has been a significant burden, but not normally. In all my years of worming/keeping horses I have never seen worms after worming in my own horses, other peoples are a different matter.

My horses are wormed about twice a year and worm counted every three months or so. This plan works well for many people and their horsekeeping. If you look after your horse well then there should be no need to worry too much about these parasites which are after all part of nature.

[RodeoDreamer33]

I just wanted to put in my two cents of thought. Don't let anyone tell you that horses don't have worms when they are wormed. Horses will ALWAYS have worms in them, it is part of them. Wormers just elliminate the very majority of the worms. Horses never have no worms at all. Most of the worms in our horses that are passed through are either jus the microscopic eggs or teeny tiny worms that we cant see.

Julia