{"id":25660,"date":"2024-10-16T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T13:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bandoncoop.ie\/agri\/?page_id=25660"},"modified":"2025-03-18T09:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T09:55:15","slug":"worm-fluke-faecal-egg-count-fec-testing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bandoncoop.ie\/agri\/worm-fluke-faecal-egg-count-fec-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Worm & Fluke Faecal Egg Count (FEC) Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Worm & Fluke Faecal Egg Count (FEC) Testing<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Are you thinking of treating your animals for fluke or worms?<\/h4>

Bandon Co-op now provide rapid faecal worm & fluke tests in-house with same day results!<\/strong><\/p>

Adult gut worms produce eggs that are passed out with the dung. These hatch into larvae and depending on weather conditions can survive for months on the pasture. When animals eat the herbage, the larvae are ingested and develop into adult worms, continuing the life cycle. Over the summer season, there is a build-up of larvae on the pastures that can overwhelm animals resulting in illness such as scour or reduced growth rates.<\/p>

A faecal egg count (FEC) is a test to determine if there are worm eggs or larvae in a dung sample from livestock. A FEC counts the number of worm or fluke eggs in faeces (dung) and is used to monitor the worm\/fluke burden in ruminants. The results are presented as \u2018eggs per gram\u2019 (epg) of faeces and the number of eggs is an indication of the number of adult worms or fluke\u00a0 in the gut of the animals. They can also be used to detect liver fluke eggs and coccidial oocysts. It is advised to do a regular FEC for gut worms in first season grazing calves from two months after turn-out as part of a parasite control plan to get a better understanding of the pasture contamination pattern on your farm.<\/p>

It has the\u00a0 potential to reduce labour, save money, provide early identification of infected animals, and reduce antimicrobial resistance by targeted treatment of animals at the correct time.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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How best to use FEC?<\/h4>

Faecal eggs counts should be used alongside other performance indicators, such as growth rates, to give a more rounded picture of whether a worm treatment is needed. If feed is of good quality, but animals are not meeting performance targets and FECs are high, then treatment for worms may be indicated.<\/p>

What are FECs useful for?<\/h4>