Checking your alpacas For Worms
By Judy McRae, Blue Gum Alpacas
Quite by accident I found a web site that included some pages on testing for worm eggs; up until then I thought it was
something only a vet or laboratory could do. You don't need expensive specialist equipment and you certainly don't
need a PhD! This article is meant as a guide only and hopefully will get some of you interested enough to have a go. I
have included the pictures of worm eggs at the end of this article, but they do not reproduce very clearly on a
photocopier so if you want the original pictures, let me know, and I can either post or email them to you.
The equipment you will need:• Microscope -Cheap ones can be picked up at second hand shops. It only needs to magnify XI00 and most
seem to go Up to X400. It should have its own light source (battery powered).
• 1 or 2 test tubes or film containers (or equivalent).
• Flotation solution. (Recipe follows).
• Slides -I got mine from Bunbury Pathology!
• Paca poo -about 3 or 4 pellets in a jam jar
• Stirrer -kept exclusively for the job; a small fork is good.
• Tea strainer -also kept exclusively for straining poo solution.
The flotation solution is a saturated salt solution which is made by dissolving as much salt as you can in warm water in
a jam jar. That is, until salt crystals are left at the bottom of the jar after it has been mixed and mixed and mixed! You
can keep this in the fridge until it's needed.
First you need to collect your specimen. Only use fresh manure and 4 pellets is about the right amount. It is not
necessary to get your fresh specimen so fresh that it requires a gloved finger inserted into the rectum of the animal,
(unless you really don't have the time to wait by the poo pile!) Freshly passed manure is OK picked up off the ground
into a container such as a jam jar. If you want specimens from several different animals then don't forget to label the
jars. It is advisable not to carry out your testing on the kitchen bench, or anywhere food is prepared! I do mine in the
laundry which is right next to the toilet for easy disposal of the leftovers.
Add some flotation solution (saturated salt solution) to the jar with the paca poo and stir well. The pellets must be well
crushed up and dispersed in the liquid so the worm eggs will float to the top of the liquid. Strain the mixture through
the tea strainer without forcing it through - you only want to strain out the big bits. Now pour it into your test tube,
right to the top, to form a meniscus i.e. the curved surface of the fluid rising above the top of the tube. I usually wait
about 40 minutes before examining the specimen under the microscope to give the eggs time to float to the top. (I set
the timer or I never get back to it!). When the time's up get your slide and gently touch the top of the meniscus with it.
Turn the slide over with a gentle but rapid motion so that the wet spot is on the top. Now put it under your microscope
on magnification 100 and get it into focus. You won't see a thing if you haven't turned the light on! Move the slide
around slowly as you look through the microscope.
After you've had a bit of experience you will be able to differentiate between air bubbles, debris and the different
worm eggs. The most common ones you will probably find are strongyloides, coccidia and monesia expansa
(tapeworm).
On our property we are lucky enough to have very few worm problems in the alpacas: the biggest problem is the
tapeworm in the younger stock and often the first you will see of it is the egg packets, like grains of rice, in the
manure. Test this manure and you will easily identify the eggs as they are quite different from the others. I've had most
of my practice identifying worm species in the goats! In fact it was when I lost a valuable goat through Barber's Pole
worm that I got really serious about testing on a regular basis.
The photos of the worm eggs are ideal for identifying purposes. It's important to remember that some worms present
are perfectly normal and healthy, so if you find a couple on your slide you probably haven't got a problem. If,
however, you find large numbers of eggs then you should drench with the appropriate drench, and I'm not about to tell
you which one, I'll leave that to your vet! Happy hunting!
Further information: Web site www.tennesseemeatgoats.com
www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite
Goat Farmer Aug/Sept '97. "Doing your own Faecal Egg Counting" by Dagny Vidinsh