Name: Ross and Janice Brewer
Location: Lambs Valley NSW
Course(s) Studied: Faecal Worm Egg Counting
This Faecal Worm Egg Count Course has been of immense value to us in a very short period of time. The training provided by Dave was excellent. We had no trouble following the course, which can be a challenge when delivered to a group online. Both of us were able to work through the training and activities with ease.
We had collected individual faecal samples from our entire herd the day prior to the course. During the course we were able to work through 3 test samples and gain confidence that we were seeing an accurate result. The following day we continued to work through the rest of the herd and obtain a clear understanding of the worm burden. We decided to worm with Cydectin Injectable the next day (Sunday 12th Sept) and review the results 12-14 days later. We knew this would be a critical review as for some of the alpacas this was the same wormer they had received on the last treatment.
The review on 26th September was very interesting. We again sampled the entire herd. All the treated alpacas saw a reduction in burden but the result was not what was desired, all retained some burden. Juliette recorded a Zero count but she had been treated because we had not been able to obtain a sample prior to the course. It is likely she was already Zero.
These results clearly indicated that the Cydectin treatment had not been effective and we subsequently again treated all alpacas with a count of 120 or more, this time with Zolvix.
Yesterday we completed the follow up review from the Zolvix treatment on 29th September. Pleasingly all alpacas have returned a Zero count. This includes alpacas that had not been treated with Zolvix (previous count less than 120).
We are confident that the FWEC Training has provided us with key skills to monitor and treat our alpacas. We employ a protocol of only treating as required, this course means we are able to monitor the status of individuals easily.
Thank you for a wonderful course and your support.
Kind Regards,
Ross & Janice Brewer
📷Glencroft Lilybelle, photo courtesy of Janice and Ross Brewer