Eraquell Pellets Horse Wormer

Tips For Use

When to Use Eraquell Pellets:

Worming Intervals:

How often horses are wormed depends on the property’s management system. It is ideal to use the minimum number of treatments possible in a year, as over worming can lead to resistance. Depending on a number of factors, some horse owners will need to worm more often than others.

Where there are large numbers of horses kept close together and/or horses are frequently moving on and off a property, there will be a greater need for worm control. This is because these horses will be at the greatest risk of contamination. Horses in these situations, generally on studs or agistment properties, will need to be wormed every six to eight weeks.

It may be possible, where there are low stocking densities, to worm horses less often. The use of paddock management procedures like manure removal, paddock rotation and grazing with other species will also help lower contamination pressure.

All horses should be wormed at least once every 3 months regardless of the conditions in which they are kept. All horses on a property should be wormed at the same time. New horses should be quarantined and wormed before coming onto the property. If you are unsure about what drenching interval is right for your situation please consult your vet or local Virbac area manager

Rotation:

It is important to “rotate” wormers by alternating from one compound to another. This should not be done every time you worm, but rather on a seasonal basis. In Australia, seasonal conditions are ideal for parasite growth during most of the year, particularly the warm wet months of spring and autumn, however, the lifecycle of different parasites mean that they may be more active at different times of the year.

When considering a rotational program, you must also ensure that you are actually changing the compounds that you are using. Many of the wormers on the market contain the same or similar active ingredients and switching the brand name or colour of the box may not mean you have actually changed the active you are using. There are two main families of active: the “mectin” or “ML” class those with names ending in “-ectin”, and the “BZ” class of active those ending in “-azole”. There are other classes of the active ingredients, but they are less commonly used and are generally used in combination with other actives to target specific parasites.

To ensure the best seasonal worm treatment, it is recommended that a BZ based wormer like Strategy-T is used in spring and summer, and a mectin-based wormer like Eraquell is used in autumn and winter. You may also want to include a special treatment in early spring for encysted cyathostomes if these are a problem for your horse. Either fenbendazole or moxidectin can be used under veterinary supervision.

Treatment of Mares and Foals:

Eraquell is safe to use in pregnant and lactating mares. Pregnant mares should be treated as normal during their pregnancy taking care not to stress them during treatment. Mares should be wormed two weeks prior to their expected foaling date. Once a mare has foaled the mare and foal should both be wormed starting from when the foal is six weeks old. Due to difficulties in accurately measuring a dose, it is not recommended to administer Eraquell Pellets to foals.

Treatment of Young Horses:

Ascarids are worms that primarily only affect horses under two years of age. Once the horse matures they develop a natural immunity to ascarids and so they are rarely seen in older horses. As ascarids are such a large worm that can quickly develop into life-threatening numbers, they are the most significant parasite in horses under two years of age. Unfortunately, it appears that ascarids are the worm species developing resistance to the mectins. To protect young horses from potential mectin resistance, it is recommended that a combination product registered to treat mectin resistant ascarids, such as Equimax Elevation or Strategy-T, be used. Young horses should be wormed with Strategy-T in spring and summer and Equimax Elevation in autumn and winter from six weeks of age until they are two years old. At this stage, they can be put on the Eraquell/Strategy-T rotation.

How to Use Eraquell Pellets:

Estimating Weight

Most people underestimate a horse’s weight by as much as 20%. Underestimating weight can lead to underdosing. Giving a horse less than the required dose of wormer can leave them at risk of worm-related disease, as potentially worms will be left untreated within the horse.  Underdosing can also encourage the development of resistance in horses by exposing the worms to sub-lethal doses of wormer. It is therefore important to correctly estimate your horse’s weight when deciding on the correct dose of wormer to give them. It is in fact preferable to give horses a slight overdose rather than underdose.

There are several methods to determine a horse’s weight, the most accurate being a set of scales. As most horse owners do not have easy access to horse scales, there are other methods that horse owners can use to get a good estimate of their horses’ weight. A reasonable estimation of a horse’s weight can be made using the formula below.

Weight = (girth(cm)2 x length) divided by 11877

Another method that can be used to estimate the weight is by using one of the commercially available weight tapes. Some tapes are accurate and some are not, so it is a good idea to first calibrate the tape using the formula to confirm that it is measuring accurately. Weight tapes are not suitable to use in immature horses, which have a different body composition to older animals

Understanding Worm Egg Counts:

​This information and product advice is not intended to be advice or recommendations for any specific use or circumstance. You should seek specialist advice before using any product. Always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. Specialist Sales liability is limited.​