Just found what appears to be a dead bot worm in manure

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minimom1

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I wormed my horses the other day and today I found what appears to be a dead

bot worm in a pile of manure in the paddock.

The problem is I have a mini donkey, a mini yearling filly and a 5 yr old pregnant mini

mare and I don't know which one it came from.

Should I worm them again to make sure they are all worm free ?

Would that harm the mare that is 4 months pregnant ?
 
If they are due to be wormed then worm them all for bots. That is what I would do anyway.

I don't have any experience with donkeys but I have read that if you have donkeys with horses then you must also worm for lung worms.
 
Gasterophilus, "bots" hatch within a week or two. The larvae is carried to the lip or jaw hairs and can also be tranferred to the mouth by licking of the legs hairs. They stay in the mouth for about a month and develop to the second stage before heading to the stomach. This trip usually takes about a month from mouth to stomach. In the stomach, they develop into their third stage and attach to the stomach or upper part of the small intestine and stay there for 8-10 months befire being passed in stool. Therefore, I would rule out the bot that you have just found from coming from your yearling filly. This does not mean that they are not in development in her at this time, it is just unlikely that they have gone through their life cycle within her life span, to this point.

Trichlorfon (Combat Liquid, Combat Paste, Negabot Paste, Telmin B, Benxelmin Plus, or Dyrex), Dichlorvos (Cutter Diochlorvos), or Ivermectin are all effective for bots. Some require special information for their use, so consult your veterinarian for the best method in the case of your herd. Especially with consideration to your bred mare. Hope this helps.

Edited to add: Dictyocaulus, "lungworms" are not usually found in horses, however it is more common to see them in horses pastured with donkeys, as Genie pointed out. The good news is that there is little resistance to the benzimidazole wormers (much less resistance than other types of worms have to the wormers in the benzimidazole group, which chemical names usually end in 'dazole'), so Ivermectin should kill those off without too much problem.
 
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Ivermectin will kill bots. The five day course of Fenbendazole will kill Lung Worm in both the Donks and the horses. Lung Worms are nasty, rarely affect the Donkey but can kill a horse, so please take it seriously.
 
It's not unusual to find dead bots after deworming this time of year--we don't find many, but last year did find a couple from one of the two yearling colts (mominis I'm not sure why you wouldn't expect to find a yearling shedding dead bots after being dewormed?? Dewormer kills them at any stage, so this time of year they don't come out as adult bots, they are those ugly red things that don't look at all like what people think of as bots!)

For myself I would assume that if the dewormer got one bot (the one you found) that it probably eliminated any others as well, though you didn't see them. Unless I thought there was a heavy worm load overall I would probably wait for the next regularly scheduled deworming--if I did think there might be a heavy worm load I would deworm again 2 weeks after the last dose. I've never done a 2nd deworming for bots, but have for a particularly heavy ascarid infestation in some weanlings I got last year--I dosed them every 2 weeks 3 times in a row before I got the ascarids under control, then they went on the regular monthly deworming that I do for foals.
 
I noticed what I thought was bot eggs a day or two ago on legs. Should I assume that since there are eggs that they have bots?
 
Yes, it is safe to assume that when you've seen bot eggs on a horse, that horse may well have bots going through their cycle 'inside' the horse. You can remove bot eggs, but it can be a challenging task, and impossible to ensure that you 'got' them all off. (Been a long time since I've seen dichlorvos mentioned, but I remember it well...trying to get some horses to 'intake' those tiny bright blue pellets was often quite a challenge...!)

I am fortunate; due to a combination of factors(including-few horses in close proximity, and those have a responsible owner who deworms properly), and my own deworming program, I've not seen either a bot fly OR a single bot egg on my horses for several years now! Of course, I continue to check, as that could change anytime due to conditions beyond my control.

Margo
 
It's not unusual to find dead bots after deworming this time of year--we don't find many, but last year did find a couple from one of the two yearling colts (mominis I'm not sure why you wouldn't expect to find a yearling shedding dead bots after being dewormed?? Dewormer kills them at any stage, so this time of year they don't come out as adult bots, they are those ugly red things that don't look at all like what people think of as bots!)
For myself I would assume that if the dewormer got one bot (the one you found) that it probably eliminated any others as well, though you didn't see them. Unless I thought there was a heavy worm load overall I would probably wait for the next regularly scheduled deworming--if I did think there might be a heavy worm load I would deworm again 2 weeks after the last dose. I've never done a 2nd deworming for bots, but have for a particularly heavy ascarid infestation in some weanlings I got last year--I dosed them every 2 weeks 3 times in a row before I got the ascarids under control, then they went on the regular monthly deworming that I do for foals.

Happy to answer your question, Minimor. I would say that they yealing is least likely to be the one with the bot issue due to the lifecycle time wise. I am certainly not saying it is out of the question for the yearling to be the one, just less likely. If you read my post, it details the length of the life cycle. That is my reasoning behind my statement. Thanks for clearing that up!
 
I am not worried about a heavy worm load, I just have never seen a bot in worm form.

I brought it in the house and looked up pics of worms on the computer and it looked

exactly like the bot worm. The only reason I even noticed it in the manure is because

it was red. My mini's did have bot eggs on them in the summer so it makes sense.

Thanks for all the replies.
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They are startling when you first see them, aren't they??

As has been said, if you see them dead, the chances are you have got them.

If you are really worried a faecal count will set your mind at rest.

I would go for a postal one, that gives you a proper breakdown on what worms are present (you never get zero worms in a healthy horse) and in what numbers.

A faecal count that says there are no worms should be met with distrust!

The only time I have seen this happen is when Vets do the count....not criticising Vets, just saying what I have found.
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Forgot to say: if your "yearling" is a year going on two, and not a weanling going one, then yes, it could easily have bots.
 
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Thanks Margo. Ivermectrin this time for sure. I've never seen them on my horses before; kinda surprised me when I noticed them.
 

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