On March 18, 2023, I attended the Southeast Kentucky Sheep Producers Association annual meeting.   This meeting hosted multiple educators and guest speakers who talked on multiple topics regarding sheep production.   After speaking, the speakers took questions from attendees and provided a variety of answers and key points.  My own purpose in attending was to showcase how to conduct Fecal Egg Float and Egg Count testing to attendees and talk about the ease with which producers can run the tests on their own.

            Fecal Egg Float and Egg Count testing is done on livestock animals and/or pets to test for parasites in the animal’s bodily system.  Most parasites are ingested by a host and then take up residence in one part or another to feed, breed, and finish out their life cycle.  When they lay eggs, these are passed out through the host’s fecal matter and onto the ground, where they await ingestion by another host.  This cycle can only be broken, in most cases, by removing the hosts from an area where infection is common occurrence.  In the case of livestock, if a producer has their animals grazing in a pasture where animals are catching parasites frequently, the producer can remove the animals for a few weeks to allow the parasites to die off and thus break the cycle of infection.

            Symptoms of parasite infection vary greatly but are often common between parasite species, and so it is near impossible to determine specific parasite presence by host symptoms alone.  This is why veterinarians and producers use fecal float testing and fecal egg count testing.  Fecal float testing is basic, in that it is used to determine if parasites are present in the host’s system or not.  Fecal Egg Count testing is more thorough, as it used to determine the severity of the parasite presence in the host’s system.  It is also useful to determine how effective treatment has been.

            At the SEKSPA meeting, I connected with attendees to show them how these tests are conducted and explain the importance of testing in sheep production.  I fielded many questions and guests were very intrigued by how simple the testing could be.   Many asked where they could get the testing supplies from and what type of microscope they would need.  At least 25 guest observed and interacted with my showcase.