On August 6, fecal egg counts ranged from 25 to 11,350 epg and averaged 1811 + 2111 epg. There was a large variation in fecal egg counts as evidenced by the large standard deviation. The median fecal egg count was 1075 epg. As compared to two weeks ago (July 23), significantly more goats (n=22) had fecal egg counts above 2000 epg. Fecal samples could not be obtained from 4 goats.
Despite the increasing fecal egg counts, FAMACHA© scores averaged 1.81 + 0.59 on August 6. The median FAMACHA© score was 2. Only one goat was dewormed.
Fecal egg counts are not usually evenly dispersed in a group of animals. According to the 70:30 rule, 30 percent of the animals are responsible for 70 percent of the eggs deposited onto a pasture (per gram of feces). This was true with the test goats on August 6, as the 23 goats with the highest egg counts (29% of the herd) deposited 99,425 eggs, 70 percent of the total number of eggs deposited (142,475).
Download August 6 Fecal Egg Count Report
