On-farm fecal testing with the new microscope

I may have mentioned that we bought a microscope and fecal testing kit for the farm a few weeks ago. I finally took the time this past week to try it out. Fortunately it wasn't as complicated as I had thought.

The kit contained complete instructions on how to mix up the flotation solution, as well as provided all the necessary utensils (specimen cups, test tubes, cover slips and slides, etc.). The solution is just a mixture of water and sugar, boiled until it turns clear. You can store the flotation solution in the fridge for a few weeks for use as you need it.

According to the instructions, you need to obtain some fresh "beans" from the dung pile (make sure you know which alpaca or llama the beans came from) and put them into a specimen cup. Then add some of the sugar solution and smash the beans completely in the solution. Next, using a strainer, you pour the liquid from the solution into another specimen cup and then transfer the strained solution into a test tube. You'll need to leave a little "bubble" of solution at the top of the test tube before placing a small, thin glass cover slip over the top. After this is done, you wait 6-8 hours to allow any parasite eggs to float to the top of the test tube. (If you have a centrifuge, the process is different and you won't have to wait as long.)

The final step is to remove the cover slip from the test tube and place it onto a glass slide to examine under a microscope. Our kit contained photos to help identify internal parasites that are common to alpacas and llamas. I'm pleased to report that our worming program is working well. The only scare I had was on one slide that had all of these round black "cells" that looked like tiny black inner tubes. It turns out they were only air bubbles!! What a relief! I will now be more careful not to have too much liquid on the cover slip before I put it onto the slide.

My plan now is to practice reading the slides to make sure I know what I'm looking at and work with Rick and Rene' for their opinions as well. This will help us do a better job of parasite control with our animals.

Please note that my description above of the process is just an overview. There are specific measurements for mixing the sugar flotation solution as well as how much solution to add to your fecal samples. Check out www.rollinghillsalpacas.com for info on purchasing a microscope or parasite testing kit for your own farm. It's an excellent investment to ensure that your alpacas stay healthy!