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Discussion on Estimating foal weight for worming
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 - 10:06 am:
Can anyone give me a guesstimate on how much a 2 month old foal should weigh for the purposes of worming? Or does anyone have a sensible hassle-free suggestion for how to find out her weight?
(Yes, I know, I boobed, I should have wormed it three weeks ago... fortunately I think/hope we are fairly well controlled for worms)
I don't have a weight tape and I guess they are not accurate for foals anyway. By feel (from loading the foal into the horsebox in comparison to carrying coal bags) I think she probably weighs about 150 lbs now so I was going to give it the ivermectin dose for 100 kg to allow some extra (Dr O suggests 150% recommended dose in his excellent worming programme article).
Thanks
Imogen
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Member:
Swarnick
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 - 12:23 pm:
Imogen,
I too have horses (minis) for which a weight tape is ineffective. However, I was able to locate a formula on a horse nutrition website and built a little program in Excel. All you'd have to do is use a regular tape measure around the girth area and then measure length (point of shoulder to buttock), enter the inches into the calculator and it will estimate the weight closer than most other methods. The formula was reported to be accurate to within 10%. I have used it to estimate the wormer dose for my minis ever since they got too big to hold while standing on a scale and found it was only off by 3 lbs--and that just could have been due to my scale!
If you can use it just send me your email address (I'm at JHWARNICK@MSN.COM) and I'll forward it to you.
Shirley
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 - 9:08 pm:
You can find such a formula and other ways of estimating the weight of foals at » Care for Horses » Routine Care & Procedures » Weight, Condition, and Eventual Height Estimation. But Shirleys program sounds neat.
DrO
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Member:
Swarnick
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003 - 11:35 pm:
Since I've gotten such an overwhelming response for the formula, I am going to post it for all to use.
I have also attached the calculator I built in Excel for those who can access it.
Heart Girth measurement is from base of withers encircling just behind elbow and back up to withers in inches. Length is from point of shoulder to buttock in inches.
1) 3.7 x heart girth in inches x 2.54 = Result A
2) Length in inches x 2 x 2.54 = Result B
3) Result A + Result B = Result C
4) Result C - 348.5 = Estimated Weight
As a proof for the formula, if girth is 39" and length is 36" then estimated weight will be 200.9.
Good Luck with it!
Shirley
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Member:
Swarnick
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 - 12:05 am:
Oops, I forgot to add a caveat. The estimator is most appropriate in situations when a weight tape may be ineffective, e.g. for foals and miniatures. Please use other methods to estimate weight as soon as they become effective.
Thanks, Shirley
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 - 2:47 am:
What a brilliant website this is! Thanks Shirley.
Imogen
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Friday, Jun 27, 2003 - 6:57 am:
I was out by a factor of 2 - she weighs about 300 lbs! So thanks again Shirley.
Imogen
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Member:
Swarnick
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Posted on Friday, Jun 27, 2003 - 11:38 pm:
Imogen,
Always happy to help and glad it worked well for you.
Shirley
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Member:
Osakr
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 6:24 am:
Is it true that one should not deworm mares in their first trimester
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 8:34 am:
There are dewormer's that should not be used during pregnancy but those we recommend in our programs are safe. For more see the articles on Care of Pregnant Mares or the Deworming Schedules.
DrO
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Weight Calculator