SURVEY OF FECAL EGG COUNTS OF BEEF-COWS IN WESTERN IOWA

Fecal egg counts were determined for 50 beef cow herds. A total of 742 individual cow fecal samples were taken from September to December 19 93. The associations between fecal egg counts and herd size, cow body condition, source of cattle, and anthelmintic treatment time were dete rmined. The average fecal egg count was 5.4 (SD = 9.3) eggs per gram ( epg). This average ranged from 0 to 51.5 epg per group of 15 to 24 hea d per herd. Groups of cows purchased from the South and the West had s ignificantly higher fecal egg counts than cattle that were not recentl y purchased (p = 0.04). Groups treated with an anthelmintic within the previous 14 months tended to have lower egg counts than groups with u nknown anthelmintic treatment status (p = 0.09). The average herd size was 57 (SD = 73) head, ranging from 15 to 510. The average number of samples per herd was 14.8 (SD = 3.6), ranging from 7 to 24. The averag e body condition was 4.4, ranging from 3.1 to 7.4 per group. Neither h erd size nor body condition was associated with fecal egg count.