Evaluation of an automated faecal egg count system for enumeration of ascarid ova in chickens

Ascarid infection contributes to economic losses in chicken farming, requiring targeted parasite control strategies informed by faecal egg counts (FECs). Manual FECs are time-consuming and require specialised training and so are a good target for automation. This study aimed to optimise a new automated FEC system for ascarid ova in chickens (the Parasight All-in-One [AIO]) and compared its performance to the most common manual test used in the field - the McMaster.Automated counts using the AIO were compared to McMaster counts for correlation, agreement, sensitivity, and precision. Pooled faecal samples from 23 layer houses were collected and run in triplicate for three methods: AIO Bulk Prep (6 g subsample), AIO Single Prep (1 g subsample), and McMaster.There was a strong correlation between AIO and McMaster counts, regardless of sample preparation method (Bulk Prep: R² = 0.931, p < 0.001; Single Prep: R² = 0.801, p ≤ 0.001), and AIO counted approximately 15-24× as many ova. Bland-Altman plots indicated good agreement between both AIO methods and McMaster with no obvious bias.The larger number of ova counted by AIO was associated with elevated detection frequency. When 30 repeated counts of the same 10 eggs/gram sample were performed by McMaster and both AIO methods, positivity frequencies of 23.3% and 96.7% were obtained for McMaster and AIO, respectively, for the Single Prep method and 33.3% and 96.7%, respectively, for the Bulk Prep method. Precision was also significantly higher for both automated methods compared to McMaster (p ≤ 0.001; p ≤ 0.004).