MAXWELL UNIVERSAL WEC SLIDE

The worm egg counting (WEC) slide for all livestock

—Replaces the Whitlock Universal Slide—

Why use the Maxwell Universal WEC SLIDE?

The Universal is the most-used WEC slide by professional worm egg count providers in Australia because of its large capacity. More faeces can be counted faster, achieving greater sensitivity more efficiently.
 
The Universal slide was invented and made by Harold Whitlock, of the CSIRO McMaster Laboratory, Australia. His son, John Whitlock, continued to make WEC slides until about 2022, when he retired and ceased manufacture.
 
The Maxwell Universal WEC Slide is the same design as the Whitlock Universal, but is made from acrylic instead of glass, making it cheaper and resistant to breakage.

Maxwell Universal WEC Slide features

• Precision laser-etched grids on the undersurface of the top (not printed, so the lines do not wear off)

• 4 chambers, each with grids of 0.5 ml volume and a total capacity of 2 ml per slide

• Slide dimensions are 76 mm x 33.5 mm x 6 mm (the same as the Whitlock version)

• Made from acrylic for less breakages and lower cost

McMaster slides versus Maxwell Universal WEC Slides

“McMaster” slides sold elsewhere are an older superseded design of Whitlock’s that they stopped making in favour of the Universal slide, due to its benefits.

The “McMaster” slides (for sale from a variety of web sites) have two major drawbacks compared to the Maxwell Universal WEC Slide.

1. Most McMasters have only 2 chambers, each with only 0.15 ml volume under each grid, compared to the Maxwell Universal with 4 chambers, each with 0.5 ml under each grid—so the McMasters have less than one third of the capacity under each grid and less than one sixth of the total capacity of a Maxwell Universal.  
The McMasters require more preparation time, more counting time and more cleanup time to count the same amount of faeces (and achieve the same sensitivity—the amount of faeces counted is important), unless the faecal mixture concentration is significantly increased, which can make the solution darker and harder to identify eggs.

2. Many McMasters have a printed grid that is susceptible to wear, rather than the long-lasting engraved grid on a Maxwell Universal WEC Slide.

TO ORDER & PAY

Payments by direct deposit only (no card payments)

Please email Deb Maxwell at wecslides@gmail.com

• your first and last name

• your postal address

• your mobile phone number
  (I’ll send you an Auspost tracking link)

• the number of slides you require

I will email you a Tax Invoice
(this will include my phone number, not published online)

Once your payment is cleared the slides will be posted.

PRICE INCLUDES

• Maxwell Universal WEC Slide/s

• Cleaning gear

• Protective packaging, express postage, postal insurance

• Instructions for bulk worm egg counts (by email)

• Chart of common dilutions and multiplication factors (by email)

• Egg ID information (by email)

• There is a 5% discount for the slides themselves for 6–12 slides, and 10% for 13 and more slides.

• See table below for total prices (i.e. slides, packaging, postage, insurance combined)

Deb Maxwell email: wecslides@gmail.com

WHO MAKES THE SLIDES?

The Maxwell Universal WEC Slides are made by Deborah Maxwell using a CO2 laser to precision cut and engrave the slide components.

Deborah makes these slides now as a personal business as the original makers, Harold Whitlock, then his son John Whitlock, retired and did not sell the business, and Deb was receiving enquiries about where they could be sourced.

Deborah worked for the University of New England, running the ParaBoss program, which developed and provided worm, fly, lice and tick management information for Australian sheep, goat and cattle producers. These were presented through WormBoss, FlyBoss, LiceBoss and TickBoss.

Deborah makes the slides from her home near Guyra in northern NSW.