Building a worm resistant herd.

Thanks for that link alice. It might start of as survival of the fittest but with some work and hard choises a herd of the strongest goats can be created. I am not looking at the present but to 10 years down the road.can i ad that every goat on my farm was born and breed here.

Kits&Kids - are you documenting your program? It sounds very interesting. I know there is a breed of sheep that originated in Florida (I think?) that is naturally very hardy against worms.

Caliann - thank you for your posts, it's given me things to think about as well.

__________________
Ares Electronic Cigarettes - 15% off your first order with coupon code HOMESTEADING at checkout
*
Knights and Dreams Farm

If i had the ability to i might. Ihave had major brain surgerys that have taken lots of my abilitys away. My herd is now my friends and my life. This is my only only way to make a contribution to the future. (im not crazy,just deficient)...

Focusing less on making stronger worms through medication, and more on stronger ruminants through culling.

It seems dragonid gets what im saying. The mytonics got some of this from surviving the early years of make it or break it..

Absolutely, Kits&Kids. Long term is the key! Do you know about using the FAMACHA eyelid color chart?

American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

When i first got into goats i was an info sponge. I feel using the famanch chart along with all other info available is key to my sucess. In the begining i was like a new dad. vet care,medication ,navel dip ect... Then i got the idea that if i only kept the best,strongest,most vigorous of them all and breed them to each other the offspring would bee superior to the parents. This has been the case. In the last 5 years i have had about 180 kids born here. Have lost 8 dou to blizzards. My herd is strongly linebreed which i feel makes for a stronger herd. The 2 year drought has made me sell off a big % of my herd but the girls left could rebulid a herd that can STRIVE and acell on their own without any inputs from humans.

Thrive and excel. Sorry.... English teacher moment. I knew what you meant.


If you are breeding meat goats, then you most likely can develop a herd that will do that.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

I have white tail deer through my pastures all the time, so I'm never going to be able to consider myself "worm free" or able to ignore parasite issues.

Here, too. Wish we could.

__________________


Avatar & SIG art by Incredible Daughter , RandomGal. http://random-gal.deviantart.com/gallery/

I think it is possible to have goats that are more resistant to parasites than others.

For instance some goats are very sensitive to changes in feed. Some aren't.

Some goats get sick a lot. Some don't.

I know for sure that some does are more resistant to lice and worms than others.

In "The Herbal Handbook For Farm and Stable" Juliet Levy says it may take several generations for her natural herbal system to make you goats achieve full health. I take that to mean that the weak ones die off.

Also in "Goat Husbandry" by David MacKenzie he talks about how rationing during the war actually produced a stronger goat because the feed to milk conversion was higher.

Like Calienne intimates that the lower a goat produces the easier for her it is to be an easy keeper, but among the high producers even some are hardier.

I've always said that it's important to both breed and buy goats that will prosper in the situation you have. For instance I try to get bucks from either dairies or large herds where there is a lot of competition and also where the time to pamper each individual goat is less, with the hope that this will result in a hardier goat.

I goat that lives to be 10 in a dairy where there is a lot of competition is showing hardiness. You have to make a distinction there with a small herd where a goat is 10, there is little competition and it's a show herd where they don't even milk the goats for 10 months.

So yeah, I think you can breed them to be more hardy. However remember that you are breeding them to be hardy in your particular situation.

But realize that the more extensive a situation a goat is in the less worms. So a goat that has a lot of pasture or browse may be low in worms even without worming, where the goat that is raised in a more intensive situation will experience a higher challenge to her resistance to worms.

Kits&Kids, On this homestead..we know exactly what you mean! We have been doing this for about 12 or so years now. Over the weekend, we were talking about poo-poo hits the fan time..we are confident n our goats and our Dexters to see us through.

We actually started this when we were still milking four girls..2 Saanens and 2 Nubes. Weezie..14 is a Saanen and still with us. We do spot worm if someone looks like they are getting into trouble..I doubt if we worm one in a year's time.

It takes a leap of faith and wanting to keep the animal..in this case a goat..as close as possible to it's original lifestyle. Would this work in a lot situation? I don't think so. It takes a wee bit of room..not oodles. And, I hate to say it, but it also takes culling and restraint on the run for assistance to the animal when it gets sick. Yeah, not a popular stance probably.

But when we (humans) get sick, a lot of us do go through some miserable days..without meds..and then heal. Goats, I believe, have the same ability to heal. It's all about the immune systems of the humans and the animals. If they are totally reliant on vaccines and meds..you HAVE to do it. But if they have hit a hiccup and come back from it..it has empowered their immune system. Again..just my thoughts..I'm no doctor or vet.

This method might NOT be for goats who have been raised for years the other method..I would say it would be a rough road to hoe with them. And it's not for those who want the most milk in the bucket.

Anyhow..for good or bad..we raise them the same way.

__________________
http://homesteadingexperienceswithbobby.blogspot.com/

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/10...y_tomfeld.html

Jack Mauldin of Mauldin Boer goats has done what you are asking to some extent. Lots of good information on his site Jack & Anita Mauldin breeder of south african boer goats.

__________________
Come visit Homesteading and Homekeeping at Whisperwind Farm