worming information

[InHisName]

Where can I find worming information? Such as... what can I give milking does? Dry does? when do you repeat it? What kind, and what is the doseage? Can someone suggest a website with this goat information? Thanks!

[Alice In TX/MO]

http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php

That's the best place I've found. There's a section called Goat Keeping 101.

Become a member. You'll be glad you did.

[hoofinitnorth]

It will depend on the types of parasites you want to eliminate (what's present in what numbers), the symptoms seen in the goat, and the resistance to certain drugs in your area.

Make sure you use the correct *goat* dosages for any and all meds., and be sure you are checking the units used (mg, kg, lbs, mls/ccs, etc., including converting a dosage given in mg/lb with a medicine that has so many mg per ml).

Good place to start with real goat-specific research behind their information:

http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/train...es.html#deworm

You can google for several more related articles.

http://fiascofarm.com has some other useful tables, but I can't attest to the reliability of the information provided there since I don't know where they got it.

[DQ]

be prepared to find out that most effective wormers for goats are not labeled for goats. and also to find out that you vet is likely the worst source of information when it comes to worming them. you are doing good to research it a bit. there is alot to know about worming goats. it is not as simple as some other species for a variety of reasons. because the wormers most often used in goats are not labeled for goats there is usually no official milk withdrawel times and it is basically up to the judgment of the owners. google 'FAMANCHA method' too. good luck!

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Since most new folks want, the brand of wormer to use, when to use it and how much, your very best advice until you learn to fecal yourself, is to join a local club, find a mentor in your area, someone who can tell you exactly what to use for the problems found in your area.

First because you are in the Pacific northwest is to go to saanendoah.com and read about copper defficency. A copper defficient goat will carry higher worm burdens always than a goat who is not.

Always worm when you purchase a goat.
Always worm the day she kids.
Always worm before you breed.

Although most wormers will get stomach worms, when you have problems with specific worms HC/barberpole/bankrupt worms you have to use Cydectin or Levamisole. Liverflukes? you have to use Ivermectin Plus or Valbazen. Lungworm? Valbazen or Ivermectin. Tapeworms in kids? Valbazen or huge amounts of safeguard/pancur.

We would love to have our information come from one source, our vet etc...but what I have found is that although I go by what Texas A&M finds out on their goats, that nothing is better than what my fecal samples tell me here at the farm. And learning to fecal is just like learning how to trim feet, to milk, to disbud, it's a simply easy to learn tool, then you don't have to ask on a forum anymore what works or what worms you have...you know. I know, from fecaling, that if I wormed or cocci treated like some websites tell you, like some people tell you, my goats would be dead.

And if you aren't going to do any of the above.

Purchase Cydectin cattle pouron, use at 1cc per 22 pounds orally about every 3 months. Make sure you worm the day a doe kids, and worm kids at 9 weeks old and at weaning. Worm when you get more than 2 inches of rain in your pastures, and you can worm once with Ivermectin Plus at 100 days pregnant, 1cc per 33 pounds orally, (and if you find out that liverflukes are a consideration for you, worm again in 10 days), and don't forget to do your bucks.

See how much money fecal sampling would save you? Vicki

[Goat Servant]

I see you are in NE Wash. Youre going to be worming different than we do on the wet side of the state with the exception of course of worming the doe when she kids.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

We do no routine worming, only worm when a goat shows signs of a high worm load, and usually only worm at most 3-5 goats per year (out of +-30)! This is accomplished through rotating pastures allowing atleast several months between pasture returns, so that parasites are killed off/die. Also we primarily graze brush and woodland, not low pasture, so that the goats are grazing above the level of the worms, instead of down low where they are waiting. We also grow several acres of Sericea Lespedeza and rotationally graze it and/or feed it through hay. Sericea Lespedeza contains tannins which are a natural worm/parasite inhibitor. You can take a wormy goat and put it on lespedeza (without any other worming) and it will drastically reduce the parasite infection's viability, though they will return to active function if you take goat off of lespedeza again. I don't know if sericea lespedeza grows in your area or not but it would be worth checking out as a pasture plant. Goats love it and it also inhibits/slows the worm growth.

Parasite resistance is a common problem today due to improper grazing and a high (like monthly or bi-monthly) use of wormers. Worms are developing resistance to wormers used repeatedly. Through the use of proper grazing management and the use of natural plant tannins, the use of wormers can be reduced considerably. We use either Ivermectin or Valbazen as a wormer as needed, but most of our goats have not been wormed in several years or more. Do yourself a favor and whatever wormer you decide, do not do routine worming, only worm as needed, or else down the road you'll find that wormers become less effective as parasites develop resistance to it.