Why do goats struggle so much with worms?

[simka2]

As I delve deeper into the goat world I am finding myself a bit surprised by the parasite issues.

They seems pretty extreme incomparrison to my experience in the equine/llama world. It is not that I am unfamiliar with worms, but the consequences of parasite loads seem more dire and fast acting when it comes to goats.

Can someone explain this a bit to me? Why is this such a problem for goats? is it different for other ruminants? if so why?

[wolffeathers]

I think the reason the consequences seem more dire and fast acting because there is typically a parasite population explosion when a goat is stressed. They take advantage of a lowered immunity status and seem to go crazy.

I also believe that they are more susceptable to worms because we place them in an environment where they graze instead of browse and live in a more confined area. I imagine wild or feral goats browse and live a nomadic type of life. Rarely eating over the same locations. But that lifestyle is hard to maintain in captivity, so we place them in sturdy fences where they quickly eat down the browse and leave only grazing(if that).

There is a movement toward more parasite resistant goats. I think the system is called famancha? Where they breed for parasite "resistant" goats, goats that are able to better tolerate a worm load.

[TroutRiver]

Parasite resistance is definitely something that I intend to select for in my long-term breeding plan. My buck last year was EXCELLENT in this regard, I don't know why I sold him When the rest of my herd was skinny and anemic, he was the only one that looked spectacular. Of course this was a management issue that has since been corrected, but still, his ability to maintain good body condition and a healthy coat says a lot IMO.

I have seen bad parasite problems in horses, sheep, cattle, goats, etc. I think it has more to do with management than with the species. Rotating pastures to keep them healthy and parasite free will keep your animals healthy and parasite free. Grazing the same area for months at a time, or year round, is asking for trouble.

Also, if your animals eat mostly hay or tall plants (not grasses) they will be less likely to ingest parasites than an animal that derives most of its nutrition from grazing.

fomacha (probably spelled that wrong) is when you look at the color of the inner eyelid to determine anemia, which is usually due to worm infestation. I think it is less about breeding an animal that can tolerate a wormload, and more about breeding an animal that is not likely to become a host for a ton of parasites. Feeding garlic also helps to make the animals body an inhospitable environment for parasites. Of course you don't want to do this long term with your milking animals

[Alice In TX/MO]

Here's the link to Famacha:
http://www.scsrpc.org/SCSRPC/FAMACHA/famacha.htm

[where I want to]

I vote for the environment thing too. Horses will make roughs and smooths if given enough room but I think goats are not genetically programed for that as their wild food source is up off the ground. I think this is why they tend to be oblivious to dropped hay. You can pick up a wad of dropped hay that is next to the bunker and put back and they will eat it no problem. If given a choice they will choose a wide variety of things to eat, not just grass. Just my guess of course.

[Hollowdweller]

I think one reason is generally speaking goats are often raised in a much more intensive situation than they should be.

The avereage goatkeeper I believe has a bit too many goats and a bit too small barn.

The pastures if they have them are often too small.

Then a lot of herds are owned by retired people, managed by women and kids, or owned by people who are somehow disabled. So maybe the barn doesn't get forked out as often as it should and stay as dry as it should because it's harder for them to do it.

If you look at the amount of people with problems with coccidia it attests to this.

Another thing is a lot of people starting out in goats are newbies and often when they are designing their feeding situation, water buckets and hay racks they are not keeping the idea of as much as possible reducing the foot on food or foot to mouth contact so it's easier for high levels of eggs to be consumed.

[oz in SC V2.0]

I agree it is because goats seem to be forced to live a way that isn't 'normal' or natural for them...

Grazing on pasture is not normal,always being in the same area isn't normal.

Our goats pick and choose when browsing through the woods and brush,it is odd to watch really.

Eat a few pine needles from this tree...move on to the next...eat a little(okay,a lot) of honeysuckle,then something else.
They even sometimes choose to eat the thorny brambles,although not as much as I had hoped.

[CaliannG]

It is environment.

Goats evolved/were created to live in rocky, hilly/mountainous regions, and cover a lot of ground through that area. Such habitat is unfriendly to parasites in the first place, and coupled with their browsing habits, allowed very few parasite larva/eggs to even get into the goat's system. Add in a higher diet of trees, especially evergreens, and even the digestive tract wasn't real friendly towards parasites.

Move to domestication. You have dry lots and small pastures where parasites build up. Warmer and more moist/hospitable terrain, and less cleanliness. With goats not having many, many thousands or millions of years to adapt to this, their systems have not caught up.

(Actually, small pastures and dry-lotting are very recent. In the "old" days, say a century ago, kids would shepherd the goats over miles of terrain to feed.)

Goats simply do not have the biology, currently, to fight off heavy parasite ingestion. It will take a LOT of careful breeding to give them that biology.

[Oat Bucket Farm]

Also, the mineral load in the goat as something to do with it. Again this is management. But goats that have proper levels of copper in their systems are better able to resist worms. We have less than an acre, so we have to do intensive management. But our goats are kept up on their copper and rarely have an issue with worms.