Bad worm overloads this year

[havenacres1]

For the first time in 5 years I've had worm problems and now 2 deaths. 1 mamma and then 2ish mths later her baby. 1 adult severe even looked like wasting disease...seems to have survived and is gaining weight now. Her baby 5 myths now is anemic and diarrhea (black sticky gooey poo). No bottle jaw, no temp. Treated for worms herbally, next week did 3cc of safeguard for 3 days, brought him in after day 5 (temps dropped into single digits and below) and still no solid poop. Monday Took stool to vet..hook worm infestation. Gave cydectin on back. Have him on Red Cell and Immunity boosting herbs and probios. Any other things I can do for him? I have injectable Vit B can this be given orally? How long do I give him Red Cell? Still has loose stool.
Any help appreciated.
Cassy

[Pony]

Have you had a lot of damp/wet this year?

If it were me, I'd hold off on the herbal dewormers, and stay with the chemicals until things are under control.

Are your animals dry-lotted? Can you move them to a "virgin" area?

You can give the B orally, but I'd double it up. Did the vet recommend Cydectin for the hooks?

For sure keep up the pro-bios and immunity boosters, lots of healthy hay. If diarrhea continues, I'm not sure if you can use Pepto, b/c you want the dead worms to move out.

Let's see what the others have to add. Please do keep us posted.

[Donna1982]

I wouldn't use pepto either personally. Things need to umm clear out. Are you sure its a worm issue? If so I personally would get a fecal done and use a better dewormer, safeguard doesn't work here expect for tapes, and it barely does that. You said you've had issues with younger kids do you have them on a cocci prevention? Worms have been an issue for a few people this year and I have seen many goats pass away so you are not alone.

[motdaugrnds]

We had a very wet spring & summer this year and my goats needed worming too. I even had 3 turn up with those meningial worms and one of these died before I understood what to do.

I treated the remaining 2 with heavy doses of Ivermectin Plus followed by heavy doses of Safeguard ... all given orally. During this time I continued giving them the Replamin Plus, Red Cell and Probios Paste. Both are doing real well now.

The wormer(s) I've been using for my herd is Cydectin and Ivermectin Plus, alternating between them. This is the first year the worms took a hard toll on my herd.

[Clovers_Clan]

It won't help you now, but will in the future. Learn from the bad experience to improve your breeding plans. Steer away from the lines that seem to have the most problems. Not only will it improve your stock it will also decrease the worm load in your environment. This is ESPECIALLY important if your goal is to use as few chemicals as possible. As hard as it seems, culling will bring down environmental worm count the fastest.

[mygoat]

My personal opinion is that the best genetics cannot win against poor pasture management/overstocking/overgrazing - and most goat/sheep farms leave much to be desired with pasture/parasite management IMO (including mine!). I'm a big proponent of culling as well as improving pasture quality/worm management wherever possible. Worm management is dynamic. Your '5 years till a problem' is pretty typical - when animals are first stocked on pasture, the pasture quality usually is pretty diverse, tall, and ideal - and generally the herd on it is small. As the years go by, the grazers/browsers restrict growth, alter what plants are growing, and generally the herd grows - so you can get by a few years with little if any parasite problems, but then see catastrophic worm overload regularly after that. Another big one that hits kids in the same way is coccidia. Some newbies get away with no coccidia prevention for a few years with no problems... but they all eventually do after a couple years.

Sorry you lost some goats. That's the tough part of raising them, IMO - we all loose some.

[PlowGirl]

Copper, copper, copper.

[havenacres1]

I did open up the front pasture for them to take over from the 1 cow and 2 boy goats...it was very very full and green. Thought this would help with the over grazed issue of the their area. And then the little boy got overloaded anyway. I give free choice minerals with copper.
Yes the vet gave the cydectin. And he's no goat vet...which l believe is why my baby boy died..he said there was nothing to do for the edema just give alfalfa and hope for best.
I added fresh dandelion and probios and loose minerals And flaxseed oil and vit B but he died a very painful death anyway.
It's been 1 week after cydectin and still "loose" stool. Taking new sample in to vet to check load. Will give B orally..but how much for a 15ish lb kid? And how long can I keep giving Red Cell?

[Tim D Pruitt]

Tim D. Pruitt
Pruittville Nubians
701 Pruittville Dr. Haynesville, LA 71038
(318) 927-6283
http://www.pruittvillefarms.com

[Tim D Pruitt]

First, it is typical for someone to go for 5 years without problems. After that, the pastures are overloaded with parasites. Without proper management, you will have more dead goats. Here's a few ideas that may help. A rotation program using your cow to graze after the goats will help since cows don't trade parasites with goats. Divide your pastures where they stay only 3 weeks on the pasture and then move your cow there.
Herbal wormers don't work well. Chemical ones work much better. However, some white wormers have lost their effectiveness. Cydectin should not be used topically but orally. It works better due to the goat's faster metabolism. Always, repeat the worming within 10 days. With a heavy infestation, do it again the third time. This should get it under control.
Copper in your mineral is not enough. Copper bolus for best results.

Tim D. Pruitt
Pruittville Nubians
701 Pruittville Dr. Haynesville, LA 71038
(318) 927-6283
http://www.pruittvillefarms.com