10/07/04, 07:02 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 142
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worming
Since you are new at goats (I assume), I would advise you work with a vet in checking her stools for the presence of worms. A fecal examination should be relatively inexpensive and would probably pay for itself if you find you don't need to worm her. No need putting wormer in her if she doesn't need it!
Call around and find a vet that will do this. I think any dog & cat vet should be able to check for worms in your goat's stool. I would do this at least once a month until you can establish the presence of (or lack of) worms.
If you do fecals and find that you have a worm problem, I would use any of the paste-type horse wormers available on the market. They are packaged in little tubes that are perfect for people who just have one or two goats. The two kinds I would recommend would be safeguard and ivermectin. Give the safeguard at THREE TIMES THE HORSE DOSAGE. This is very important so that you get a good worm kill. Goats metabolize drugs faster than horses do so you have to give them more per lb. of body weight. In other words, if your Saanen weighs 150 lbs. give her a 450 lb. dose. Give the ivermectin at TWICE THE HORSE DOSE. Give a 150 lb. goat a 300 lb. dose. You can also use tramisol, which are boluses sold in a little bottle, but they are difficult to give. Do NOT up the dosage on this drug more than 1 1/2 times (150 lb. goat gets a 225 lb. dose).
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