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Just an interesting note on the fecals we ran this weekend and why it is worth it to test and not guess.
We tested two does this weekend - both based on a peek at the eyelids. (FAMACHA)
One was totally loaded with haemonchus eggs and the other had NONE. Not one. We re-tested her poo a few times, never having seen zero eggs before(Humid, SE Texas) - but saw no eggs in four different tests on her samples. (We always collect more than we need for one test)
We are only worming the one who needs it. And now we know whose doelings we will want to keep in the future.
I know some people have too many goats to run individual tests, but this convinced us to try to do it for as long as we can. It would have been wasteful and inaccurate to worm the whole herd based on the wormy girls fecal and potentially deadly to have accepted the sample of the zero-count doe as representative of the herd.
Get a microscope and some McMasters slides. It is probably the single best way to improve your parasite (and ultimately herd) management. ...I'm sold, anyway.
We tested two does this weekend - both based on a peek at the eyelids. (FAMACHA)
One was totally loaded with haemonchus eggs and the other had NONE. Not one. We re-tested her poo a few times, never having seen zero eggs before(Humid, SE Texas) - but saw no eggs in four different tests on her samples. (We always collect more than we need for one test)
We are only worming the one who needs it. And now we know whose doelings we will want to keep in the future.
I know some people have too many goats to run individual tests, but this convinced us to try to do it for as long as we can. It would have been wasteful and inaccurate to worm the whole herd based on the wormy girls fecal and potentially deadly to have accepted the sample of the zero-count doe as representative of the herd.
Get a microscope and some McMasters slides. It is probably the single best way to improve your parasite (and ultimately herd) management. ...I'm sold, anyway.