Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has used the worming pellets by Safeguard for a pregnant doe? She will kid anytime from tomorrow untill Aug.24. The breeder I bought her from wasn't positive on the day she was bred.Any feedback about this stuff would be great! Thank you,
Safeguard should be fine for pregnant animals. I use the crumbles to worm sheep dosed the same as for cattle and double dosed for tapes etc. You just have to be sure they all get enough!
That's what I do, although I go to the double dose rate for killing tapes. Just add up the weight of the group and dose as if they were a single or a couple of cows. (or half a cow!) It interesting because the bag says you can dose over several days in a mix, (which I have never done) but doesn't say how to cut that doseage or if you dose enough to treat as if it were a single feed for each day....(which I doubt). I would think the doubled dose would have to go in as one shot for sure. I do keep a bottle of drench on hand and catch and drench the few who decide not to participate. I don't know how many you have to do but in a group of 200 ewes I seperate out smaller groups of 12-20, and feed in these smaller batches. Takes a leisurely afternoon.
Not to insult your intelligence, but because I don't know how green you are, when they say double the cattle dosage, that means, if your goat weight 80 pounds, you would dose it as if it were a 160 pound cow, NOT two normal-sized cows. Hope that's clear.
If it were me making the decision of whether to deworm now, I'd wait until the day she kids unless there is evidence that she has a heavy parasite load. When she kids in really a short time from now, her body will be under extra stress, and that's when the parasites have a party! I know that Safeguard (same as Panacur) is claimed to be safe for pregnant animals but unless usage is necessary, do you really want to dose her now? You will also need to deworm again whenever she kids. Nappy
I feel the same..I would definitely wait till the day she has kidded,unless you feel she has a large wormload and HAS to be wormed now?
Unless the doe is lethargic or anemic don't worm her now, just wait until she kids. A tell tell sign for worms is to just look at her gums and underneath her eyelids. If they are reallly white she's anemic and if she's showing other signs such as being lethargic then go ahead if you feel her life and the kid could be at risk and worm her but I would suggest Safeguard catttle paste not pellets. That way your sure she gets it all in her. Safeguard would be okay but like I said, why risk it now if she's not on her death bed. After kidding though I would use Valbazen because it gets pretty much everything but not while pregnant as it will cause abortions. Jason www.BIGSKYBOERGOATS.com
i almost lost a pregnant doe using safeguard when pregnant, and lost the babies. i bought her bred, and she was terribly wormy.... she almost went into shock, the vet (who actually sold me the wormer) said it was impossible, as she was down and shaking, and had no suggestions. so, i called my homeopath friend, and she had me make an antidote, which i am convinced saved her. wait to worm.
In a doe overrrun with worms,you need to worm at a smaller dose first,then again in 10 to 21 days. Worming a doe that bad at full strength can kill her from anemia/shock. She needs to lose "some" of the worms,then the rest at a later date. We use Safeguard on our pregnant does without any problem. Do NOT use Valbazan on pregnant does though.
