# How to Worm your goats?



## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

It seems that few people know "how to" The vets guess. A lot of us are guessing. We have Barberpole, Strongyle, and many many others. I understand that you need to be on a schedule and one wormer isn't enough. I have used levamisole successfully for Haemonchus and a few other worms. I have used Toltrazuril successfully for Coccidiocious. I plan on getting on a schedule and worming my goats to keep them as free as I can from all worms and parasites. I am going to copy and paste something I found on the internet. If its not to much trouble, I would like for you that are successful to post your schedules and what you use and the dosages. I think it would be good for a lot of newbies to read. Its better to be proactive than reactive.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

WORMS 


Did you know that worms kill more goats every year than anything else? That's right, worms! Why do goats have such a problem with worms you might wonder, well, goats are browsers not grazers and there lies the problem. Goats, just like their cousins the deer prefer to eat the leaves from trees, vines and weeds. Man has made goats into grazers by putting them on lush pastures and not giving them any browse. Where do worms live? In and on the ground in goat droppings. Where do goats eat grass from? The same ground with the dropping and the worms. Bingo! You have a worm problem! If goats never had to graze, they would hardly ever have a worm problem.

So, how can you help your goats be semi-worm-free? By doing several things. First you will want to make sure that your goats are ALWAYS eating from clean feed containers. If at all possible, feed your goats from containers off the ground and make sure they can not step into the feed containers. Also try to feed your hay off the ground. Next you will want to make sure your goats have free-choice loose minerals at all times. A goat that is up on its cooper is less likely to have a worm problem. (worms hate cooper) Rotate your pastures if at all possible. Let each pasture rest at least three months between grazings. Graze cattle or horses on this pasture three weeks before putting the goats back in. This will help with the worms that can only live in goats. Cattle and horses are not a host for some goat worms, and they die. 

Check your goats eyelid color once a week. If you see the color change from dark pink to light pink, worm your goat and worm it right then, don't wait. What should you worm with? There are really not wormers out there labled for goats, so us goat people have to use wormers labled for other animals. A goat has a metabolizuim that is four times faster than any other animal, so, they get larger amounts of wormer than normal and they take it orally. (by mouth) Most people use 1% Ivermectin injectable for cattle & swine. (Tractor Supply or feed store or Jeffers on-line) The dose for this is 1 cc of wormer for every 15 lbs. of body weight, given orally. So an 80 lb. goat would get 4 cc's of wormer. You can also use the 1.87 % Ivermectin paste for horses (Tractor Supply) Give this at the dose of 3 times the horse amount. Example 100 lb goat gets 300 lb. click. Will you hurt the goat if you go over this dose amount? No, it's always best to go over than to under worm. Another wormer is Cydectin Pour-On Wormer. (Tractor Suply or feed store or Jeffers on-line) The dose for this is 1cc for every 15 lbs. ORALLY. DO NOT pour this on your goat or you will kill it! This wormer is purple and has an oil base and smells like wart remover. Make sure you wear gloves when giving this wormer because it will absorb into your skin. Safe-Guard Paste (Tractor Supply) wormer is good to use with either Ivermectin or Cydectin, but don't use by itself because it only kills certain worms. Safe-Guard Paste should be given three days in a row and the dose is 4 times more than the tube says, so a 50 lb goat should get a click for a 200 lb. horse. This wormer is very safe and you can never over-dose with it. There is a Safe-Guard wormer for goats. Its a liquid and I usually don't follow the doseing on the bottle, I give everybody under 100 lbs. 3 cc's and 5 cc's for over 100 lbs. If you have a lot of goats, you can purchase the Safe-Guard block for cattle. (Tractor Supply) Just put it out and the goats will eat the wormer and your job is done.

Another good wormer is Positive Pellet Goat Dewormer. (Tractor Supply) This is a pellet and you feed it to your goats. It works good. You feed 1 lb per 100 lbs of body weight. Make sure the goat has not ate before you feed this so they will eat it all. There is also another pellet wormer you can buy at Tractor Supply in a 1 lb red bag with a Boer goat on it. It just says Medicated Goat Wormer. This wormer is easier to feed because you only give 1 oz. per 100 lbs. These are the wormers and the doses we use on our farm, there are many other wormers you can use, and good web site to check out for dosing amounts and different wormers is http://www.fiascofarm.com/, click under goat care, then scroll down to worms & wormers. 



This is only the worming routine for Diamond K Goats. If you have a bad problem with worms, you should contact a large animal vet for help with your problem. Diamond K Goats is not responsible for any problems that may arise from you worming your goats. We are not vets, just goat farmers.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

That article has some info in it that is not so great. Also, it is no longer recommended to worm on a schedule...that is old advice.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Exactly. That's the stuff you find in the Internet. It's best to have the experts posting as to what they do.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

I ask lots of questions. Emily and Susie may regret giving me their number and friending me on Facebook. Lol


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

You just have to remember that worms are different in different parts of the country, and wormers work differently in different parts of the country. We all have to figure out what works best for our goats and our area.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

We made it a family outing. My 7 1/2 months pregnant wife. My 13 year old daughter and my 11 year old son. The boy and I kept the goats coming. Our daughter held the Cydectin Pour on and the syringe. My wife took the goats we had dosed and led them to a holding pen. 

We weighed everything I could hold comfortably. We divided the weights by 22 and rounded up and added a little and then gave them all a dose orally.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I never worm on a schedule. I've gone years without having to worm most of my goats. This year, with all of the rain we've have and just moisture in the area, I've had to worm. I check eyelids on any goat that seems "off". And, I've been know to meet my vet at the corner gas station with a bag of goat poop for him to test


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

hiddensprings said:


> I never worm on a schedule. I've gone years without having to worm most of my goats. This year, with all of the rain we've have and just moisture in the area, I've had to worm. I check eyelids on any goat that seems "off". And, I've been know to meet my vet at the corner gas station with a bag of goat poop for him to test


LOL. I told the vet tonight to expect to see me more often with poop.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

There is also a place to mail poop.

http://www.midamericaagresearch.net/


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Deworming on a schedule creates super worms who are immune to the chemical. Deworm only as necessary.

Fecal and FAMACHA


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> There is also a place to mail poop.
> 
> http://www.midamericaagresearch.net/


How often do you fecal? Do you fecal only a few or put a bunch together?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Fecal any goat with pale inner lower eyelids. 

Check the eyelids at least once a month; every week is better.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Fecal any goat with pale inner lower eyelids.
> 
> Check the eyelids at least once a month; every week is better.


So you don't fecal unless you see a tale tale sign in the eyelids?


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Fecal any goat with pale inner lower eyelids.
> 
> Check the eyelids at least once a month; every week is better.


Im kind of hands on. I watch them if they sneeze or sound funny. I may do it daily. LOL. For sure the ones that come to me for some loving. Which is all but a couple and they are coming around. I cant walk through the pasture anymore. They like me.


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

It takes a bit of time and energy to do a fecal. Laying your hands on a goat to feel her coat, body condition, and check her eyes takes very little in comparison. I usually find myself doing fecals after the sun has gone down, I am exhausted from working outside, and everyone else is hunkered down for the night. And cursing at myself for not starting earlier. FAMANCHA is great for those critters that cause anemia. But really, what I think is more valuable, is just spending routine time with the herd so that when someone seems off a bit, you will notice it. Then you can investigate, do a fecal, etc. It really is a hands-on thing, and not just a standing at the fence thing.

ETA: Speaking of "hands on", tonight was a non-routine time inside the buck pen. I was overdue in cleaning out their waterer, and had been generally avoiding them because of the bucky funk in there. The big, ornery one just insisted on extra attention. I hesitantly obliged, and now regret it. I tried to scratch his cheek like I normally do, but it was like trying to drag my fingers through a wet mop soaked in molasses. So after a shower and washing my hands 3 times, I wonder when this smell will finally rub off?


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## BlueRose (Mar 7, 2013)

lava soap works good for that. Found some in out new ACE Hardware. Found a lot of other goodies I haven't seen since I left my small town hardware store.


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

We use FAMACHA and fecal. Then we selectively deworm only those that have issues. I rarely have to deworm anymore, but with such a wet summer I did have one goat with liver flukes. Like someone else said not every dewormer works for every parasite...you need to know what you have or you are spinning your wheels. Had a neighbor lose 3 goats this summer to liver flukes because she kept using Cydectin. That is what the vets kept telling her to use. And then you have those dewormers that no longer work in certain regions. Another thing that we have to our advantage is that we maintain browse areas for the goats, not pasture. And in those browse areas we have loads of oaks and pines, both high in tannins. Each fall the goats chow down on acorns, as much as they can possibly eat. DairygoatInfo has some much better and much more up to date information all about parasites. Blessings, Kat


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## StoneMaven (Aug 14, 2013)

I keep a weather eye on their eyelids and the rains. Then I worm with triple the recommended dose by weight of a good horse wormer, as needed. 3 times, ten days apart to nail the full life cycle of the eggs/worms in the gut. the Fiasco Farm info page has been a great resource for me.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Whisperwindkat said:


> We use FAMACHA and fecal. Then we selectively deworm only those that have issues. I rarely have to deworm anymore, but with such a wet summer I did have one goat with liver flukes. Like someone else said not every dewormer works for every parasite...you need to know what you have or you are spinning your wheels. Had a neighbor lose 3 goats this summer to liver flukes because she kept using Cydectin. That is what the vets kept telling her to use. And then you have those dewormers that no longer work in certain regions. Another thing that we have to our advantage is that we maintain browse areas for the goats, not pasture. And in those browse areas we have loads of oaks and pines, both high in tannins. Each fall the goats chow down on acorns, as much as they can possibly eat. DairygoatInfo has some much better and much more up to date information all about parasites. Blessings, Kat


I guess that information has been around for a long time. When we were kids, we drank a lot of iced tea in the summer, my mom always said it would keep us from getting worms. I asked her about it one day, and she said that there were no (hook) worms up where we lived but she had friends in the south that swore that tea (which has tannins) kept their kids from getting them.

The only worms she really worried about were trichina... so all our pork steaks were cooked to the consistency of shoe leather


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I fecal once a year for sure when I'm in Texas. Other than that, as needed, due to eye lid color.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

o&itw said:


> The only worms she really worried about were trichina... so all our pork steaks were cooked to the consistency of shoe leather


My mom cooked everything to the consistency of shoe leather, and my sister still got worms. However, it was probably because she would go out to the barn in her underwear and sit and play in the "mud". I remember mom sitting in the bathroom (no windows in that one) on the toilet with my sister across her lap checking her bottom with a flashlight. Gross!


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## yarrow (Apr 27, 2004)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I fecal once a year for sure when I'm in Texas. Other than that, as needed, due to eye lid color.


 I'm guessing the last time we did an actual fecal on any of the goats.. was back 5 or 6 years ago.. (had one sick, had to run to the vet for supplies.. took some poop with me).. otherwise I'm like Alice.. we just go by eye lid color and general look of the goat... I also NEVER Switch wormers.. I started out using cydectin 10 years ago..it's still all I use.. Once every few years, I'll have a goat or two that after a lot of rain, looks worm-ier then the others.. I'll treat for possible liver flukes too.. most years.. our worming *schedule* goes something like this.. day they kid of course we worm those does.. then sometime after the spring rains stop and the summer heat starts... I'll worm the whole herd..then again in 10 days.. (to get anything we mixed and the next cycle for the worms). then again right before breeding (when we are giving Bo-Se shots to everyone).. so usually we only the whole herd 3x's a year.. does that kid, get an extra one.. My kids are raised in an adult free barn that gets bedding cleaned to the ground every few days.. so I never have to worm them much.. I just keep an eye on lid color..

susie, mo ozarks


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## boerboy (Oct 7, 2012)

I was going to try deworming schedule, after reading this thread I decided to run fecal test this month. Then decide what dewormer to use if I need to.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Dang I had no idea back then.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

http://midamericaagresearch.net/

5.00 fecals so IMO, no excuse not to do them a few times per year. I use a USPS flat rate shipper and get the samples to the lab for less than 6.00. I admit I've done them less this year simply because I am not raising kids out. I'm planning on sending next week, though nobody is symptomatic as of last weekend. 

Always take into account overall health of the animal, body condition, fecal consistency, and FAMANCHA score. I've dewormed without a fecal, but I was still thorough with follow up and other symptoms. One of these days I'll get my microscope up and running. ;P

I'm currently using Moxidectin (both cydectin pour-on and Quest Plus when there are tapes in kids) and ivermectin plus occasionally. I'm using pour on now, but hate giving it orally with the smell and route issues. I'll probably opt to use pour on for dairies that are lactating if they need it during lactation ( so far that hasn't been necessary, thankfully), and orally (quest plus) for bucks/pets/kids/non-lactating does.


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