Worming a doeling who is still nursing

[Tmaxson]

I am going to give the herd ivomec injectable today. I have a doeling that is 3 months old and is still nursing on mom so my question is should I also give the doeling a shot in addition to the mom?

 

[redtailgal]

Why are you worming the whole herd? Are you having a worm problem? or is this routine worming?

 

[Tmaxson]

ok so maybe a long story, but my buck is having some wrinkled like swelling in his face and some scaly skin which I read may indicate a mite issue. I have tried DE, Sevin and a pour on fly stuff but read that Ivomec may help with the issue. My does are having solid dog like poop and my doeling's hair is very course and her gums seem a little pale. Since the only wormer I've used is the Possitive pellet of which the person I got the goats from suggested and I'm now trying Molly's herbals which I've heard good things from another goat farmer near me. However he also said if he sees issues he gives a shot of Ivomec. So I thought I would just give the herd a shot each (when I say herd I mean 1 buck, 1 wether, 2 does and the one 3 month old doeling. What do you think?

 

[marliah]

I dewormed my doe but I on,y use chewing tobacco and Molly's herbals so I can't tell you on medicated stuff. Wouldn't some of that pass though mommas milk? Isn't where like a 7-14 day hold on milking with ivomec?

 

[Tmaxson]

I only wanted to use the herbal stuff but I don't want anyone getting too sick. Yes there probably is a withholding time. So maybe I should just do the doeling and the buck that seem to having issues.

 

[Bedste]

I dewormed my doe but I on,y use chewing tobacco and Molly's herbals so I can't tell you on medicated stuff. Wouldn't some of that pass though mommas milk? Isn't where like a 7-14 day hold on milking with ivomec?

Please share info on chewing tobacco .... never heard of such a thing... interesting

I use herbal wormer and it is ok to use it and drink the milk.

Ivermectin makes the milk no good for human consumption 14 days BUT the kids can drink it NO PROBLEM ..... so it is not a waste

 

[marliah]

Here's some folks talking about it, I have been told by two local goat farmers that they use it, it's cheaper than chemical stuff and I figured it was worth a try. We are using Molly's now too in conjunction with it, I was told to do the tobacco 2-3x a year.
http://goatwisdom.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tricks&action=print&thread=3344

 

[Tmaxson]

We just started using the herbal so maybe I'll try the tobacco in addition instead of the injectable. Would much rather keep it natural. So how much tobacco and how often do you use it?

 

[lunaflora]

Herbal wormers can work well for some people if you are starting with healthy, relatively worm-free goats and you are diligent about running fecals (either doing it yourself or taking a sample to your vet) to make sure the herbs are working. In your case, I would definitely recommend using a chemical wormer. You don't want to mess around with worms (not to scare you, but they can kill goats quickly, which is something I know I didn't realize when I first got goats) and it sounds like your doeling has them pretty bad. Once you get the worm population down, then you can try the herbal remedies and see if they work for you. Some situations they work great, some they don't work at all. Depends on the worm pressure you are dealing with in your particular spot.

I think a lot of people want to use the herbal wormers when they first get goats -- I know I did, especially because I was drinking the milk and wanted it to be as natural as possible, and like I said, I've heard stories of them working great. But after using them myself for a year (Molly's Herbals) I had severely wormy and sick goats and almost lost one. I started using chemical wormers and now I have healthy happy goats with glossy coats and dark pink lids. It depends on your situation, but for the sake of your goats, please run fecals regularly if you are going to mostly depend on herbals.

For now, if it were me I would use Valbazen. It's what I use on all my kids and is a very effective broad spectrum wormer. Give it orally at 1 ml per 10 lbs. Give it again in 10 days and again in another 10 days for a total of 3 doses spread across 30 days. That gets the full cycle of hatching eggs.

You can also give this to your milking does. There is a 7 day withdrawal period for human consumption of the milk.

Also, have you treated for coccidia? That could be another reason your doeling is not doing well. It's very common with kids, especially during the warm wet end of spring. It's a protozoa that's common in the environment, and it doesn't really bother adults unless they are already unhealthy, but kids don't have immunity yet and it multiplies fast in warm wet conditions. I think Molly's Herbals are supposed to be effective against coccidia, maybe more than they are against worms, but I haven't tried them for that.

Hope this helps.

 

[lunaflora]

Oh, and one more thing -- the Safeguard /Positive Pellet the other person recommended to you is not effective against stomach worms at all, which are the most dangerous type with goats. It might kill tapeworms (these are the ones you can actually see in poop), but it won't touch the ones that are causing the coarse hair and dog-like poop and really endangering the goats. If you are wanting to do herbal remedies, I HIGHLY recommend slippery elm bark for scours (which is goats includes everything that is not fully pelleted). It works better than any chemical remedy I've ever tried. Soothes the gut and firms the poop right up. But again, it's just soothing the symptoms and not addressing the root of the problem, which it sounds like in your case is worms.

Good luck!