Yes another deworming question...

lnm03

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OK, so I am fairly new to goats and I absolutely LOVE my little nigerians. My herd has expanded over the last several months...no surprise because we always say just a couple and end up with several...did that with chickens, turkeys, ducks and now goats...lol Any how my question is I have gotten my goats from a couple different WONDERFUL people! but, they all have their own way of doing things, no surprise we all do.....but how often do you worm your goat:

never
monthly
quarterly
semi annual
annual
or when they test positive from a fecal?

Every one I have talked to does it different and have their reasons for doing so.....what do you do and why?
 

cmjust0

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lnm03 said:
never
monthly
quarterly
semi annual
annual
or when they test positive from a fecal?
None of the above. I deworm based on FAMACHA pretty much exclusively, which means I'm almost exclusively targetting barberpole worms. In my opinion, barberpoles are THE internal parasite to worry over in grazing goats, especially if you're stocked to capacity and aren't able to rotate, etc. As for controlling other types of worms, my experience has been that they're generally of little consequence and are controlled pretty well simply as a result of expending the considerable effort it takes to effectively control the barberpoles.

I also take into consideration that there's a "barberpole season," of sorts, which runs from mid to late summer through early fall. That's when numbers of infective worms are highest, and when pastures are the most contaminated. In this area, we're around peak season right now.

As such, I may have to worm certain goats monthly until it gets cold (or, as I suspect, dark) enough for the barberpoles to go dormant again. Likewise, there are some resistant/resilient goats that I may not have to worm very much at all at any point in the year.
 

freemotion

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Famacha for me and I run a fecal if anyone does dog poo or worse. Sometimes I run a fecal "just because" so I can monitor things.
 

Roll farms

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Routine deworming "just because" is a bad idea. It builds resistance and helps to create hardier worms that are harder to kill.

You also need to know what dewormers will work for what worms. Ivermectin is pretty good (here) for most things but won't kill tapeworms. I have to use a 'white' dewormer for 3 days to kill tapes.

I only deworm mine if I suspect lungworm (coughing with no fever or other apparent symptoms of upper resp. illness) during a wet spring / early summer) or if their eyelids go pale (FAMACHA) or if I see tape segments in poop.

I only deworm the ones who 'need' it.

I have goats I haven't dewormed this year at all.
I have some who've been dewormed a couple of times this summer but never went from 'pale' to 'white'.

If I had a goat that 'needed' deworming monthly, he / she'd be culled b/c I don't want to breed weak genetics.
 

SDGsoap&dairy

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Roll farms said:
I only deworm the ones who 'need' it.

I have goats I haven't dewormed this year at all.

If I had a goat that 'needed' deworming monthly, he / she'd be culled b/c I don't want to breed weak genetics.
:thumbsup
 

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