Your best worming product/ schedule?

[needmorechickens!]

What is your favorite worming product and what kind of schedule do you use? I am just starting out with goats and am wanting to start a worming schedule. I would enjoy finding out what everyone else is doing. I live in West TN so I know whatever you use might be different than what is best for my area, but I like to get a lot of different opinions.
~Rebecca

 

[daisyjack]

hello and welcome, alot of people here are going to tell you a worming schedule is bad idea because your worms will build up immunity and you should worm when they need it. so if they have pale eyelids or their poop does not have nice pellets then you should get a fecal done and find out what kind of worms your goat have to find out what the best wormer will work. that being said I will worm my goats as a precaution in times of stress such as moving to a new home, kidding, or transporting.

 

[elevan]

Do not deworm on a schedule it does lead to drug resistant parasites.

How do you practice good deworming then?

Know your goat - know your pasture - know your enemy (worm)

Know your goat:
FAMACHA - method of checking for barberpole worms via the goat's eyelids
5 Point Check - a categorical 5 step system for checking your goats for parasites

Know your pasture:
You want a REFUGIA in your pasture
REFUGIA = That portion of a worm population that escapes treatment of a dewormer when used. This is a NEED to have for this (barberpole) worm. You want a certain % of worms left in the pasture (10-20%) while you treat the 80-90% that are in the animals...allowing for only unresistant worms to be ingested. Remember that your dewormer will not kill them all. You are not going to eliminate the worms - you must learn to live with them and treat them appropriately and treat only those that truly need it.

Know your enemy:
What worm are you dealing with? That determines what drug to use.
What is your parasite resistance level? That also determines what drug to use.

More information can be found in this article: Parasite Management for Goats & Sheep


eta:

 

[20kidsonhill]

Corid for coccidiosis is what we use
and I love Synanthic wormer, but we don't use it every year.
If you have a tapeworm problem equimax horse wormer works great
If you have a barber pole worm problem(a lot of anemia) Cydectin works great, Quest for horses has the same active ingredients as cydectin for cattle and sheep.

Ivermectin injectable works great for mites and lice. Lice are easier to treat than mites. Lice can just be treated with a powder or spray.

 

[AshleyFishy]

Fecal tests and rotational grazing are your best friends with goats.

Down here we have problems with barber pole worms. Sheep cydectin works great on goats for barber poles, it is given orally and not blue like the cattle pour on.

For everything else I use either sheep ivermectin or valbazen. What you would use would depend on what kind of crawlies you have and the individual animal your using it on.

Some wormers can cause neurological problems/death, if used incorrectly or off label, and some can cause abortions if used on pregnant does. Know your enemy and know your weapon.

I know most people won't agree with this but.... I made a worming pen. It is just a little dry lot separate from all their other pens and pastures. I'll put the goats in there, take them off forage for 12 hours and give them the needed wormer. About an hour after they receive their wormer they are given free choice hay pellets, fresh water changed twice a day, their normal grain rations and long stem hay when appropriate. They will stay in there for three days, on the fourth day I turn them out onto a fresh pasture. I then take a weed torch and burn the dry lot, rake it under and spread DE out.

My vet recommends two weeks to 17 days later worming again, but each area and vet are different. I just tend to listen to mine, because I know his goats are great looking.