Suggested Parasite Protocol
Let me start with the neccesary disclaimers -
Legal - Most of the effective deworming products for goats are used off label. By law you are supposed to administer them under the supervision of a veterinarian. Any advice given here is just my personal experience and is not a substitute for the advice and supervision of a veterinarian.
Practical - I live in Northwest Arkansas. We get hot summers and mild winters with 1-2 deep freezes and a lot of rain in the shoulder seasons. Your experience with parasites may be different depending on your climate.
Prevention
The best way to prevent a heavy parasite load is to feed up off the ground. We like these round bale feeders that hold the bale securely up in the air, and the goats reach up to grab the hay. We feed grain in troughs about a foot off the ground that do not entirely eliminate goats stepping into them, but do minimize them. You want to avoid grazing pastures more lower that 3-4 inches off the ground. This buck pen in the photograph is less than ideal, because there is enough space grass grows, but not enough that the grass stays higher. With the free choice hay, the goats spend less time grazing and more time browsing on the hay, so it hasn't been a problem.
In addition to good hygiene, we boost our goats parasite resistance by administering a copper bolus 2X a year (spring and fall). Kids over 25 lbs get a 2g bolus, and adults get a 4g bolus.
Ultra Cruz Copper Bolus for Adults
Ultra Cruz Copper Bolus for Kids
Diagnostics
There are two primary ways to determine the worm status of your goats. The first is to use FAMACHA scoring of the mucous membranes around the eye of your goat. The idea is to deworm just those individuals who are a 3, 4, or 5 (see photograph), rather than the entire herd. The process becomes easier and less time consuming over time as the herd becomes healthier, especially if you cull or stop breeding individuals who consistently have high worm loads. I do find more senior animals tend to have less resistance as they approach end of life, and I think that is to be expected. You can obtain your own FAMACHA card by taking the training. Email the FAMACHA Coordinator at FAMACHA@UGA.EDU. (Please note that any goat with eyelids scoring 5 is at serious risk of death. This method is looking for anemia which is caused by parasites depleting red blood cells.)
Other symptoms you may note are a rough coat, poor weight maintenance, and scouring (diarrhea). Parasites are not the only causes of these symptoms though, so these symptoms alone are not enough to decide your goat needs deworming.
The other diagnostic method is stool sampling. You can take a sample into your vet to be examined under a microscope or you can perform the test yourself. It's not hard!
Instructions for performing a stool sample
Treatment Options
Cydectin Pour On (5mg Moxidectin per ml) - Cydectin is sold as a pour on or a sheep drench (1mg Moxidectin per ml). Moxidectin is also sold as a horse paste under the brand name Quest. Dosage of the pour on is 1ml/20 lbs given orally. I have used it as a pour on in the spring to get rid of lice on my cashmeres, and I did not find I needed to deworm those goats again later for internal parasites so I think goats might do better with pour on administration than we have conventionally believed. Awhile back there were objections to using the pour on orally. The sheep drench is an option, but it requires giving the goat 5X as much volume by drench (dosage is 5ml/20 lbs). The dose of Cydectin can be safely doubled and it is sometimes necessary in bad cases, but I think giving it along with Pyrantel is a better solution.
Pyrantel 5% Liquid Solution (50mg Pyrantel Pamoate per ml) - Pyrantel is also sold as a horse paste under the brand name Strongid. Dosage 1ml per 5 lbs of body weight. I started adding Pyrantel to my line up a few years ago when I was seeing some resistance to Moxidectin. Pyrantel can be given with Moxidectin in severe cases or alternated. It's not as broad spectrum as Moxidectin, but I found it effective in bringing down the worm load of my herd. I went from having to deworm 3-4 times a year to twice.
Other dewormers I sometimes use are Zimectrin Gold/EquiMax (ivermectin plus praziquantel) and Quest Plus (Cydectin plus praziquantel) horse pastes - more often given in little dabs to young goats that have tape worms. Safeguard goat drench is another option for combining with Moxidectin - dosages are usually doubled or tripled.
Coccidia
Finally Coccidia is another issue apart from intestinal parasites. It mostly affects kids in their first year of life and causes scouring. The best medication out there is used in other countries, but as of yet not FDA approved?, although it can be prescribed by a vet - I'm not at all clear the entire legality of it all, but it is available online and has been used for awhile. Toltrazuril (sometimes labeled Baycox) 5% solution (50mg per ml) is dosed at 1 ml/5 lbs. When given to 2-3 month old kids who have been exposed to the barn yard and have likely picked up coccidia, it offers excellent protection with a one time dose, and the goats grow up with excellent immunity. If scouring is already present, the dose may be repeated for treatment. This is superior to other available drugs (Corid and Albon) which require repeated drenching and are simply less effective. Discuss with your vet.
Milk and Slaughter Withdrawals
All drugs have milk and slaughter withdraw times. I personally am not trying to drink the milk or slaughter a goat with a parasite load. Parasites as a rule decrease production drastically. I also do not sell my goats for slaughter or sell milk. Discuss with your vet.
Parasites are the number one killer of goats, and if you can get a handle on them that is a good 80% of the battle of raising goats. Prevention is key, and long term the fewer drugs we can use the better. The best system uses the exact drug needed at the exact right time, and no more. I hope this gives you a place to start as you work out what will be best for your herd. --Angelia
Comments
Post a Comment