Goat Wormer Recommendations - SafeGuard No Longer Effective!

[greenfamilyfarms]

SafeGuard for goat is not effective for deworming my goats. Does anybody know of a wormer (chemical or non) that would be good to use? I would rather have something that is safe for pregnant and/or lactating goats.

Has anybody had any luck with giving them DE?

 

[chels23]

There isn't one that kills everything. The best thing to do is to take fecal samples to a vet or do them yourself. Then when you find out what kind of worms your goats have you can deworm for the right worms. Without finding out what kind of worms you're dealing with you are just shooting in the dark. Before doing my own fecals I would just give them a dewormer, thinking that it would kill the worms they had. I once lost one of my favorite does to worms even after I had dewormed her. I later learned that the dewormer I gave her didn't kill the kind of worms she had (barberpole).
There is also a lab that you can send fecals to, there website is www.midamericaagresearch.net. It costs like $5 per sample, but dewormers are really expensive and buying the wrong one is a waste of money.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
Thank you! I'll check that out. Our local ag extension service offers something similar. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I've had great luck with Levamisole (Prohibit Drench), but it can be hard to find

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e0794a-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

 

[S&N Livestock]

I liked Cydectin worked great little high in cost

 

[nop169]

When it comes to an effective deworming program with goats you need to rotate dewormers used. I have used Safeguard, Ivermectin drench, Ivermectin cattle, Panacur, Valbazin (DO NOT USE ON PREG> GOATS AS MAY ABORT) and the pelleted dewormers such as Positive Pellet. I also have used DE, Cayenne Pepper & Pine tree needles with good results. However, as new deworming compounds are reportedly not forthcoming, the school of thought currently is to NOT deworm on a scheduled regular basis (unless you raise Boer Goats) but instead to deworm specific affected animals. The thought is to raise offspring from those animals that are naturally resistant to the parasites. Obviously, this only works if you have good management practices & rotate pastures AND if you have a pasture period! Goats living in minimal drylots or small pastures/pens that are not rotated off for some time are more likely to reinfect themselves on a constant basis. Some breeds such as Boers are super sensative also & must be maintained on a regular basis - but again varying the dewormer used helps. Also - insure that you have a fecal sample examined for coccidiosis. Many Boers & Nubians in my area are affected with Coccidia and most people do not realize that your general dewormer will not control this parasite. Since I live in the warm & moist south - it is parasite haven here.....
We have a herd of 26 goats and I routinely deworm once per year (the whole herd). The rest of the year I onlt treat affected animals (which are few at my farm). We do practice rotation of pastures & I do clean my "sheds" twice yearly - scrape down to the clay base & spread lime & then new shavings. Generally I have to deworm individuals in the early winter & treat for coccidia at the same time due to the amount of wet days & that the goats tend to remain in their dry "sheds" & eat hay & grain - walking & laying in their excrememt & thus reinfecting themselves more readily.
Lastly, for infected goats who show symptoms fast & hard, I usually use Panacur - it is safe & very effective & I use it on all ages with excellent results.
Talk with your Vet & with your county extention agent for information on the best product to use for the most common parasitic problem you are having. And if you do not practice pasture rotation - try it - we have had much better results since we divided our pastures & began rotating fields.

 

[al6517]

Well said, the key to worming larger farm animals is rotate your wormers allways. Start with a loading dose and then a fllow up two wks later.

AL

 

[cmjust0]

There are basically three "families" of wormers:

Benzamidazoles (aka BZs, or "white" wormers) - Safe Gaurd, Panacur, Valbazen, etc. If Safe Guard doesn't work, switching to another white wormer probably isn't going to help you.

Macrocyclic Lactones (aka MLs, "clear" wormers) - Ivomec, Dectomax, Cydectin, etc. Moving from a white to a clear is probably the way to go.

Levamisole/tetramisole - Levasole, Tramisol, Prohibit powder, etc.. These are basically non-existant at this point. There are many rumors about why (earthquake in China, promising human cancer trials, lack of demand, etc) but the fact is that unless you happen to score a stash of these from the back room of some podunk feed store nobody else thought to check, you're not gonna find them.

My opinion...the best you can really do is go white/clear/white/clear/whi... and keep switching the specific formulations of the whites and clears. Like, Safe Guard to Ivomec to Panacur to Dectomax to Valbazen to Cydectin, etc..

Also...haemonchus contortus (aka, barberpole worms -- perhaps your biggest enemy) are susceptible, for whatever reason, to copper oxide wire particle bolusing.. Valley Vet sells COWP boluses called "Copasure," for cattle. Break the giant calf boluses down to where you're adminstering 1g/22lbs of goat in a bolus, and you should see an improvement in your FAMACHA tests. Lots of people freak out about copper toxicity, but copper oxide is near-zero in terms of bioavailability, so the chances of OD'ing a goat on copper with Copasure is relatively low. And, yes, I've personally bolused with copper oxide at 1g/22lbs -- no problems whatsoever. I also personally know some folks who give AN ENTIRE 12G BOLUS once a year to all their goats, including the kids (the ones big enough to swallow it, anyway)....no problems for them, either.

So, there's my worm rant. Do with it what you will.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Just wanted to mention that Safeguard and Panacur are the SAME thing (Fenbendazole) so switching between the two does nothing

 

[dragonchick]

Quote:
I am getting ready to do the copper bolus tomorrow in hopes it will rid my small herd of these worms. I have tried safeguard, ivomec(given orally and injected), and Moxidectin(cydectin or quest) and am still having a hard time keeping them under control. I know my goats are copper deficient because of the hair(rough, greasy, split ends, fish tail) and feet(elf shoes) issues I am having. I will do a fecal before I bolus and then again afterwards in a couple weeks to see if the copper made a dent in the count.