Livestock Medications

There is no simple answer to this. Some farmers will deworm monthly. Others, like me, only deworm when there is a positive fecal or other significant signs or symptoms of needing dewormer. Answering the question should you deworm your goats, isn’t one that is easy to answer. Instead, I’ll tell you what we do and some options that you can use for your goats and farm.

Does Your Goat Have Worms?

Every goat has worms. Period. It is not necessarily a bad thing for goats to have them. The issue is when the goat becomes stressed like with labor, travel or when you are in a high parasite area. Georgia has an insane parasite load, especially in the summer and worms will kill your goat. So then you have to deworm and the vicious cycle starts all over.

Our Main Parasites

The main parasites in my area, and we deal with commonly, are Barber Pole, Coccidia, and lung worms. What happens is that the worm or eggs are shed when the goat poops. It then attaches to grass and when the goat eats the grass, they get re-infected with worms.

Goats will naturally not eat grass or browse that is too short unless there is no other option. They usually eat down to about 4-6 inches and then will move on. This will expose the worm larvae and the sun should kill it.

Unfortunately, if you are not rotating your pastures often enough or feeding on the ground, you will get your goats sick. The sun will not have enough time to kill the larvae or worms themselves and you will end up back in the same boat you were in before.

So the best way to stop this cycle is to allow 90 days between each pasture to allow the grass or browse to get tall enough for the goats to eat it. Sometimes this isn’t possible but do the best you can, even if it’s just between two pastures.

Why you shouldn’t deworm your goats every month

Just like with antibiotics, you should only use dewormers if necessary. The more you use antibiotics, whether for yourself or your livestock, the less likely they are to work. Every sniffle doesn’t require antibiotics. It’s the same way with dewormers.

If you over use a dewormer, the dewormer simply will not work as effectively as before… And they aren’t making new dewormers! Since so many goat farmers have overused dewormer, we are already at the point where dewormers aren’t working. Now, we have to use two different dewormers over the course of several days or weeks to get the same results.

We use cydectin and safe guard at the same time, and have had good results. But again, I will treat for worms with a positive fecal. Or whenever their FAMACHA is low, poor body condition, or other sign that the goats need dewormer. But I try really hard to only do deworm with fecals.

There will come a time when those dewormers are no longer effective. I’ve actually talked to some goat people in other parts of the country that have said that those dewormers are not longer effective for them either.

Holistic Care VS Deworming Your Goat

There are quite a few other things that can be done to help manage parasite loads. The first is pasture management. We touched on pasture rotation above, but it goes far beyond that. Pasture management is also making sure that your pasture isn’t being used by too many animals for too long, or not being taken care of between rotations. Only you will know if you have too many animals for too long on YOUR pasture. But if you are not rotating your pasture at all, expect to have issues with parasites.

Another way to help control parasites holistically is to feed or plant things that are known to kill parasites. Pumpkin seeds are high in tannins which are a natural dewormer. Same with garlic, oregano, clove, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and copper bolus.

If you can get your hands on it, seeding your pastures with some Sericea Lespedeza. This is a natural dewormer that has been studied extensively by Fort Valley State University. They have found that goats that ingest this plant regularly have virtually zero parasites…. Which is amazing!

Breeding For Hardiness

I’m going to step up on my soap box for a minute here…. As someone who screwed up myself.

Another thing that you should be doing is breeding for hardiness. Especially in high parasite areas like the southeast. Sure, that blue eyed beauty is great, but if you are having to deworm her constantly, is she really that great?

I know this is a sore subject for a lot of goat owners, and probably not something that you want to hear…. BUT. Breeding for hardiness is what will save the future of these goats.

Before you think I’m being preach-y, I did it too! I wanted beautiful, blue eyed mini Nubians throughout my herd… Until I noticed that I was having to deworm those goats constantly. Every summer. But those mutt goats? Thrived! I have never HAD to deworm those mutts. Why? Because they were genetically hardy.

So really think about what you are purchasing, breeding and allowing to keep breeding. Because at the end of the day, livestock are not pets and should not always be treated that way.

***Steps off the soapbox****

So What Do We Do?

The best thing that we could possibly do is stop the unnecessary use of dewormers. Stop deworming every single month and start running fecals to see if your herd truly needs to be dewormed. Our fecals run us $22 for a herd fecal through the vet.

If your comfortable with a microscope, eager to learn, or got some cash to burn you can get a microscope, mcmaster slides, solution, and 1cc syringes for about $220 depending on where you are. There is also a really in depth video on YouTube that is pretty informative.

Also, learn how to do herd checks and FAMACHA tests to make sure they are healthy. When you are used to seeing them “normal” it is very easy to tell when they are sick. We have a book that we keep updated with any treatments done, fecals and results and more.

You can see the pages that we use here on our product page. This really helps us keep up with who is gaining/losing weight, when vaccines are due, and so much more. We keep it in our livestock binder to keep everything on hand.

At the end of the day, you have to choose what is right for your animal. I am not here to tell you otherwise. I just want to tell you what we do and why we do it. I strongly disagree with the overuse of medication of any form, however, I am not afraid to use it when necessary. Necessary being the key and most important word.

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