Worming goats......Freemotion? OhioFarmGirl? Ksalvagno?

[savingdogs]

So I'm embarking on worming the goats....had the year old ones a year and have not wormed them yet. They look great so I'm not doing this because of anything except I hear goats get a lot of worms.

Today at the feed store they had "Positive Pellet" Goat dewormer, which is in an alfalfa pellet kinda thing and it looked real do-able and I was able to purchase the exact amount to do my four twice without spending an arm and a leg.
It says it is for "major gastronintestional worms", breaks the life cycle, and the active ingredient is Morantel Tartrate 880g/ton.

Since I have not done them and this looks rather broad spectrum, I thought I'd hit them with a good dose of this and then work on more natural ideas.

Yea, I know I should do a fecal at the vet, but I've been trying to work that dang bill down, not up, and since I'm not in particular concerned they are real wormy, just want to make sure everyone is in good shape for breeding/kidding, etc.

Did I buy the right thing? Do y'all know this product? There were tons and tons of choices but most came with enough to worm four goats for about 20 years and seemed very specific to certain worms whereas this one seemed more broad spectrum, but of course, that is just if I believe the label....and I'm by nature a little skeptical.
Any time you have to devote to my education on this would be very much appreciated.

 

[Blackbird]

Not that you asked me but it seems a lot of people agree that de-wormers in the form of pellets have little affect. I personally have used some brands in the past with no outcomes, but am not familiar with 'Positive Pellet'.
Try it and see what you think. Although I lean towards 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', you know your goats better than me!

Hopefully someone has more experience with this specific brand. If nothing else you could ask the completely and utterly delightful folks over at BYH.

 

[freemotion]

You really don't want to just worm them just because. This is how resistant species are made....survival of the fittest! It is apparently a huge problem in goats.

If you can't afford the fecal exam, google Famancha and learn to look at their inner eyelid membranes to determine anemia by the color. You need to do this in good sunlight and really turn that lower lid inside out, not just look at the edge. It should be a dark salmon pink, anything pale means stomach worms, and white means they don't have long for this world......If they don't pass this test with flying colors, you can get ivomec injectible for cattle and use it orally.

Don't worm them if they don't need it.

I will be embarking on making my own herbal dewormer this winter. What works is unique to each property and each herd and each individual. I can run my own fecals so I can really figure out what works. I got my microscope and slides secondhand on the cheap and make my own fecal float solution from epsom salts and water.

Before that, I used Ivomec, and still have part of a bottle in the fridge and wouldn't hesitate to use it if needed. I used herbals on my buckling when he first came here and it wasn't enough, so he got the Ivomec.

Pumpkins will be available soon for me and I will be giving everyone pumpkin along with the seeds. That keeps some worms at bay.

 

[Javamama]

Don't know much about that dewormer. I'm also going the herbal route. I got products from FirMeadow.com to use once I get my girls here. She's a master herbalist with a beautiful herd of her own.

 

[Henrietta23]

Also using herbal here. Also bought an inexpensive microscope and slides. Directions for running fecal exams can be found on Fiasco's site among others.

 

[ksalvagno]

I wouldn't use the pellet. You have to feed the goats individually and you have to make sure that they eat all the pellets in one feeding. Also, like everyone else said, I wouldn't worm unless I know there is a problem.

I was using the Molly's Herbals dewormers but found that they weren't working for my farm so now I'm doing cloves and black walnut to see if that will work. But the cloves and black walnut have to be given daily. Luckily the goats do like the taste and there is no problem with putting it over their food. I will see if this works for me.

Every farm is different and you have to just keep trying things to figure out what will work for your farm.

I do have all the chemical dewormers in my animal cabinet but I'm trying to see if I can eventually eliminate them or at least use them less frequently. I'm hoping I can find the right combination of herbs to take care of things.

 

[savingdogs]

Well I just checked their eyelids. My wether has an excellent dark salmon color and my smaller doe Molly pretty salmon-y too. Ginger my larger doe has a pink color and so does my new little buck, the buck having the lightest color, nothing close to white though. His eyelids are a lot harder to pull down though so I'm not seeing quite as much of his lower lid, not sure why but he is a different type than them.

I'm considering using this product I have here already on just Ginger and the little buck and rechecking in a week, saving the rest. I wish I had known pellet form isn't the method of choice, it looks so easy to administer, they love anything pelleted or grain-like.

What kind of herbals?

What kind of worms are we talking about in your slides? I'm familiar with looking at fecal samples and what round worms, tape worms and hook worms look like.

Pumpkins, hmmm? Gee that is interesting. I wanted to grow a mini pumpkin farm here, and last year planted over 250 seeds in carefully prepared mounds. NONE grew. I don't know why, but the previous owner reported she couldn't ever get a pumpkin to sprout here either. When I lived 1/2 hour from here I grew pumpkins like crazy so don't quite understand it, but I'm at a high altitude and there are lots of critters that live around here. But this gives me incentive to try to work that out.

 

[freemotion]

Check out www.fiascofarm.com for a few pictures of worm eggs and coccidia oocysts. If you do a search you will find some university sites that will give you more pictures. Most parasites are species specific, so you need to learn the look of goat buggers.

Don't use the product just because you have it. You have the opportunity to NOT have resistant species of worms on your property, and using a weak product will help create resistant species. Wait until you can pick up Ivomec or whatever is recommended for your area.

Don't wait for white....it is far too late. Light pink is the emergency color. Did you find the famancha chart?

Can you get your friends to save you pumpkin seeds from their fall decorating? Is there someone nearby who goes overboard with making and displaying jack-o-lanterns? You might ask in advance for their seeds, offering to pay them or trade them something for the privilege of hauling them away the day they are scooped out of the pumpkins. That way you can get them before they get moldy and get them into the fridge or freezer in reasonable portions until you can get them all fed.

 

[savingdogs]

You would not use these pellets at all Karen?
I think I can get them to consume the whole dose, they are pigs in the AM.

Blackbird did you mean they had no ill effect or that they did not effect the worms at all?

I never seem to get the right stuff at the store and it is a long drive away!

 

[savingdogs]

I've been looking for an online chart. So far I've only found a photo of one and the color in the picture looks like a very very deep dark salmon as the darkest?
I think I may need one of those actual charts, don't I? I wish I had purchased that instead of this dumb wormer. lol