Goat experts and opinionated people needed: ivermectin vs herbals

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

Freemotion, do you know what type of goat she is, meat or dairy?

And do you know for sure she is pregnant? If she is a dairy goat she will look "thinner" than a meat goat and not a rounded.

We have both meat and dairy goats and we worm with Cydectin. We do not worm the does while pregnant unless they show symptoms. Look at thier eylids and gums, if they are white, she is anemic and most likely due to a parasite. We do worm the does after they kid due to their susceptibly at this time to worms. We also dose them with Power Punch, which is a high potency multi-species nutrient and energy drench. You can also give this to the doe while she is pregnant. Make sure she has clean water and fresh hay. Probias (sp?) can also be given at any time to aid in digestion.

Do your goats have access to forage or are they penned and fed just hay and feed? If this is the case you might try giving them tree trimmings such as yaupon and other native plants that will not hurt goats. This will aid in the digestion process.

I can understand your concern about the vet visit and the cost, but have you considered taking a fecal sample to your local vet? This is a much less expensive way to find out exactly which parasites you are fighting. To get a fecal sample from your doe; get a ziploc sandwich bag and watch for her to expel fresh fecal matter, will latex gloves or a clean scoop, place fecal matter in the bag and take to your vet.

I hope this helps. Let us know her progress and when she kids.

 

[freemotion]

Thanks, Miz, I hope to ultimately get a picture posted so y'all can tell me what you think she is! I used a body condition chart to determine her condition, I knew she was thin, but she was a 2+ on a scale of 9! In only one week, she is not so placid, showing a bit of spunk, so I know she is feeling better.

Her eyelids are not white. I am waiting for the sun to come out when I am not at work to use the info on the previous links on anemia, but a quick check in low light shows some salmon coloring.

She is acting a little fussy. I just switched her from my wonderful mixture to plain barley with a handful of corn and sunflower seeds and a little alfalfa pellets, which she enjoyed....twice. Now she wants just the grain, which I think is ok, since she is eating noticeably more hay and the free-choice alfalfa I have for her. Also, I brought in some pine trees from the xmas tree farm next door. We have no browse available in MA in winter. The pasture was bare of snow for about 10 minutes yesterday, and they ventured out and seemed to be finding something to eat, now it is snow-covered again.

She is going through my stores of rutabagas and pumpkins, and I look at the "reduced for quick sale" produce and found some apples for her.

She ran all summer with a buck, so chances are high she is preggers.

She was narrow last week, I mean, no bulge to her belly, just the same width as bony shoulders and hips. Now she has the typical bulge of a working rumen.

It is very cold here tonight, wind chills sub-zero, so out I go now to check on her and offer another snack!

 

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

Sounds like you are taking very good care of her. Good luck and we can't wait for the pictures.

Happy New Year!

 

[Texgran]

just found this thread
a great info site for goats is www.dairygoatinfo.com you have to be accepted to the forum...but wow it's great

 

[cassie]

Just worm the darn goat with an effective wormer. Natural and herbal does not translale into either effective or safe. Very few if any modern wormers will cause abortion. If a goat aborts after worming the odds are the worming had nothing to do with it. If a goat is well fed and does not improve after worming, I would be really concerned about Johnes. The symptoms of a heavy worm load and Johnes disease are identical.

 

[freemotion]

Do you realize that this thread is almost a year old? The goat not only survived, but is thriving, and still giving a decent amount of milk, peaking at over a gallon a day.

She was wormed once well after giving birth with injectible Ivomec. Since then, I have learned to run fecals myself and have been monitering all my goats. They have not needed a second worming. Many months later. All are thriving and healthy, and three are now being bred, including the doe in the original post. My last fecal exams were done in the past few days. I use natural methods almost exclusively, using pharmaceuticals only on rare occasions.

I have learned a lot in the past year, and one thing I've learned is that natural methods CAN work if the owner is willing to take the time to research and carefully monitor to be sure the method is working with the individual animals and on that particular property, in that particular year with it's unique weather conditions and the worm burden of the pastures being used.

Before anyone hits that "reply" button: Don't tell me my animals are all going to die. People have been telling me that for years, and yet all the vets who come into contact with my critters ALL remark on their vibrant health....or on the rare occasion that someone is ill, at least the condition of their coats, my barn, the other animals, etc. They ALL ask what I do that is different. For my house pets, too.

 

[Skyesrocket]

I use ivomec injection for cattle and swine 1% given orally. 1 ml for 34-50 pounds. It is expensive if you are only using it for one animal. I use it for mites in poultry, as a pig and goat wormer and it can be used as a heart worm preventative in dogs and for mange in dogs.
It could be that your gal just wasn't getting enough food. With her being bred that would pull her down too. Chances are that she does have worms, from the conditions you described of where she came from. Probably a combination of both.
I always worm a new goat with ivomec before putting it on pasture.
Good Luck with her. I'm glad she has a good home now.

 

[Skyesrocket]

OOps...my bad. I didn't know this was an old thread. We must have been typing at the same time.
That's a great update! How did her babies look at birth? How long did you have her before she freshened?

 

[Beekissed]

Free, great update! I love to hear success stories about using natural methods of farming.

 

[freemotion]

She freshened around the end of Feb, can't remember exactly when....a large single buckling, presented with a leg back and born with some fluid asperated and ended up with pnumonia. After many vet visits and a month of struggling, we opted to put him down. Oh, I am not against pharmaceuticals for that type of situation! He was pumped full of them!!! I gave him injections twice a day. He seemed to get better, then had another round and went too far downhill and gave up fighting. Sniff.

The boy was gorgeous, large and healthy with an amazingly thick and luxurious coat. He learned very quickly to sleep under the heat lamp I provided when he needed it, and to move away from it when he got too hot.

The doe gained weight quite steadily, and her true personality has come out......lead doe, and struggles for dominance with me now and then, especially if I carry something, anything, through "her" pasture. We have plenty of pasture, so much that I had to mow it because they can't keep up, so she got up to full fightin' weight very quickly when the snow melted and the grass started to grow.

Sorry if my last post had a little attitude, but I must say, I have never told anyone not to use chemicals or pharmaceuticals. If that is their decision, why should I care? I took that route most of my life! I am always amazed when someone takes attitude with me for my management decisions, without any evidence as to whether it is working for me or not!