Safeguard for goats

[aapuzzo]

Sorry I am asking this which has been asked before but I just don't want to mess this up. Also it seems liek the info has changed over the years when it comes to giving medicine so I don't want to be following old info. AM I better off giving the chickens 1ml per bird on a piece of bread every days for 5 days or 3ml per gallon of water changing the water every day? I read that safeguard doesn't stay suspended in water very well. Also it seems like the consensus is no need to redose anymore if you do the full 5 days. Is the water a proven method for treating an entire flock or would 1 piece of bread for every bird be better? I could do the bread today just to get them started.

 

[lavendermarie]

We did the bread method because the water seemed like there were too many potential issues.

 

[coach723]

Safeguard liquid goat wormer will settle out of the water, it's not intended to be used that way. I dose my birds orally with an oral syringe. You can do it with bread, but must make sure that they take it all. With the oral dose with the syringe there is no issue. Correct dose is .23ml per pound of bird weight (you can round to .25 for ease of measuring). A inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well for getting weights. So a 4 lb bird would get 1ml. It is important not to under dose as that can lead to medication resistance in the parasites. If you do 5 days in a row, you do not need to redose after that.
To dose them orally you lock them in the coop at night, go out early the next morning before light and take them off the roosts one at a time and dose them. When the coop is empty, everyone was dosed. I do it by myself, if you have a helper it may be faster/easier. Hold the bird, pull down on the wattles and put the medication at the front of the beak .5 ml at a time and let them swallow. Repeat until the entire dose is given. Giving no more than .5 ml at a time and allowing them to swallow helps minimize the chance they might aspirate the medication. Make sure you shake the bottle well before drawing your dose, the medication settles out.
The only Safeguard that is mixable in water is Safeguard Aquasol, and it's really, really expensive.