Deworming programs

[richbar]

I don't know how many sheep and goat producers are on this site but I'm just curious about deworming programs. I work at a University and we are seeing and increase in parasite resistance to most of the common dewormers. Some individuals are starting to look at alternative strategies including garlic and pumpkin seeds but we are not seeing a good control level with these if you have a heavy parasite load. Any other options being used?

[jungle]

I knew a lady once, went by the name Rogo, who swore by DE for curing all parasites and disease! (Sorry Rich- I couldn't resist)

[lmd]

Diatomaceous earth will kill only organisms that are of a specific size and specific outer skin. It is not a complete wormer in any way. It will scratch the outer layer of the organism only if the microscopic organism has a scratchable outer layer. DE is dangerous to eyes and lungs where it can cause deadly abrasion. DE is a good environmental deterrent for some organisms. Sheep should be wormed when they are shifted to a new pasture so that they do not contaminate their new set of food plants. Of course it is very helpful to do a stool check to determine which organisms are present so that you can decide which wormers to use for the problem. If there are sheep or lambs that are showing messy rears, gaining slowly, acting listless, then worming whould be done right away. Lambs die easily from a worm load.

[jungle]

Sorry Imd, you are obviosuly not aware that my response was sarcastic. I guess you were not around here in the Rogo days. I agree 100% with what you state, quite contrary to the other poster I was referring to.

Richard

[Bob308]

I have had goats about 10 years and have been thru the gauntlet with wormers and worming programs.

Here on the hot-humid Gulf Coast worming is as escentual as watering and anyone who doesn't have some plan worked out will not have goats very long. Some breeds and individual animals show resistance( or susceptible) to worms but for the most part we treat all out goats the same now.

We basically worm on a need to worm only basis now. We watch our herd and if we feel that they should be wormed we do. Some times that is by inspection and some times it is just because it has been a while ( couple of months) and the conditions are ripe for worm infestation( warm and wet and lots of new growth). Our wormer of choice for the last 6 years is Ivomec Plus. We have found no resistance to it yet except in a few individual cases and then we have used Cydectin. Eventually these were culled, also these were almost always some form of dairy goat( Nubian mostly).

We had a herd of 25 does and 2 Bucks. We bred for show wethers at first and then just for meat goats. At this time we had a program where we wormed every 6 weeks and especially right before kidding (February - March). Our herd consisted of Pure and percentage Boer and Spotted Nubian does and 1 Boer and 1 Nubian buck. Most all of these were registered. We also had a few Spanish does sprinkled in.
The Spanish were the most resistant to worms, then Boer and last Nubian.

We have since culled back to about 10 does and 1 Nubian buck( this is so we can travel to poultry shows more). Their home pasture is about 5 acres and then they are set to roam on 15+ acres a few time a week. We will rest that 5 acres once a year and put them on 3+ acres, with the same access to the 15+ acres. We try to worm before each move. In all we probably worm 3 times a year now.

Bob

[richbar]

I appreciate that Bob. And I enjoyed the sarcasm Richard. We are seeing (in our research) a lot of resistance to almost all of the dewormers, including ivomec on many farms throughout the Mid Atlantic area. One tactic that some people are using is deworming only those animals that are showing anemic conditions. Usually there are only a few problem animals in a herd or flock and they tend to spread the parasites to everyone else. To do it right you need to look at your animals every other week. Not feesible for large producers. Some organic producers are promoting garlic, and others use pumpkin seed pulp. Since small ruminants make up such a small part of Agriculture, most large drug companies are not willing to invest in the development of new products for them. I was just wondering if there were other ideas out there.

On another note, I heard an old story about a group of sheep producers deworming a flock. They would mix a tea made from tobacco (nicotine) and size up a sheep, looking back and forth between the darkness of the tea and the size of the sheep. After a while they would pull up a dose and give it to the ewe. Then they would stand back and watch the ewe for an hour or so to see if she lived. If so, they would go ahead and dose the rest of the flock.

I do know that nicotine used to be used as a dewormer but I doubt if anyone is using that anymore.

[Bob308]

The worry of goats becoming immune to the current wormers has been around for a while. That is why a lot of people rotate their wormers in hopes of keeping them from becoming resistant. There is another camp( of which I am one) that believes that just makes them resistant to all wormers quicker. I have just got to the point that I just worm only when needed to slow the process down.
The worry of no new wormer coming down the pike has also been a concern for at least the last five years. I think small time breeders like me are going to be OK for a lot longer as long as people don't crowd their stock.
Cattle do well in fed lot situations, goats do not. That is why the Texas Hill Country is one of the leaders in goat and sheep production. Large areas of browse, that contain very little worms because it is higher off the ground. It doesn't hurt that the land is loaded with copper and is basicly worthless for anything but goats ( and now multimillion dollar homes).

Having dealt with worms for a while and seen their ability to kill an animal, I have a hard time believing there is an organic wormer that will work on a commercial basis. Maybe in a small herd with a more hands on operation, but not in a mass production situation. I may be wrong and I hope I am.