The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: cuckoo on February 20, 2012, 05:29:00 pm
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I need to calculate the body weight of my goats for worming but I dont have a set of scales - what other methods are available - need to be as accurate as possible to calculate dosage - thanks
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There's this chart
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/weight-chart.htm (http://fiascofarm.com/goats/weight-chart.htm)
and as mine are pygmy's I've used this one
http://kinne.net/weights.htm (http://kinne.net/weights.htm) and it was pretty accurate
My vet said it was better to round up weights ie give a little more of a dose - I use pancure and I was told 1.5 x sheep dose but if I remember correctly Anke said in a previous post it should be 1.6 x
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If you search TAS forum with the following terms: goat weight girth excel - you should get a reply that I posted a while ago with an excel file attached with a girth (i.e. behind the front legs round the rib cage when the goat is relaxed) vs weight table. Taken from Matthews Diseases of the Goat, IMO reliable. take a few measurements and the average out.
Which wormer are you going to use?
White wormers can be used of about 2 times the sheep dose
Yellow drenches (Levamisole) can be used at 1.5 times sheep dose, but it is recommended not to exceed the 12mg/kg body weight dose, as it becomes toxic when getting towards 20mg/kg bodyweight, also do not use injectable versions and not in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy or in debilitated animals (quoted from Matthews)
Ivermectin (Oramec) at 1.5 times sheep dose
If you use a white wormer (like Panacur) I would do a worm/faecal count 10 days after, as lots of worms now show resistance. Oramec I think is still fairly good to use.
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I'll be doing mine soon - so thanks for the update Anke - and I was going to do a count this time around - can I ask do you just select a random 2/3 to check or do everyone individually?
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What about Displacement?
where you submerge a mass / body into a full tub of water, then weigh the water it spills?
just kidding!!!!!!!!!!
;D
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I'll be doing mine soon - so thanks for the update Anke - and I was going to do a count this time around - can I ask do you just select a random 2/3 to check or do everyone individually?
It depends on how yours are stabled, mine are in groups of two or three per pen, some individuals, so I take usually a sample per pen (4 in total), and if there's more than one in the pen I try and check for where they were lying at night (normally take samples first thing in the morning) and make sure I take some of each... all very scientific ;) If there's one really high (and the others are not) I will worm just individuals, but usually all show some and as they all graze in the same field I just worm all of them.
For my post-kidding samples (I worm a couple of days post-kidding then sample 10 days after that) I normally still have mum in her own pen with kids in subdivided area, so have a single sample available.
I have to say that I didn't do an autumn test and didn't worm - none of mine showed any signs (and they are usually fairly obvious for the high milkers)... but will do all of mine by mid-March or post-kidding.