[Dogwalker]

Do you worm your goats as a routine thing or have an egg count done.
What do you use?
Do you treat for liver fluke?
How do you obtain small ammounts of wormer?

When I took the goats for their CAE blood test the vet said I should treat to prevent fluke and it needed to be a drench for immature fluke.  Haven't yet found a local farmer with the right stuff in use I can get a small ammount from.  Surrounded by shhep farms so someone must have the right stuff.

[princesspiggy]

iv just fluked mine yesterday on vets advice. our bottle has 50 doses with a 12 mth use by. about 5ml per dose for my goats.
i dont mind decanting some and posting at cost if u wish, i only opened it yesterday.

[Dogwalker]

That's kind of you, thank you.
What did you use?

[Anke]

I would have an initial worm count done, including counting for fluke. That would give you an idea what you are starting with. It really depends on how much and where you are grazing your goats (i.e have there been sheep on the goats pasture in the last 12 months before the goats arrived?). I get worm counts done about twice a year for the goats, once in autumn (still to be done this year - ooops) and then again 10 days AFTER their routine worming dose post kidding.

So far my goats have not shown any sign of fluke, whereas the sheep (in a different field next to the river) have shown fluke (and now get routinely treated twice pa with Fasinex), but so far not had any problems with worms. My vet advised that sheep (and presumably goats) do not build up resistance to Fasinex, so a bottle can last you a while. I have only just finished my first one, bought in 2009 and with  best-before date of early 2012. The smallest one you can buy is 750ml, and my current one has a best before date of sometime in 2014. Just make sure it is stored away from frost.

My goats however do need worming, I have found that white wormers don't do the job anymore, and am currently using yellow ones. Might have to switch to Ivermectin based ones next year.

There are no wormers or flukicides licensed for goats (maybe except Panacur, but not sure), so the same withdrawal period as for sheep will apply for meat, if you are milking and no milk withdrawal times are given it is usually 7 days minimum for human consumption.  Also please note that for most wormers (I do not know about flukicides) the goats dose is about 1.5 to 1.7x the sheep dose, but if you are unsure post on here and someone will give you an answer if your vet is not sure. Panacur can be up to twice the sheep dose without any danger.

To estimate your goat's weight, measure her girth, and I have posted in the past somewhere in this section a table with girth measurements to corresponding weights, if you can't find it - I have got a table on paper, so can always look it up for you.

[princesspiggy]

That's kind of you, thank you.
What did you use?

i will check tomorrow and let u know.

[Hopewell]

I live in one of the drier parts of the country and have bought both sheep and goats from the wetter parts of the country in the past, so I have had a policy of treating for fluke when the animals arrive and haven't routinely treated afterwards. However I think I may need to change that policy as there is quite a bit of evidence that fluke is becoming more common in areas that have traditionally not had a problem.

In case you are wondering what the dryness/wetness has to do with fluke, it's because they have part of their lifecycle in snails, and of course snails like it wet.

My vet advised that sheep (and presumably goats) do not build up resistance to Fasinex,

Resistance to triclabendazole, which is the active ingredient was reported in the Veterinary Record as long ago as 1998 in Scottish sheep.

There are no wormers or flukicides licensed for goats (maybe except Panacur, but not sure), so the same withdrawal period as for sheep will apply for meat, if you are milking and no milk withdrawal times are given it is usually 7 days minimum for human consumption. 

I thought that the standard withdrawal period (ie when not specified for that species) was 28 days for meat, as that is what it says on the noahcompendium website.

[princesspiggy]

That's kind of you, thank you.
What did you use?

sorry 4 delay, had busy week.
i used Combinex. if u want some PM me, thanx

[Dogwalker]

Sorry I forgot to update,
A farmer friend didn't have any left so sent me to pickup 5l of Fasinex from the agri supplier for him and gave me enough for this winter.

The goats are now visiting Tizaala's billy,
Hope they're behaving themselves.

[princesspiggy]

thats good then.