Deworming a goat without dewormers
Unfortunately, that dose of Safe-Guard really knocked Artemesia's guts out of whack. As I mentioned in a previous post, the dewormer killed all of the threadworms...but
paved the way for an infestation of another parasite that my extension
agent IDed through email as the dreaded barberpole worm. Barberpole
worms are resistant to common over-the-counter dewormers, so my options
as I saw the parasites' numbers rise consisted of either contacting a
vet or seeking further options.
I
figured I'd first try seeking further options. Initial item on the
agenda: refresh the mineral and kelp feeders...again. Artemesia's belly
has gotten so round that it's tough for her to stick her neck over the
edge of the mineral feeders, which I only realized when she started
asking me to hand feed her kelp after her daily meals. (Yes, of course I
complied.) Once she was able to easily reach inside again, she started
scarfing the stuff like it was candy.
That should have clued me in about the need for option C, but I instead turned to Molly's Herbal Goat Dewormer (the safe-for-pregnancy version).
Artemesia scarfed her first dose down quite nicely mixed with molasses
and I soon started seeing a better look to her fur and eyelids. Of
course, I was doubling down on her minerals at the same time (and
haven't yet done a followup fecal analysis), so don't have a clear idea
what caused the effect and if the barberpole worms are indeed on the
decline.
While waiting to catch a fresh poop sample, I also ordered some copper boluses (the 2 gram version
since Artemesia isn't quite big enough to get the full-size-goat
pills). I could write for hours about the pros and cons of boluses, but
here's the cliff notes version:
- Goats require lots of copper and boluses seem to be more effective than either kelp or mineral mixtures at getting that copper in their system.
- Goats low on copper tend to be high on parasites.
- But boluses scared me away initially because you're really supposed to shoot the pill down the goat's throat with a bolus gun. Yikes!
Further perusal of the
internet, though, suggested that as long as those little wires go down
the gullet without too much chewing, they seem to stay in the rumen just
where they're supposed to, gun or no gun. Unfortunately, my method of
dipping the pill in molasses only succeeded in turning our goat a little
sweeter as she licked off the goop and then spat out the bolus. After a
trip to the store, we'll move on to the internet's low-tech solution
--- marshmallows.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
I mix the little rods in with a peanut butter/oatmeal/honey ball and my goats gobble it up. They don't like it as well when I put the selenium gel in it, though. When is Artemisia due?
Wewally --- That sounds like a good option...if a little scary.
Another Julie --- I like your version even better! Do you feel like they swallow the balls pretty well without chewing up the rods that way?
To answer your question...it's complicated. If Artemesia's gestation period matches her father's lineage (Nigerian), then she's due on the 21. If it matches her mother's lineage (Nubian), then she' due on the 26th. Since we set up Abigail's butcher date for the 25th, you can guess which one we're counting on.
Either way --- soon!
OH yes, they swallow the balls without even tasting them. But then, my goats will go out in the rain for oats and peanut butter!
I hope Artemisia kids when you want her to. And I hope all goes smoothly. She's such a lovely little goat.