Vaccines
I once read a quote that said, "Goats come into the world looking for a way out". After years of raising goats, I believe that is true! At first, we thought we would go organic with our goats and try natural remedies and preventatives, the result was the loss of a few cherished goats and pushed us to adopt a treatment plan that combines both chemical and natural treatments. In our situation, it has been mandatory that we vaccinate our goats. Our farm had sat untouched for 15 years ,so the goats had plenty to eat and that can lead to scours and bloating. Deer had roamed openly during those 15 years which caused a concern for meningeal worms in our goats. We have tried to find a balance between annual vaccines and natural preventatives.
We are now in the position to keep a closed herd and provide a herd immunity for our goats. If/when an "outside the herd" goat would be brought in, it would be quarantined for a week or 2 and vaccinated, if it had an uncertain vaccination history.
Our goats get a CD/T vaccine (Clostridium perfringens type C + D and tetanus) at 6 weeks of age and a booster at 9 weeks. Our adult herd is given a yearly booster for protection, this is usually given in the fall before breeding season. Pregnant does are given a a CD/T vaccine 30 days before freshening to provide immunity to her kid at birth.
Another preventive we use is a Tetanus Antitoxin, given when we castrate (band) the bucklings only.
Dewormer
Before we purchased our first goats, we attended a Goat U class which is put on every year by Auburn University's Ag Extension Program. We went back for 2 years b/c there was so much valuable information about parasites, we wanted a yearly refresher and took lots of notes! Goats parasites have developed an immunity to some available dewormers. It is important to rotate your dewormers and do fecal counts before deworming and only worm goats that NEED it. Most Veterinarians will do your fecal count if you gather a sealed bag of fresh pellets from your goats and take it in. *Make sure to know which goat your sample comes from and label your bag so you can treat the right goat should your count come back with a high parasite count. Another way for you to know which goats to check is the perform a FAMACHA© score check. You can click the link below to see instructions on FAMACHA scoring. Auburn's Goat U also certifies their participants in FAMACHA scoring.
We use Safeguard for goats liquid for new kids. We prefer the liquid to top dressing wormer b/c we want to be sure the right goat gets the correct amount.
Our choice is 1% injectable ivermectin given orally at 1cc per 50#s when a wormer is needed. Ivermectin is used when we see signs of mites or hair loss or a FAMACHA score/fecal count indication We have one nanny goat with a coarse coat that seems to be our token mite goat and we have her on a scheduled ivermectin protocal.
FAMACHA scoring to identify parasite risk in small ruminants - Farm and DairyFAMACHA is an effective, easy-to-use tool everyone from backyard hobbyists to large-scale producers can use on the farm.
Natural Alternatives
We have tried several natural dewormers and have had some success with them. Molly's Herbal Wormer is very good. but has to be given in a regiment of several days in a row and proved to be too difficult for us with our herd. If we had just goats or a smaller herd it would be a good go-to for us.
Blackberry is great natural remedy for scours. We have fed new Spring kids blackberry bushes when they first go onto pasture.
Garlic is a great supplement for goats and most animals on the farm. We are fortunate to have wild garlic growing on the farm.
Apple Cidar Vinegar (with the mother) has been proven to be good, as a supplement, for all of us!
We have this book and it is a good resource for natural treatment.
https://fiascofarm.com/herbs/mollysherbals.php/categories/herbal-wormer
