[Nickolas]

We have 6 Boer goats that are about 3 years old, 3 males an 3 females. The males are fixed. We use them to eat weeds on our 2 acres in Northern California, which they have been been doing the past 2 years. I give them alphalfa and goat feed in the winter when the land has been eaten out. We leave out Purina Goat blocks for free choice most of the time.

A vet wormed the goats when they were about 3 months old with a liquid down the throat. It was traumatic for all of them and just catching them to do the worming was an ordeal, the vet lassoed them with a rope and we had to tie them to a post to secure them. We initially tried to worm them ourselves but one fainted and almost died. Foolishly, we haven't wormed them since. One of the large males is slightly bloated all the time and several others are somewhat less bloated too.

We are thinking they need to be wormed, but after waiting so long, can we do this safely using pelleted wormer? Obviously, the pelleted form saves the goats the trauma and us too. How much should we start them on? Two males are about 110 lbs. and the rest are about 75-85 lbs.

Thanks for any help/advice you can provide.

 

[Texaslass]

Yikes! Yes please deworm them as soon as possible! Mine need it every couple of months or less, so it's high time for yours I would think.I'll let others tell you what wormer is best, but I think you would do well to get a fecal check done first.
And I have been told that pelleted dewormer is junk, but I can't speak for all of it.

 

[nancy d]

Sounds like another round up time. But no lasooing this time.
If you can get fecal sample before it hits the ground on a few of them you will know what parasites you are dealing with.
Hopefully they are friendlier now?
Ive never used the pelleted stuff but it sounds like it's time to go for the big guns, IOW chemical wormer.

 

[lottsagoats]

The pelleted wormer is pretty much crapola. It's better than nothing, but not by much.

If it were me, I'd have a fecal run to see what worms they are infested with and then get the chemical wormer that targets those worms. Can you make a small pen to herd them into to? Maybe get 4 cattle panels to make a temp pen? You need to be able to handle them in case of emergencies and for normal routine maintenance.

 

[nancy d]

Great idea Lotsagoats, especially with the panels to make a smaller area.

 

[mjs500doo]

I'd make a squish chute with panels. Super cheap and super effective. Or two gates next to your barn wall. The pelleted dewormer is very tough. It's flavored, and you literally need to monitor each individual's intake of it. Weigh or measure an ensure feed consumption. Even still they may not get the proper dose because of the metabolism on them. Basically what it amounts to is it was a super good idea and marketing worked out but not the best choice out there. Another thing is it only is effective with a very minimal range of worms. I believe 3 types of stomach worms. I can't be for sure though. The vet laughed at me when I first got into goats and had a huge bag of dewormer feed on the shelf.