# Worming Dairy Goats



## 1840farm (Aug 8, 2011)

I am fairly new to goats (less than 1 year) and we are milking our first doe. I have been reading a lot about worming, but I am interested to hear how you handle worming with goats that you are milking. How often do you worm a lactating doe and how do you handle the witholding of the milk and/or timing of the worming?

I want to do what is best for the doe but also minimize the loss of milk as she is our only doe in milk. We retained her daughter who is six months old and still stealing milk whenever she gets the chance so I also need to make sure that whatever I do will be safe for her.

I appreciate any advice or tips that you could share. Thanks in advance for your help.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I do my own fecals on my goats so I only worm when needed, however...when I do worm I use ivermectin paste and only dump milk for 2 days because with research I've found that many of the drugs used to worm animals are also used to treat people with parasites....Ivermectin is one of those drugs.

It also should be dosed once every 7-10 days for a total of 3 doses to be effective in "taking care" of the entire lifecycle of the parasite


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

Liz has said it well... I've also always been attracted to ivermectin because it is used to treat humans as well but I think with any wormer it is a lot better to do a fecal (or take one to your vet) before you worm because you will know what sort of worms you are dealing with and can be sure that the wormer you use is effective, keep the costs of wormer down, reduce the amount of chemicals that you are putting into your goat (and you through her milk), and, most importantly it will prevent worms from building up a resistance to the wormer.

As Liz said it is important to continue the course for the full 3 doses to make sure you kill everything off... otherwise you will be selectively breeding for wormer resistant parasites.
M.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

First step is learn to do your own fecals! It's easy, and it will save you a ton of money and worrying!
Second, only worm her if she actually needs it (it sounds like this is what you want to do).
Third, Google "Molly's Herbal Wormer." It's a bit pricey, but there is no milk withdrawal. There are also plants that worm goats, such as black walnut, wormwood, honeysuckle, and Lespedeza hay.


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