# Fecal Testing



## vigilguy (Dec 12, 2008)

When testing fecals, do I take samples of ALL of the goats and test them separately?


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

It depends.

I have 6 boys and I take samples from each one and mark with their name and take to the vet. I want to know who has what or if one goat tends to be more wormy than the next. But I only have 6 goats.

Some take a heard sample. Gather from several goats and do one fecal test and get a general herd reading. I guess if one goat has an overload of worms then the rest probably do to.

Either way I would treat the whole herd when needed instead of the indavidual goat. Just easier record keeping knowing you dewormed all goats at such date.

Oh and I tried doing my own tests...not that hard to do. But with my small number of goats I decieded it was worth the $$ to have the vet do it. :roll:


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Hasligrove said:


> I guess if one goat has an overload of worms then the rest probably do to.
> 
> Either way I would treat the whole herd when needed instead of the indavidual goat. Just easier record keeping knowing you dewormed all goats at such date.


nope. There are always more succeptible animals in a herd and animals that are more resistant. With individual fecal exams you will find those animals and can take of the animals, that are more prone to parasitic infections. Some may have an underlying issue with a chronic illness, a genetic disposition, a deficiency somewhere that you can take care of.

Worming all animals at once is convenient but the universities here advise against it because you will dose the animals with lesser worm load as well and therefore contribute to a faster developing resistance problem (resistance against the wormer) in your herd. Test individuals (fecal or FAMACHA) and only worm those with a considerable worm load.


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

Point taken! I guess my first line there I was refering to people who do a herd test and just treat all goats in the herd the same...but even though I have been doing indavidual fecals on each goat I have been deworming all at the same time. You are so right that I need to take it a step further an only deworm those goats that need it! When I first started with goats I would deworm everyone on a regular basis. Now I have been trying to wait longer between doses and only deworm when needed. I will again take it a step further and deworm only the goats that need it when they need it!  I do get a bit worried here in the rainy northwest. We have a huge potential for loads of worms and liver flukes and I'm always afraid I will wait too long and the poor boys will be overloaded. Humm...I was going to deworm everyone tomorrow...it was 1/15/10 that I last did fecals and everyone was normal....and it has been since Sept 09 that I dewormed everyone...figured rainy spring time eating wet grass...they gotta be wormy...guess I will do fecals again tomorrow first and then see who my need to be dewormed.

Thank You! I'm always looking for ways to fine tune my herd management practices!


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

So....

I did fecals the other day and they are all normal again. I should be happy right? I just get worried that I will wait too long and they will be overloaded with worms. So I was wondering how often people do fecals...or a recomendation and keep in mind that I'm here in the rainy northwest. Just a recap. Last deworm was Sept 09 (Ivermectin plus), fecal test 1/15/10 all normal and fecal test 4/19/10 all normal. Since it is spring should I retest fecals in 1 month? 

Thanks for the advice


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## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

Did you end up taking your samples to the vet or looking at the fecal samples yourself? I would like to do less worming with meds and just do more of the fecal testing. I'm wondering how hard it is to look at the samples if you have a microscope?

Did you find out how long to wait between fecal tests?

Tonia


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## feederseaters (Nov 8, 2009)

I too have been curious about self examining fecal samples. I have asked my local coop ext to find out if there is some sort of training available, however they dropped the ball. Is there a book published that would guide us on this.

Any further info on this would be a HUGE HELP.


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## feederseaters (Nov 8, 2009)

http://www.microscope-microscope.org/applications/animals/fecal_analysis.htm

AWESOME!!!


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## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/fecals.htm

I was at the vet yesterday and it is $20 a goat for a fecal test for worms. Multiply that times my 19 goats and yikes! I was researching on the internet last night and came across the website above. This link has a great site walking you through the steps.

Tonia


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## feederseaters (Nov 8, 2009)

http://www.fecpak.com

My Animal Welfare Approved Newsletter came in the mail today and had an article about the testing kits sold by fecpak. Just more info to add, but this kit comes with training and such.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

I count my blessings because i have not had to worm my stock for 6 years. i have grazing contracts that i can rotate my stock on for thee weeks then i move them to the next contract they only are on a contract once a year. my fecal counts have been low ever since i started this protect.


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

I never really got an answer on how often to do fecal tests. I have the best intentions to do them more but in reality it is about once every 3 to 4 months. I always just treat the goat that needs it and tell myself that I will recheck that goat in a month or so. Well it ends up getting put off and I just test them all again in the 3 or 4 month interval. Usually it is not the same goat I'm treating the next fecal round. All mine have gone 6 months or more without treatment which I think is good since I'm in a really rainy area. I have the vet do mine but I only have 6 goats and a great vet who is right down the road who gives me a good deal. Doing your own fecals is not hard and I would recommend to anyone with a lot of goats. It is much beter herd management in my opinion to just treat the individual animal and not the herd. This wasn't the way I started with deworming or was taught but in my research I feel is a better way that works well for me.


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## Blueroan (Mar 6, 2010)

We tried to do fecal testing on our goats today. I collected some fresh pellets then took them to the hospital. My friend is a surgeon so he bought a set up with fecasol, microscope and the whole works to test his cattle. We followed the directions and we could not find anything in the sample we tested. Makes me wonder where we went wrong. We should of found some eggs. I did look at my goats sclera and it is nice and pink. I worm my goats with a herbal wormer from hoegger every week. I am going to see a friend of mine that does microbiology for the hospital to see if our process is wrong. I will figue this out eventually.


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