New Pygmy

[princess1952]

I will be getting an 8 week old Pygmy this weekend. Has had no shots no worming, what do I give him??? He has been weaned since 6 weeks old. Isn't that young???? He will be with my Nigerians but I need to worm him and vaccinate him first. I do not want my babies to get sick because of him.

 

[warthog]

Yes 6 weeks does seem a bit young. Make sure he is feeding well on hay and browse or pasture.

He will need his injections.

But I think I will leave that to the more experienced. I am still learning.

Good Luck and lets have pictures when you have time, we all love pictures.

It's always nice to go ooooh haaaaaa at the end of a hard day.

 

[cmjust0]

You'd normally wean kids at 8-10wks, but I doubt weaning at 6wks would have much of a negative impact.. He'll be ok.

As for shots, you'll want to give him 2ml of C/D-T. You can get it at Tractor Supply or order it online....about $5 or so. If he hasn't had that, it really only puts *him* at risk, as it vaccinates him against three bacterium -- clostridium perferingens types C & D, plus tetanus -- all of which are more or less endemic to soil pretty much everywhere.

As for deworming, he may or may not need it -- but since he's new, I'd do it anyway. There are really only 3 (or 4..or 5..depending on who you ask) different classes of dewormers:

1) Macrolytic lactones -- ivomec, dectomax, cydectin (some folks consider cydectin to be in another class, but it's really just another ML)

2) Benzamidazoles -- Safe Guard, Panacur, Valbazen, Synanthic... They're not super effective against the #1 killer parasite, the "barberpole worm," as most barberpoles are BENZ resistant at this point. They do kill tapeworms, though.

3) Imidazothiazoles/Tetrahydropyrimidines -- Levasole, Prohibit, and Tramisol are IMIDs.. Rumatel, Strongid, and pelleted dewormers are usually TETRs. I'd personally put IMIDs and TETRs in different classes because the IMIDs tend to be *much* more effective than TETRs.. Unfortunately, it's really hard to find any IMIDs these days...

What I'd do is treat him with two classes of dewormer.. The easiest to find would be Safe Guard 10% suspension and Ivomec.. I'd use the Safe Guard at 1ml/10lbs of bodyweight for 3 days straight, the hit him with 1% injectable Ivomec *orally* (yes...orally) at about 1ml/25lbs.

That should do a fair job on any worms he might have.

I'd probably also consider pre-treating for coccidia using DiMethox (or Sulmet), and I'd inspect him really thoroughly for lice right off the bat.. Someone else can give you the specifics on those.

I've rambled enough.

 

[princess1952]

Now I need to know what to look for as to lice??? Is it the cattle ivermectin? I worm my dogs with safeguard, funny how I have that on hand.

 

[Ariel301]

Now I need to know what to look for as to lice??? Is it the cattle ivermectin? I worm my dogs with safeguard, funny how I have that on hand.

You can use the cattle ivomec, I use the oral paste for horses. (With the oral paste, you find the dosage based on his weight but give him three times his weight's worth, goats need a bigger dose than horses)

Lice--symptoms are rough coat, itchiness (he will rub and scratch a LOT on things--a little is normal, but he'd be doing it constantly), in young kids a bad case can cause poor growth and anemia (check the insides of the eyelids, if they are pink, that's good, white is anemic and you have a problem somewhere). Sometimes you can part the hair along the spine and see them there, I find the best way to check kids for them is to flip them on their backs and look between the hind legs where the hair is thin, that is a place they love to hang out. The ivermectin will kill them if he has them. You can also wash him in dog flea shampoo or spray him with a permethrin flea spray. It's a bit cold for it now, but in summer, I find the best way to treat and prevent them is to shave the goats. We deal with them a lot here for some reason, they show up every rainy season.

 

[elevan]

The ivermectin will kill them if he has them.

Ivermectin given orally will kill lice? Just wondering...