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[misfitmorgan]

I am giving 1% ivermectin (liquid) all of them 1 cc per 55 pounds for 3 days and 4.6 cc per 100 pounds of safeguard for 5 days. I decided to give the ivermectin in the morning and safe guard in the evening. The only exception to this is the one who is showing the symptoms of meningeal worms. I am giving her 10 x the recommended dosage of the safeguard. The article I read says that using 1% ivermectin preventative lay or to treat pre-neurological symptoms is effective.

So you are giving a double dose of safeguard to everyone except the one who is getting the 10x dose. Everyone with the double dose should be fine to get the safeguard and ivomec at the same time, same dosage I give more or less. The one getting the 10x 23ml doses of safeguard, yeah probly just keep the ivomec in the evenings.

You’re last comment has me laughing. Thanks! Ah, and I’m glad you cleared that up about the Replamin. I thought that was only vitamin E. We’ll, I take consolation in the fact that all my goats are alive and this has been a good education.

Glad I put a smile on your face!

 

[Deecarter]

Update on Jasmine: I know for sure, now, that my problem has been meningeal worms in both the momma (Sadie Rose) and her twin doe, Jasmine. I have finished treating them all for that worm, and Jasmine is doing super great, now. I can detect a slight off balance in her back legs once in a while, but the itching has stopped, the staggering and walking like she was drunk has all disappeared. My husband can't detect anything off at all but because I have been watching them all like a hawk, I can. Soooo, with that being said, do you all think I need a regular deworming program? If so, how often and what should I use? Do you all worm regularly? I had been putting food grade diatomaceous powder in their feed and mixing it in. After I started doing this a few months ago, their coats got smooth and shiny but I still had the deer worm problem despite that.

 

[rachels.haven]

I'm not going to answer that definitively because I'm not sure and it is critically important to the well being of your animals to get the correct answer, but the fact your girls are doing better made my morning.
When thinking about regular worming with goats in this situation it is a toss up. Any wormer you use on a calendar basis with goats creates resistant worms because of the way goats' systems handle the wormers and the way the worms are selectively bred under those circumstances (except maybe herbal supplements, but those won't help you in this situation. They seem to mostly just suppress worm populations at best rather than kill off, and I doubt they touch meningeal at all). At the same time it sounds like you have a serious, serious meningeal worm issue. I'd be interested to hear what someone else has to say.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

You may want to get some khaki Campbell ducks, we had four in with the goats and they will definitely eat the slugs and snails that are infesting your goats...the eggs are great for baking ..and the ducks will eat some goat pellets and Crack corn if you throw a little out for them...they don't fly and are highly amusing to watch, excellent clean up crew .

 

[Deecarter]

You may want to get some khaki Campbell ducks, we had four in with the goats and they will definitely eat the slugs and snails that are infesting your goats...the eggs are great for baking ..and the ducks will eat some goat pellets and Crack corn if you throw a little out for them...they don't fly and are highly amusing to watch, excellent clean up crew .

I've never heard of those kind of ducks. Wouldn't they need a pond or some kind of water to go to?

 

[Deecarter]

I'm not going to answer that definitively because I'm not sure and it is critically important to the well being of your animals to get the correct answer, but the fact your girls are doing better made my morning.
When thinking about regular worming with goats in this situation it is a toss up. Any wormer you use on a calendar basis with goats creates resistant worms because of the way goats' systems handle the wormers and the way the worms are selectively bred under those circumstances (except maybe herbal supplements, but those won't help you in this situation. They seem to mostly just suppress worm populations at best rather than kill off, and I doubt they touch meningeal at all). At the same time it sounds like you have a serious, serious meningeal worm issue. I'd be interested to hear what someone else has to say.

Yes! Jasmine is running and jumping and actually playing now. She is 99% better. I've read about the wormers becoming non effective because the parasites get resistant. It's a bad problem to have, especially with the meningeal worms. Our oldest son has taken 5 bucks off our property for the freezer. The deer is getting very over populated here and squeezed in the process because it's really a suburban area. It's kind of sad in a way. They are so beautiful. Before we fenced our pasture and the wooded area, they crossed that area all the time. Our 6 1/2 acres is wedged between a 20 acre parcel and a 150 acre parcel with the creek bordering our property so the deer have a sanctuary of sorts here and what surround these 3 parcels is nothing but subdivisions and commercial properties. We bought the first 2 goats last September so they were coming into a place where deer frequented and I had no knowledge whatsoever about deer worm.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I've never heard of those kind of ducks. Wouldn't they need a pond or some kind of water to go to?

A kids plastic swimming pool is what we used, they mate in it ( if you get a male) and they swim in it, also need water to drink ( we used a large chicken watering container)...they make a mess with both waters but they are outstanding for keeping the area free from s)ugs and snails, ticks and all bugs, they are inexpensive to purchase, and worth their weight in gold...if you do decide to get some, the ratio should be at least three females to one male....or all females if you do not want to hatch out chicks...they will nest out and hatch their chick on their own and do a great job caring for them.....if you can't find any near you, you can order chick's from a hatchery, they grow very fast and will get busy with your pest problems within a few months.. they are just as entertaining to watch as your goats are, and know your feeding schedule...so expect them to come running to you at feed time quaking in excitement lol

 

[Baymule]

Just catching up here, I’m so glad that your goats are improving. I was going to suggest cleaning up your pastures when @B&B Happy goats mentioned Khaki Campbell ducks. The duck pool water can be used as a liquid fertilizer for pastures or poured on the garden, fruit trees, etc. As far as other parasites, buy a steer. Cattle don’t share parasites with goats or sheep. Run the steer ahead of the goats, wait several weeks for the pasture to regrow. Do that all summer, feeding steer also, take to slaughter in the fall or overwinter in a dry lot with shelter and a round bale of hay. Graze again all summer plus feed and slaughter in the fall. It depends on the age of the steer when you get him. We took our steer to slaughter at 18 months old, borderline young, but the meat is very good. Optimal age is 2 years old. Most slaughter places won’t take a steer over 30 months old.

Other option to keep deer out is a couple of LGDs to bark and drive them away. Behind our horse barn was a wild tangle before we had it forestry mulched. Thick like stick your arm out and couldn’t see your hand. The dogs don’t go in the horse pasture. We had 2 does that jumped the fence to have and raise their fawns in the thicket. Those does walked right up against the backyard fence, knowing the dogs couldn’t get them, driving the dogs nuts. LOLNow that it’s all cleared, no more deer.

 

[rachels.haven]

Your pond, Ma'am...

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tuff-stuff-products-large-all-purpose-mixing-tub-26-gal-35-cu-ft

Actually, my winter tub was a smaller (and cheaper) circular tub that four khakis could jam themselves into, but for some reason I can't find anything but the rubber ones on the website today. So here's a BIG one (above) for example. I don't think mine held more then 10 gallons because it was easy peasy to dump. If it fits a duck or two it's good enough (for a few ducks). I also used kiddie pools when I had them, but when they were on sale. It just needs to be big enough to fit a few ducks and solid enough to hold up to daily dumping.

 

[Deecarter]

A kids plastic swimming pool is what we used, they mate in it ( if you get a male) and they swim in it, also need water to drink ( we used a large chicken watering container)...they make a mess with both waters but they are outstanding for keeping the area free from s)ugs and snails, ticks and all bugs, they are inexpensive to purchase, and worth their weight in gold...if you do decide to get some, the ratio should be at least three females to one male....or all females if you do not want to hatch out chicks...they will nest out and hatch their chick on their own and do a great job caring for them.....if you can't find any near you, you can order chick's from a hatchery, they grow very fast and will get busy with your pest problems within a few months.. they are just as entertaining to watch as your goats are, and know your feeding schedule...so expect them to come running to you at feed time quaking in excitement lol

That's amazing. I'm seriously considering this. What about chicken hawks? I've lost so m any chickens to chicken hawks that I can't allow my chickens to free range. Do you think hawks would get the ducks?

Just catching up here, I’m so glad that your goats are improving. I was going to suggest cleaning up your pastures when @B&B Happy goats mentioned Khaki Campbell ducks. The duck pool water can be used as a liquid fertilizer for pastures or poured on the garden, fruit trees, etc. As far as other parasites, buy a steer. Cattle don’t share parasites with goats or sheep. Run the steer ahead of the goats, wait several weeks for the pasture to regrow. Do that all summer, feeding steer also, take to slaughter in the fall or overwinter in a dry lot with shelter and a round bale of hay. Graze again all summer plus feed and slaughter in the fall. It depends on the age of the steer when you get him. We took our steer to slaughter at 18 months old, borderline young, but the meat is very good. Optimal age is 2 years old. Most slaughter places won’t take a steer over 30 months old.

Other option to keep deer out is a couple of LGDs to bark and drive them away. Behind our horse barn was a wild tangle before we had it forestry mulched. Thick like stick your arm out and couldn’t see your hand. The dogs don’t go in the horse pasture. We had 2 does that jumped the fence to have and raise their fawns in the thicket. Those does walked right up against the backyard fence, knowing the dogs couldn’t get them, driving the dogs nuts. LOLNow that it’s all cleared, no more deer.

That's a great idea. We got the 2 goats in September of last year and the 2 Great Pyrenees puppies 3 months later. I've seen deer in the front yard but not a one in the fenced area where the goats are now. I had no idea about the steer. We might try that. Do you buy them as bottle calves? I'm concerned about scours which is so common with bottle calves.