SafeGuard for Tapeworm Dosage and Usage?

[rascal66]

Hello all!

We just got into Katahdin Sheep recently, as we want to get into raising them for meat. Our herd is currently 7 individuals.

Today I noticed my youngest began pooping out what I believe is tapeworm segments.. I have goats as well, so on hand I have Goat Safeguard. I was hoping to get some advice on dosage as well as how often do I need to administer it?

I remeber with goats, I was to give double the recommended dose for 3 days, and then to reworm again in about a week or so. (Might be off but I saved a chart for this somewhere). Is it similar for sheep?

All are otherwise seemingly healthy. This is my first time dealing with tapes.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Most people don’t treat for tapeworms unless it’s obvious that they are causing an issue. They are generally rather benign and sheep develop a certain amount of immunity to them as they age.

I would treat if the animal in question was young and was being fed adequately, but was not gaining or was loosing weight. If you are only seeing some segments in the poop and otherwise the sheep seems happy and healthy, I’d ignore the tapes.

I would treat with at least 3x the recommended dose and treat 3 days in a row. Make sure you get an accurate weight before dosing and if that isn’t possible, estimate on the higher end. Safeguard is safe in very high doses.

 

[rascal66]

Most people don’t treat for tapeworms unless it’s obvious that they are causing an issue. They are generally rather benign and sheep develop a certain amount of immunity to them as they age.

I would treat if the animal in question was young and was being fed adequately, but was not gaining or was loosing weight. If you are only seeing some segments in the poop and otherwise the sheep seems happy and healthy, I’d ignore the tapes.

I would treat with at least 3x the recommended dose and treat 3 days in a row. Make sure you get an accurate weight before dosing and if that isn’t possible, estimate on the higher end. Safeguard is safe in very high doses.

Thank you very much for your response!! I greatly appreciate it. If its okay, this is a picture of the poop with the "segments".

They seem to be doing okay, but they are only 3 months old and on pasture currently, with small feedings in the morning. It just the young ones it seems. I have chickens and goats as well, could they catch it too? Again, I really appreciate this info!!

 

[Mike CHS]

It seems that tapeworms bother the shepherds more than the sheep. We treat of they are slow to develop but they usually tolerate them as they get older.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Thank you very much for your response!! I greatly appreciate it. If its okay, this is a picture of the poop with the "segments".

They seem to be doing okay, but they are only 3 months old and on pasture currently, with small feedings in the morning. It just the young ones it seems. I have chickens and goats as well, could they catch it too? Again, I really appreciate this info!!

I would definitely NOT treat for tapes if that was all I saw.

As long as the sheep is otherwise in good health, I wouldn’t worry about the occasional tapeworm segment.

Tapeworms: problem or not?

Tapeworms often cause concern among sheep and goat producers because producers can see the obviously expelled worms.

www.canr.msu.edu