It's not so much about brands as classes of dewormers.. There are basically three classes at this point:
1) Benzamidazoles -- Safe Guard, Valbazen, Panacur, Synanthic, etc. You might hear someone call them "white" wormers, because more are oral suspensions that are white in color. There's widespread parasite resistance to benzamidazoles.. The dosage used for goats is typically 3x the labeled goat dosage, and it's given for 3 straight days.
2) Macrocyclic Lactones -- Ivomec, Cydectin, Dectomax, etc. You might hear someone call these "clear" wormers, because most are injectables (though you can get the in pour-on formulas, too...I strongly advise AGAINST topical treatment in goats, as their hide is much thinner than cattle).
Most goat people use the injectable formulas and dose them ORALLY.. The oral dosage on the injectables -- what I use these days, anyway -- is 1ml/25lbs of goat.
The exception is Cydectin...most folks use the pour-on and dose it orally. I don't do that anymore, personally.. I *have* a nearly-full bottle of pour-on Cydectin, but...well, anyway, I don't do that anymore. There's also an injectable form of Cydectin that, for now, folks around here are actually injecting at the dosage listed for cattle...1ml/110lbs. I doubt that's going to hold up forever, and I'd say we'll eventually be dosing Cydectin injectable orally at 1ml/25lbs.. Some folks have already lost the use of Cydectin.
3) Nicotinic agonists... These days, that basically means Rumatel, Nematel, and Strongid.. There are also pelleted deworming feeds that contain these. I read recently that they're probably the least used dewormers for goats in the mid-atlantic region, mostly I suspect because they're generally pelleted...hard to know how much each goat's getting, etc.
There's another nicotinic agonist that works really well; sometimes too well, if the goat's heavily infected with worms. It's called Levamisole, or "Levasole". It's a really old dewormer -- like, pre-benzamidazole -- that was being revisited by goat producers before its untimely demise from the marketplace.
You can't find it anywhere anymore.. It's pretty much disappeared at this point.. So if you ever just happen to run across anything containing levamisole...BUY IT.
As for deworming schedules/protocols/etc., that's a toughie. There are only three classes and there's widespread resistance to almost everything in two of them...
Best advice I have is to learn to judge FAMACHA (eyelid pinkness...indicates 'barberpole' worm activity) and find out from other goat producers in your area what's still working on barberpoles. When their eyelids get pale, deworm them with whatever works.
1) Benzamidazoles -- Safe Guard, Valbazen, Panacur, Synanthic, etc. You might hear someone call them "white" wormers, because more are oral suspensions that are white in color. There's widespread parasite resistance to benzamidazoles.. The dosage used for goats is typically 3x the labeled goat dosage, and it's given for 3 straight days.
2) Macrocyclic Lactones -- Ivomec, Cydectin, Dectomax, etc. You might hear someone call these "clear" wormers, because most are injectables (though you can get the in pour-on formulas, too...I strongly advise AGAINST topical treatment in goats, as their hide is much thinner than cattle).
Most goat people use the injectable formulas and dose them ORALLY.. The oral dosage on the injectables -- what I use these days, anyway -- is 1ml/25lbs of goat.
The exception is Cydectin...most folks use the pour-on and dose it orally. I don't do that anymore, personally.. I *have* a nearly-full bottle of pour-on Cydectin, but...well, anyway, I don't do that anymore. There's also an injectable form of Cydectin that, for now, folks around here are actually injecting at the dosage listed for cattle...1ml/110lbs. I doubt that's going to hold up forever, and I'd say we'll eventually be dosing Cydectin injectable orally at 1ml/25lbs.. Some folks have already lost the use of Cydectin.
3) Nicotinic agonists... These days, that basically means Rumatel, Nematel, and Strongid.. There are also pelleted deworming feeds that contain these. I read recently that they're probably the least used dewormers for goats in the mid-atlantic region, mostly I suspect because they're generally pelleted...hard to know how much each goat's getting, etc.
There's another nicotinic agonist that works really well; sometimes too well, if the goat's heavily infected with worms. It's called Levamisole, or "Levasole". It's a really old dewormer -- like, pre-benzamidazole -- that was being revisited by goat producers before its untimely demise from the marketplace.
You can't find it anywhere anymore.. It's pretty much disappeared at this point.. So if you ever just happen to run across anything containing levamisole...BUY IT.
As for deworming schedules/protocols/etc., that's a toughie. There are only three classes and there's widespread resistance to almost everything in two of them...
Best advice I have is to learn to judge FAMACHA (eyelid pinkness...indicates 'barberpole' worm activity) and find out from other goat producers in your area what's still working on barberpoles. When their eyelids get pale, deworm them with whatever works.
