Hoegger Goat Supply: Wormer Report Summary

SUMMARY OF THE WORMER REPORT THAT
APPEARED IN THE UNITED CAPRINE NEWS

The use of herbs as an anthelmintic (dewormer) would have to be considered an alternative medicine. If goats go without worming for two long it can cause anemia, poor growth, lower reproductive success, a drop in milk production and increased susceptibility to disease. Untreated goats contaminate the area where they are confined which leads to even greater parasite problems.

In the face of an increasingly inadequate system of conventional dewormers, a growing number of people are turning to alternatives to address the needs of their animals.

Chemical dewormers have many serious drawbacks. The trick with chemical dewormers is to know when to administer them so as to kill the worms before they have a chance to lay eggs. Dewormers only kill the maturing worm stage but have no effect on the other life cycles, i.e., eggs, larva and pupa. If you miss the "magic moment" and the worms have laid eggs, you will have to re-do the whole treatment when those other life cycles reach maturity. But when is that? Opinions vary - 10 days, 2 weeks? Sooner? Later? Who knows for sure?

Professional medical advice is often difficult to get and straight answers about over-the-counter dewormers are even more elusive. How often should the goats be treated for worms? When should the treatment be repeated? What types of worms do the different chemicals kill? Can I give dewormer to my pregnant does? What is the slaughter and milk withdrawal time after worming? Are any chemicals approved for goats? How will I know if the worms have become resistant to a particular chemical? If I have to change dewormers, which one do I change to? What is the correct dosage of an injectable type dewormer if I give it orally? Is it a sound health practice to orally dose with a pour-on wormer? UGH! These and a swarm of other pressing questions continue to plague goat owners and the answers seem to depend more on the opinion of who you ask then on any factual data.

Excerpts from a report featured in the United Caprine News may shed some light on the subject of natural herbal dewormer versus chemicals:

The test was Ivermectin vs Hoegger's Herbal Wormer
Testing involved 29 goats divided into 2 groups including milkers, wethers, dry does and bucks.
The types of parasites that were being observed were:

Strongyloides papilosus - A small slender roundworm which enters through the skin adn teat openings. Larva climb up through the skin between the hooves. This is a parasite of the small intestine.
Dictyocaulus (lungworm) - Eaten as larva, which burrow through the mucosa and migrate through the bloodstream to the lungs where they develop into adults in the bronchi. Adults lay eggs that are coughed up, swallowed and passed with feces.
Manezia (tapeworm) - Pass egg packets which may appear round, square or triangular. Tapeworms attach themselves with hooks to the internal wall of the intestines and absorb nutrients from the animal.

"Overall, the herbal group always had lower parasite numbers."
Strongyloides (threadworms) and Muellerius (tapeworms) were found in 0% of the herbal test group but 29% to 33% in the chemical group.
Lungworms were found and 33% of the herbal group and in 21% of the chemical group. This is a significant difference. The herbal dewormer offers good control.

CONCLUSIONS:

The Herbal worming works better than Ivermectin. The Herbal group always had lower numbers of parasites than the chemical group. This shows that Herbal offers better control and can keep worm loads down to safe numbers. All of the parasites were in lower quantities in the Herbal group.

Advantage of chemical wormer was that it was administered less frequently. Disadvantages were that it was less effective, may cause damage to brain tissue, does not maintain control of worms and depending on the type of chemical used, requires "dumping" the milk for an undetermined length of time.

The herbal worming had the advantage of better control of worms, contains no damaging chemicals and never requires dumping the milk. The disadvantage was that it had to be top dressed in the grain ration once a week.

MAILING ADDRESS:
HOEGGER SUPPLY COMPANY
P.O. Box 331
Fayetteville, GA 30214

PHONE: 770-461-6926 FAX: 770-461-7334

ONLINE: TheGoatStore.com