The Kebun

The Parasite is an organism living in or on another living organism, obtaining from it part or all of its organic nutriment, and causing some degree of real damage to its host, literally suck the life out of your goat, can damage the gut and intestine, ultimately to death.

Worming your goats when not needed wastes your time, energy, and money, plus increases the chance of building resistance to the wormers. Worming to late, the parasites may have already caused damage in your goats digestive system, causing anemia, stunting their growth, causing weight loss, decreased milk production, or worse.

Fecal testing at regular intervals enables you to monitor the parasite infestation in your herd, and treat when appropriate, avoiding problems, saving money, increasing profit, and minimizing losses. I will write later on how to do your own fecal examination and the tools you will need to have ready.

Please find below the most common parasites you can find in Goats (and Sheep). Be aware that you cannot always see signs of lungworms in a fecal sample, due to the fact that mature Lungworms reside in the lungs and not the digestive system hence your goat may have lungworms and it not show up in a fecal sample.

Lungworm dictyocaulus filaria
These eggs usually hatch before they leave the host in the feces, so you may not find traces of Lungworm in the fecal sample, even if the goat does indeed have Lungworms.

Tape Worm moniezia expansa

Egg

Adult

Thread Necked Nematode nematodirus spathiger

Liver Fluke Eggs fasciola hepatica

Coccidia

Twisted Stomach Worm aka Barberpole Worm haemonchus contortus

Brown Stomach Worm marshallagia marshalli

Thread Worm strongyloides papillosus

Doing you own fecal testing is not all that hard. It is a very useful skill to have in caring for your Goats.There is an investment you must make for the tools for this but these will pay for themselves very quickly since there will no longer be a need to take fecal samples to a vet to find out if you have a worm problem.

Tags: Goat Health, Goat Parasites, Goat Worms, Parasites In Goats, Worm Eggs, Worms In Goats

• 13 October 2008
• Goat Health
• 3 Comments