Pygmy goats are small and adorable animals that make wonderful pets. They are very friendly and affectionate, and they can be trained to do tricks and perform tricks. They also produce milk that is very nutritious and rich in vitamins A, C, D and E. However, worms are common parasites in pygmy goats, and they can cause serious health problems if not treated properly. So it’s important to worm pygmy goats regularly to prevent them from getting sick or dying prematurely due to infection by worms or other parasites.
There are several different types of worms that affect pygmies, including roundworms and tapeworms. These parasites can cause a lot of problems for your goat if they aren’t treated right away. Roundworms live in the intestine of your goat, while tapeworms live on the outside of it (which is why they’re called “flatworms”). They both will cause health problems in your goat if left unchecked, so it’s important that you worm your pygmy goat regularly – even if it’s pregnant!
All You Need About Worming Pygmy Goats
In previous years and tikes, goats were usually dewormed at intervals irrespective of their age, size or weight, height, current medical conditions or pregnancy status, or other factors as such. But in recent times, with the advancement of scientific knowledge in animal care, goat keepers have now realized that so many factors need to be taken into serious consideration before deciding when and how a goat or herd of goats should be dewormed.
Below are some classes of pygmy goats and how they should be dewormed.
#1. Adult Pygmy Goats
For adult pygmy goats, usually display such symptoms as pale gums, lowered eyelids, rough coat, and runny stool. These symptoms need to be treated as soon as possible because if these internal parasites are not treated or handled with urgency, they can make a healthy pygmy very sick since they take up all the nutrients the body is supposed to use. As a means of preventing worms in Pygmy goats, altered males should be wormed for internal parasites four to six times a year depending on the needs of the herd with most breeders worming at the start of a new season.
#2. Pregnant Pygmy Goats
It is a very important necessity to also deworm female goats that are pregnant in order to greatly reduce the possibility of the unborn kids contracting worm infections from their mothers. Before giving birth, these females should be wormed two to four weeks prior to their due date. But caution needs to be taken because not all wormers are suitable for them. A wormer that has been proven to be safe for lactating and gestating should be administered. Finally, after the baby has been delivered, the doe should be wormed again the day following the birth.
#3. Baby Pygmies
Kids or baby goats are very susceptible to getting infected with tapeworms and other forms of intestinal parasites than any other age range of goats. Between the third and eighth week after birth, these goats should be dewormed for the first time. After that, they can be wormed again after every eight to four weeks till they become a year old and an adult worming schedule should be selected based on the size, sex, and other conditions of the goat.
Treatment And Control Of Worms In Pygmy Goats
The use of anthelmintics is a great way of treating pygmy goats that have been discovered to be infected with worms. Anthelmintics can be applied to these goats in three major ways:
- Routine drenching
- Strategic drenching
- Salvage drenching
Anthelmintics or wormers as some prefer to call them, also have three major types which are :
- Benzimidazoles are also known as white dewormers and have a dosage double that of sheep for pygmy goats.
- Levamisole or yellow dewormers with a dosage of 1.5 sheep dose rate for goats and then,
- Avermectins are also twice the sheep dosage for goats.
Some farmers actually decide to change the use of the three types of anthelmintics listed above every year for the goats. However, there is no solid proof that shows that using multiple types of dewormers is not as effective in resisting worms in goats as sticking to a single type of dewormer as long as it remains very effective for the goats. Worms should be treated only when necessary and crucial to do so and before giving an animal a worm treatment, the size of the animal should be weighed appropriately and then, the dosage drug administered.
How To Prevent Worm Invasion In Pygmy Goats
Worms are a common problem for pygmy goats. Fortunately, there are several ways to prevent worms from invading your herd.
Make sure your goats have access to fresh water and clean shelter at all times. The most common cause of worms is dirty or stagnant water, so it’s important that you always provide fresh, clean drinking water for your animals.
Feed them a balanced diet of hay, grain, and grasses. If you’re feeding them grass that has been fertilized with manure, they may ingest the larvae of worms in the soil surrounding their feeder—so make sure it’s clean!
Consider using a wormer such as Ivermectin to kill intestinal parasites (worms). It’s very important that you follow the directions carefully when using this drug because overdosing can be deadly!
To prevent the frequent reoccurrence of worms in Pygmy goats, appropriate pasture management techniques should be adopted. For instance, the herds of sheep and goats should not and must not be kept together in the same area since they both possess the same kind of worm burden and species of worm.
Another way to avoid worms contamination in goats is by zero-grazing the goats or feeding them with alternative forages such as hay, alfalfa, ready grass, and so on. Also, whenever new goats are brought newly into the herd, it is always best to deworm them first and separate them from other goats for the next 48 hours on hard standing to prevent them from spreading any form of worms they might have brought along with them.
How Often Should You Worm Your Pygmy Goat?
There’s no exact age when you should worm your pygmy goat because it depends on the health of your animal. The general rule is to worm them every six months if they’re healthy and thriving, but if they’re not feeling well or seem to be struggling with an illness or infection then you should worm them more often than that. You can also worm them if their appetite seems off or if they don’t want to eat at all!
What is the Best Time to Worm Pygmy Goats?
Goats should be wormed when they are young (from two weeks old) until they are three years old. If you’re not sure if your goat is over three years old, then you should worm it once per year until it’s older than four years old. You should also worm them four times per year during pregnancy (the first three weeks after birth).
In conclusion,
Worming pygmy goats is a very important part of their health and well-being. When you worm your goats, you are protecting them from all kinds of diseases, such as worms and coccidiosis. It’s important to get your goats treated for worms, because they can cause a lot of damage if left untreated. Worming pygmy goats can help prevent any serious issues from happening in the future.