03/22/2025
Goat Health Awareness Day 6!
Medicated kid growers, pellet dewormers, horse pastes, and moreâŠshould you be using any of those products? Probably not. Am I going to explain why, in detail? Of course!
Letâs start with pellet dewormers. Often the new goat ownerâs most common error: grabbing that bag of deworming pellets off the shelf of your local farm store. It looks enticing. No drenching syringes or restraining your goats. A simple pellet additive. Who wouldnât want that kind of ease? But I have a few main concerns about pelletized dewormers. First, as Iâve observed for years throughout my global clientele, their active ingredients tend to have minimal coverage for the important worms. The active ingredients are often fenbendazole or Rumatel (morantel tartrate), which in recent years have reported widespread resistance issues. So the first issue is that the medication in them isnât usually what I would want to give a goat for a parasite infestation. Next, pellets are not easily controlled like syringe-fed medications. Ensuring the exact, correct dose is consumed by your goats is extremely difficult, and any underdosing of a drug can only further increase dewormer resistance. But presuming that you are giving the correct amount, and that the worms you are trying to treat are not resistant to the chemicals (in a perfect world), the last issue is that regular consistent dosing of any kind of chemical deworming product can lead to resistances. So even if a pellet dewormer had beneficial action against your goatsâ worms, f***l egg count reduction tests have confirmed the development of resistances in many herds when dewormers are continuously fed. We are making great lengths in the community to improve our knowledge of dewormer resistance and overall parasite management. Research, time, and experience has shown many of us that pellet dewormer products should probably be left on the shelfâand the misuse of deworming products due to the âease of dosingâ is a common goat owner trap!
Medicated feeds for coccidia are a similar topic. But instead of being for worms, theyâre for coccidia, a protozoan parasite. Medicated feeds or âgrower feedsâ contain coccidiostat drugs such as decoquinate or monensin. Resistance to almost all coccidia medications is a risk (and currently quite prevalent, from ionophores to sulfonamides and beyond), but specifically when administered through medicated feed, I witness drug resistance occur rapidly. My concern with these feeds has three main drivers, two of which were discussed above. First, if you are not confirming each kid gets the exact label dosage, you are underdosing and can cause resistant coccidia strains. Label dosages for grower feeds may be geared to meat goat operations, and if you have dwarf goats especially, the label dosage required to ensure proper consumption of the drug is often far too much to be healthy or safe. Next, consistent feeding and exposure to the drug, just like for deworming pellets, can ultimately result in the development of resistances, even if fed at the correct label dosage. But additionally, unlike chemical dewormers, certain coccidiostat drugs are considered antibiotics, and therefore have greater impacts on rumen fermentation than dewormers. A drug that kills protozoans is more likely to impact the microbes of the GI tract, due to greater physiological similarities and biological pathways. So consistent use of medicated feed may not be benefiting your goats overall condition, and I urge you to consider potential negative impacts on their rumen development. If you want to prevent coccidia, correct individual dosing of a coccidiostat drug can be done either as-needed or even in cycles for prevention. Though preventive treatment still has resistance potential, the risks are likely lower than uncontrolled medicated grain feeding.
Weâve talked a lot about dewormer resistance, so as I tackle the discussion of horse pastes and injectable dewormers, Iâll try to keep things simple and not be repetitive.
Horse paste dewormers are often utilized by goat owners because they are more affordable than large jugs of livestock dewormers. They have the same active ingredients. The issue with horse pastes, however, is that there is a lack of research to truly determine the dosages of these products for goats. Though we can extrapolate from liquid goat dewormer dosages, the absorption is still impacted via the concentration differences, the inactive carrier ingredients, and more. There is a greater risk for improper dosing and absorption, and therefore a greater risk of dewormer resistance. These products should be avoided if you have access to sheep drench or cattle drench dewormers (which are well studied in goats for extra label use).
Injectable dewormers, like Ivermectin 1%, are also a problem when given incorrectly. If given via injection, there is not enough gastrointestinal absorption to fight GI worms. Small amounts may reach this system, but that will only further contribute to resistance (remember: a low dose of a poison leads to resistance to that poison). If given orally, there are safety concerns (due to the strength and carrier ingredients), but absorption is also different, and as they are not formulated for GI absorption, there is also an increased chance of creating resistance.
But injectable wormers, like Ivermectin 1%, do have their place. Often burrowing mite infections are best treated with injectable ivermectin. Lice should not be treated with an injection or pour on formula of ivermectin, as there are many drugs for lice that have no impact on internal parasite resistance (such as CyLence). Certain parasites with life cycles that involve other tissues of the body, such as the lungs or other migratory pathways, may require injectable dewormers. The important thing to remember here is to both minimize the use of injectable dewormers, and to come to terms with the fact that internal gastrointestinal worms may form resistances to these products. If you need to give injectable ivermectin for mites or lungworms, just understand that the next time you have to treat a strongyle infection, you may want to assume resistance is already there and choose another drug!
So whatâs the common theme? Dewormer resistances. They are prevalent, largely irreversible, and usually stem from misinformation and misuse. Letâs stop resistance before itâs too late by using the right products sparingly and correctly.
A small homestead with lots of dreams and big ideas, and a soft landing & sanctuary for a few unwanted or abandoned souls! Located in Clay Hill, FL.
