Read the entire AWESOME article —–> Goat Pasture Management
PARASITE RESISTANCE Is here!! Please take steps now to slow the resistance cycle! Non-chemical control methods must be included!
We currently are utilizing a few of the methods:
- Dry-lot (no grazing, only forest area)
- smart drenching – only drenching goats with high worm loads utilizing McMaster FEC (fecal egg counts)
- rotating pastures for parasite control
NOTE: Pasture Rotation is NOT the same as “Rotating Pastures for Parasite Control”.
Pasture Rotation – getting the most consumption/better forage growth from the land by rotating pastures every 1-7 days and allowing each section to rest/grow for 30 days before allowing grazing back onto the land. This will actually increase internal parasite loads!! Except in the most arid or cold states, at only 30 days, the larvae are primed and ready to be ingested and start their long life cycle inside your goat.
Rotating Pastures for Parasite control – This is rotating pastures leaving it fallow for 8-12 months thereby allowing all internal parasite eggs/larvae to die off before allowing the same species back onto the land.
We do not have enough pasture to rotate for ‘parasite control’ nor do we have cows or horses to rotate behind the goats to ‘vacuum’; so instead we ‘dry lot’ our goats. They are fenced in approximately 1.5 acres of woods and fed hay off the ground year round. We began the dry lot method in 2017 when their internal parasite load was high and becoming difficult to manage (numbers bounced back a month after deworming). Removing their access to the pasture has helped tremendously to break the life-cycle of the worms and we can now manage them more easily. We check their fecals and only deworm if needed. A follow up fecal is also done to ensure that specific dewormer was still effective.
