Pasture Management
Rotational Grazing is a must! Current thought is to rotate animals through paddocks with no longer than 3 or 4 days time in one paddock. Ideal length of time from beginning to end of rotation is 70 or more days. Portable fencing is an excellent way to create smaller paddocks.
Soil Testing & Soil Amendments are crucial for healthy animals. Most soils in the East are acidic and need lime annually. Even with previous yearly applications, when tested, our soils needed 2,000 LBS per acre to bring up the ph! Composted barn cleanings can be spread in the fall to improve fertility.
Mowing also aids parasite control as it allows the sun to penetrate the forage and fry those unwanted freeloaders. Parasites live in the first 3 inches of growth and love moisture. The summer of 2003 & 2004 were parasite paradise due to the rain.
Choice of Forage can greatly effect parasite levels. Goats are browsers, not grazers by nature, but we force them to graze where they easily pick up larva. Parasites don’t live in the brush and trees that goats prefer.
Prevent pasture contamination by holding animals in a pasture or barn for 3 days post worming before admitting to fresh ground. This is now the recommended method to use after chemically worming.
Stocking Density effects pasture contamination. The heavier you stock your pastures the greater the likelihood that you will have parasite problems.
Multi Species Grazing reduces parasites. Examples, chickens pastured after goats, horses & cows alternating with small ruminants on pastures.

Strategic Worming
When is the best time to worm? Conventional recommendations are to begin worming 3 weeks prior to kidding or lambing, followed by a tri-weekly worming until 3 weeks post kidding/lambing. Birthing hormones activates parasite activity, so this method will reduce parasite loads and protect newborns from heavy exposure. Other strategic times to treat with anthelmintics are prior to moving animals to a safe or "cleaner" pasture, at the start of the grazing season when the grass first starts to green up, in the mid-summer when worm larvae numbers are typically the highest, and in the fall after the first frost.
The question really is- How often does your herd/flock need worming? How contaminated is your ground? How vulnerable or resistant are the animals you raise? How effective is your wormer?
Fecal Tests are the best way to determine if your animals need to be wormed. Group or individual fecals can be used. Ideally, run fecals before you worm and again 10 days after. There should be a 90% reduction in parasite eggs in the post worming fecal. If not, you may have –
Chemically Resistant Parasites! Which is currently the biggest issue facing goat and sheep breeders in North America and perhaps worldwide. When you worm the heck out of your animals you kill all the parasites except a few which are resistant to being killed by that particular chemical wormer. Those chemically resistant parasites breed with each other and create more chemically resistant parasites. Next thing that happens is that your animals drop dead even though your have been worming them on a regular schedule as the wormer is no longer effective! Changing wormers every time you worm accelerates chemically resistant parasites! It is recommended to use a class of wormers as long as they are effective for your livestock. What do you do if you don’t want to create chemically resistant parasites?
Strategic Worming means to worm in times of need those animals, which most need it. If you don’t worm every animal, those un-wormed animals defecate larva out onto the ground, which are not chemically resistant to the wormer. These larva are still susceptible to the chemical wormer & will dilute the gene pool of the parasites that are chemically resistant. With fewer chemically resistant parasites living in your animals and in your soil, your chemical wormer will be effective in treating your stock for more years than if you worm every animal every time.
To maximize the effect of parasite treatment, fast the animals first for 12 – 24 hours to improve efficacy of the chemical. Underdosing is a leading cause of anthelmintic resistance. Animals should not be underdosed.

Choosing which animals need to be wormed can be based on many factors.
- Based on age, kids & lambs are more susceptible to parasitic infestation.
- Dry does & ewes have fewer demands on their bodies and can often tolerate a minimal load of parasites.
- Visual inspection or body scoring can indicate animals that are thin and are in poor condition, which could be due to parasitism.
- Diarrhea, unthriftiness, isolation are common signs of a parasite load.
- Run a fecal to determine parasite load.
- Use the FAMACHA inner eyelid test to determine pac cell count or anemia.
FAMACHA is a system of evaluating the red blood cell count of a small ruminant. Comparing the color of the lower inner eyelid to a chart, the level of health or anemia can be determined and used as a basis to select animals that require worming. For more information go to http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/IPM.html

Genetic Selection
Breed Resistance can be a basis on which to choose the livestock that you raise. Generally speaking, primitive breeds such as Jacob Sheep, are more resistant to parasites. Out of all the goat breeds, Angora goats, especially the white ones, are the most susceptible to parasites.
Individual Resistance to parasites is a 20 - 30% inheritable trait. Selection of replacement breeding stock from dams that show resistance to parasites can aid in parasite management and reduction of chemical wormers.