I have some little wethers that are needing wormed. They are 3 or 4 weeks old. Is it too soon, or can I go ahead and do it?

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), March 23, 2001

Answers

Spring has sprung in east Texas. The flowers are blooming and the grass is being mowed. The does are grazing the clover, weeds, and their is new growth in the woods. The kids are nibbling in their pasture, and ingesting worm eggs and cocci oxycyts that have overwintered in our mild weather here. The mother worms that so smartly put their baby worms to sleep (arrested larva) in your goats last fall, so they would live out the cold weather inside your doe, are now awake and multiplying quickly.

We start worming our kids at 3 weeks, and are fairly consitant with it until really grown (about 8 months) Our milkers were wormed upon kidding, and will be fecal sampled monthly and wormed when the numbers reach 200 per gram. Everyone will be wormed in May, positive fecal or not, to go out into the 6 acre wooded pen for summer, clean of worms. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 24, 2001.

Thanks, Vicki, I wasn't sure how young was too young to start worming. One of them is starting to get a "pouch" so I know they do need it.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), March 24, 2001.