Hello, Please excuse the cross-posting.

I have had fecal flotations done on a select few of my does. Vet says lungworm. The doe that was coughing the worse has been separated and treated with Ivomec and I would like to treat the remaining does this weekend.

I would also like to take advantage of the break in our winter weather to clean the barn out. Because of space, we are unable to move does to other stalls or pastures. Do I clean it now and have worm eggs in the new bedding or worm them now and continue to expose them to the worm with the current bedding. What's the best way?

I really only want to clean the stall once. Either way, how long should I wait in between each step? Thanks, Charleen

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), January 23, 2002

Answers

Response to Worming & when to clean stalls

There is only a very specific test for lungworms, Bareman, something I would doubt the local vet would do. Lungworm and liverflukes have very specific lifecycles, wet pond marsh like lowland with slugs or snails as part of their lifecycles. After treatment with levamisole or valbazen keeping the animals out of these areas is the best treatment. Overwintering of eggs and larve in your barn is a problem, overwintering of arrested larve in your goats in another. Never worm your does in their barn, instead opt to worm them in a pen you keep only for this. Most wormers have evacuated all the eggs and larve, most alive, out of the goats system in 12 hours, so if you worm early in the am, you can rehouse your does into their clean barn 12 hours later. The very best time to worm in winter is in a freeze, this way the eggs and larve that are pooped out alive, die instantly on the frozen ground. Ivermectin does not touch this, though I do not have any knowledge of what the Ivermectin Plus may say it controls. I do know a case of lungworm was treated sucessfully with injectable levamisole given at 3cc orally per 100 pounds, though it was repeated every 11? days (a total guess) for 3 treatments to kill the lifecycle. Sue Reith would be the person I would contact, she has some info up on saanendoah.com on worming, she would know the lifecycle of the lungworm and what to use. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.