worming in MN/Julie/possible keds?
Posted by: dhaley <dhaley@...>
This has been an interesting parasite year for me. I've learned alot by
what friends are going through. Thankfully I'm not experiencing any
problems but I have friends that are experiencing alot of problems.
In MN we have a terrible problem with liver flukes. Even if you don't have
low land on your place, all the water we had a month or so ago allowed the
flukes to travel farther than they would normally. The only two commercial
wormers (Hoegger users help me out here) that will get the liver flukes are
Ivomec PLUS and Valbazen. Those that have been using just Ivomec are still
having trouble.
In addition, you don't know where Kris got the sheep you brought home.
Debbie, a near neighbor of Kris and my very good friend, has lost 4 adult
sheep over the past 3 weeks. We've not heard back from UofM lab yet (they
are doing some testing) but the most likely cause is a parasite that sheep
and goats don't typically get. It's carried by Donkeys and normal for
donkeys but if the sheep get it they can become very listless and die. If
this is what Debbie has, it's because she bought some VERY expensive sheep
from the cities that had a donkey as a guardian animal. The vet said the
only wormer that will kill that parasite donkey's shed is Ivomec Plus. I
have always tried to do things as naturally as possible but frankly, since
moving to MN I've heard of so many parasite problems that I went on a
routine of Ivomec Plus and thankfully I've had no problems.
I can't remember if anyone mentioned checking the gums of the goat. If they
are grey instead of pink you know it's some sort of parasite because it's
causing the animal to go anemic. Also, you mentioned that the sheep had
keds. Keds can get on goats, you may not see an infestation but from what I
was reading about them they literally suck the animal of it's very life
blood. Could this baby be suffering from keds?....Deanna