Start with conducting a fecal egg count test using the Wisconsin Sugar Float method to determine the level of internal parasite infection. Deworm purchased goats with two dewormers of different classes. The two most common are Benzimidoles like SAFE-GUARD® (fenbendazole) or Macrolides like ivermectin.

Tramisol, levamisole and ivermectin are among the more popular chemical products for sheep; for goats, popular chemical products include albendazole, fenbendazole, ivermectin, levamisole and moxidectrin. Moxidectin will kill barber pole worm larvae for at least two weeks after drenching.

Worms can kill young and old goats, and contribute to poor growth rates, an unthrifty appearance, coughing, diarrhea, and in severe cases, bottle jaw. Worms not only kill both young and old goats, they contribute to poor growth rates, an unthrifty appearance, coughing, diarrhea, and, in severe cases, bottle jaw.

Pyrantel (Strongid®) is only effective against adult worms. Moratel (Rumatel®) is an oral feed additive and is only effective against adult worms. Avermectins (Ivomec®, Dectomax®, Quest®, Cydectin®) are the newest family of drugs. They are broad spectrum and have a wide margin of safety.

Heavy infestations of barberpole worms can lead to anemia and even death in goats. Don’t worm your goats unless you know that they need deworming. Over-worming goats can lead to the creation of internal parasites that are resistant to medications. Only treat your goats for worms when they need it.

It is very important to check your goat’s mucous membranes (MM), by pulling down their lower eyelid. You should see a nice pink color. If their MMs are nice and pink, you do not need to deworm them. If their MMs are pale pink or white (anemic), you need to deworm them.

Most effective goat wormers that I recommend

1. SafeGuard (fenbendazole)
2. Ivomec Sheep Drench (ivermectin)
3. Prohibit (levamisole)
4. Cydectin Sheep Drench (moxidectin)
5. Rumatel (morantel) Feed Pre-mix.

If you’re looking for a natural way to deworm your goats, one natural dewormer I’ve found to be extremely effective is copper oxide wire particles (COWP). We began supplementing our goats with copper oxide wire particles regularly when we discovered our well water had excessive sulfur and iron.

Apple cider vinegar is held to have multiple medicinal purposes, ranging from improved haircoat, to greater milk production and reduced mastitis, to decreased urinary calculi in bucks, to increased doe kids of supplemented dams.

Barber pole is the worm that sucks blood and causes goats to become anemic, which can cause a goat to go downhill rapidly and even die. Goats can be walking around with a host of other worms in their body, however, and ironically most of those worms are unimportant and don’t cause disease.

Moniezia expansa is the tapeworm that commonly affects sheep and goats. Moniezia benedeni, more common in cattle, can also be found in sheep and goats. Sheep and goats serve as intermediate hosts for several other species of tapeworms.

Threadworm infects the small intestine of sheep, especially lambs, cattle and goats. Its life cycle is complex. It may be direct, or, under moist conditions, a separate cycle may take place in the soil where multiplication can also occur.

Because most people think that all worms must be killed, and ultimately, the attempt to kill all the worms can result in the barber pole worm killing your goats. Since barber pole worm can become resistant to dewormers, we should only use dewormers when the health of the goat is being negatively affected by worms.