ParaBoss webinar focuses on sustainable worm control

With goat producers dealing with the ongoing challenge of treating worm infections following successive years of La Nina, the theme of worm control was the focus of a recent ParaBoss webinar for goat producers.

The two-hour webinar – which is now available online here – was presented by ParaBoss in May, and funded by Meat & Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation, University of New England, and Animal Health Australia.

ParaBoss is Australia's premier resource for parasite management information for sheep, goats and cattle.

Worm life cycle

Matt Playford, veterinary parasitologist of Dawbuts Pty Ltd in Camden, NSW, introduced the topic of worm control with a diagram of the worm life cycle in goats.

“Many goat producers only think about the worms inside the goats,” Dr Playford said.

“This leads to a lot of problems with over-stocking, contamination of pasture, high worm burdens and poor animal health and welfare outcomes. Successful goat producers also need to think about the worms on the paddock.”

Drenches

Dr Playford took goat producers through the ethical and legal problems facing producers trying to use drenches to kill worms.

“Drenches may or may not work, due to the goat’s metabolism,” Dr Playford said.

“Not many drenches are registered for goats and the worms have developed resistance to almost all the chemicals used. Over-relying on drenches means that the farming system is not sustainable and possibly not viable.”

On top of that, the doses and delivery used for sheep and cattle products are not appropriate for goats and need to be modified. This creates the minefield of the ‘off-label’ use situation.

Off-label use

For goat producers that need to drench, the only legal way to use drenches is to consult the veterinarian who has been to their property and examined their goats.

This is the basis of the ‘off-label’ use and is legislated to decrease the risk of toxicity and residues to goats, consumers and owners. Their vet will also be able to do diagnostics to monitor for worms and trials to see which drenches work and which ones don’t.

Whole farm plan

In short, goat producers who have worm control problems need a whole farm management plan, according to Dr Playford.

“Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. The solution for worm control is to look at the available measures in the ‘Worm Control Toolbox’,” Dr Playford said.

Many of these are detailed in the WormBoss webpages on goat worm control.

As well as use of effective drenches, they include paddock management, flock management including nutritional supplements, diagnostics such as worm egg counts and using tools such as farm maps to decide which paddocks to use for the most susceptible members of the flock.

Organic measures were also discussed and the webinar finished with an extended Q&A session.

Panellists, Dr Berwyn Squire, Veterinary Officer of Agriculture Victoria and Dr Sandra Baxendall of GoatVetOz assisted with the answers.