deworming cattle

It is a sad day on my small farm as one of my saanen goats has died. I only had two. We gave up on milking goats because no one liked the 'flavor' of the milk. So we bought a cow last June. If I had a goat die, should I be worried about my cow? What should I do if I should be. I have had cows before but on a bigger piece of property. Currently I have this cow on one acre.

Sincerely,
Jamey
Delaware

If you can break the life cycle of the intestinal worms, then the need to worm your cow/sheep is reduced. Typically people do this with paddock shift systems where the livestock only are on a specific area for a short period and then there is a long period before they return. Chickens following the cows also help. However, implementing those systems on a single acre may be tough.

Diatomaceous Earth would be some thing you could look into as a dietary supplement for farm animals of all types.

Jamey Sturgill wrote:It is a sad day on my small farm as one of my saanen goats has died. I only had two. We gave up on milking goats because no one liked the 'flavor' of the milk. So we bought a cow last June. If I had a goat die, should I be worried about my cow? What should I do if I should be. I have had cows before but on a bigger piece of property. Currently I have this cow on one acre.

Sincerely,
Jamey
Delaware

The only deworming program I have used for my cows is from Joel Salatin. He puts Basic H, a type of soap, in their water once or twice a year. He details this process in Salad Bar Beef. I have used it myself- it is cheap, easy, and seems to work well.

Good rotational grazing with lots of birds helps a lot with parasites, but really climate and ecology are the biggest factors in pasture parasite burden. I live in an arid and cold climate, so my parasite pressure is a lot less than somewhere like Florida.

good luck!