SonGlo Guernsey Goats

Gloria Andrews, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; Colbert, Ga

“We aim to advocate for and improve the British Guernsey, a newly recognized dairy goat breed. SonGlo Guernsey Goats are affiliated with the Georgia Dairy Goat Breeders Association, the Guernsey Goat Breeders of America, and of course the American Dairy Goat Association. Over the last ten years, I have become familiar with what nature can supply and how it can have such beneficial results. The Early Bird dewormer is such an example.

With our weather patterns in Georgia - rains and lots of hot weather, parasites "bloom" almost overnight and with the space limitations that I have (definitely not ideal), we have had to use chemical dewormers in the past. Because of the resistance to chemical dewormers that we are seeing, I tried Early Bird.

I used Early Bird on the adult does, bucks, yearlings, and kids. Before starting the treatment, I ran a fecal on one adult doe (in the adult doe group) who had a FAMACHA score of 2. The results were 1200 eggs per gram of strongyle-type eggs. My bucks will eat anything, so giving them the powder was not a problem. My does, however, have very definitive palates, and top dressing was going nowhere. Another product that I tried last year, the BioWorma, was the same (bucks did not care, does laughed at me). So, I prepared the feed in slider bags and added Early Bird powder to each baggie. They took it without a problem.

Several days after finishing Phase 2, one of my ladies chowed down on too much watermelon and had the weirdest looking poop. Needless to say, I ran a fecal, and did not see any strongyle eggs at all! Then I got a FEC (Fecal Egg Count) on the one adult doe (FAMACHA score of 2 and FEC of 1200) and it was 200 eggs per gram of strongyle-type eggs.

Thus far I am pleased with these results and feel that Early Bird did a good job. Top dressing is okay with my herd as long as the goat is a milker. With the others, in order to make certain they get what they need, I mix with applesauce and feed with a syringe. Overall, the product is needed because of all the resistance we see with other “traditional” dewormers.”

See what Dr. Andrews’ golden goats are up to on Facebook, or by visiting this page.