The top two killers of goats are pneumonia and internal parasites. There isn’t an easy way to predict pneumonia in a herd, but for parasites, we can do fecals. Most vets will be willing to do them, even if they don’t see goats. Our livestock vet is far away, so for a long time, we took samples to our small animal vet. Some labs will also accept mailed samples for a low price – MeadowMist (external link) is a popular one.
With the amount of fecals we do, we decided that it was in our best interest to just do them ourselves. It sounds intimidating, but it’s super easy! There are a few procedures for doing them, but we do one of the most common: a Modified McMaster technique recommended by the University of Minnesota (external link). They have a useful video on their site that goes through the steps.
Supplies* (with External Links)
- TWO cups that fit at least 5 oz (two per sample)
- Scale that measures to at least .1 g
- Fecal float solution
- Cup that measures at least 28 ml
- Tongue depressor
- Gauze or tea strainer
- Pipette
- McMaster slide
- Microscope with 10x objective lens (total of 100x with eyepiece)
Collecting Samples
Collecting a fecal sample is usually easy, since goats seem to always be pooping. Usually, right when they wake up, they get up, stretch, pee, and then poop. When we need a sample, we’re there with a baggie to catch it as it falls. If we’re too late but see it right as it hits the ground, we still grab some of the cleanest looking pieces. If we’re desperate, we will lube up our fingers and gently remove what we need from the goat’s rectum – this is not safe to do on goat kids.
We want around 4 grams, which is about 10 kid pellets or 5 adult ones, depending on goat size. If we’re not immediately going to do a fecal, we label and refrigerate the sample. Samples last in the fridge for up to a week; any longer, and the eggs will degrade too much.
Performing the Procedure
- Label two cups with animal name
- Tare one labeled cup on the scale
- If manure is pelleted, crush & knead to mix
- Measure 2 g of fecal matter into the cup on the scale
- Measure 28 ml of flotation solution & pour into the cup
- Mix the sample & solution using a tongue depressor and let sit for 5 minutes
- Mix again, then immediately pour it through a strainer or gauze into the second cup, using the tongue depressor to press fluid through
- Immediately use a pipette to entirely fill both chambers of the McMaster slide with the strained fluid, taking care to avoid leaving large bubbles
- Let the slide sit for at least 5 minutes to allow eggs to float to the surface – do not let sit for more than an hour
- Place the slide onto the microscope and bring the grid lines into focus
- Starting at one corner on one side of the slide, work down one grid area and back up the next until all the way through both chambers, counting all eggs that sit over halfway inside the grid & excluding any outside – Animal Fecal Microscopy – Farm & Livestock (external link) is an excellent group on Facebook for help identifying parasite eggs
- Multiply the count of each seen species’ eggs x 50 – this total is the Eggs Per Gram (EPG)
Guidelines for Use
Wormx (external link) currently recommends that a fecal egg count be used to identify the worm species and to determine a dewormer’s effectiveness, but NOT as a guideline for starting treatment. A goat should generally only be treated if it shows signs of overload; although honestly, if we see a count over 500 EPG for kids or over 1000 for adults, we’re probably going to treat them for worms or coccidiosis before it becomes a bigger issue.
To test a dewormer, a fecal is taken before treatment, then another 10-14 days later. If the fecal egg count has not been reduced by at least 70%, then that dewormer is probably not effective.
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