Breeding parasite resistance in valuable animals?

In dairy goats, in my case.

Having read a bit about Gulf Coast Sheep and how they are almost totally imune to Florida's parasites I started wondering why my goats are so bloody prone to getting sick with them. And how one would go about breeding for parasite resistance in animals whom I at least, cant afford to loose any.

I know how I would go about it with my rabbits but they are really only worth their pellets and the time I put into them but the goats are $300 each so I just cant afford to have any of them get sick.

BUT goats live all over the world in places where no one is giving them cocci meds every month or worm meds every three months and they all look good, even the feral ones running round look fat, gleaming and happy and I cant get mine to round out their corners with free choice feed and regular de-worming and they havnt even kidded yet. :evil:

Sorry to start ranting, its vexing me a bit is all. :lol:

Anyway, back to my question, how would one breed for resistance while not risking what little stock I have? <br /><br /> __________ Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:11 pm __________ <br /><br /> I hasten to add, I would breed resistance in my rabbits WITHOUT letting any culls suffer!

I have no experience with goats, but I have always been interested. It seems to me that resistance to parasites may be linked to the browse the goats feed on. I have always believed that diet is the best medicine. And I do truly believe that if you have a "bad" plant (like poison ivy) in an area, you likely also have its antidote (jewel weed). Just something to think about as you look about you for possible plants that might help.

Have you looked into the natural/herbal wormers available? I've heard good things about the products available from Fiasco Farms.

http://fiascofarm.com/herbs/

I have no idea whether or not ANY of this is helpful, but at least it offers a direction for further investigation. Hope it helps. :clover:

I don't believe there is any way to do so without allowing your animals to be exposed and perhaps become ill with the parasites, so that you can see who can resist, and who cannot.

That fact was actually what stayed my hand in breeding towards resistance to hepatic coccidosis in rabbits. I couldn't stand the idea of watching my kits suffer. Some have been able to work it with less susceptible animals, simply culling those that do not thrive.

My first and only real experience with it was rather traumatizing however...With terrible illness and death occurring to kits in a very short time.
I can honestly say that I have no idea how my current stock would do, because I have no intention of ever exposing them or any other rabbits to such tainted soil again.

Keeping the cages relatively clean and favoring those who thrive has been enough to keep the herd off meds. It's the best I can do.
:shrug:

I believe.....the very thought that our animals are too valuable to lose is the first step down the path towards lines or breeds that cannot survive or thrive without vaccines, antibiotics, or parasite control medication.

We see this all the time when people are willing to treat their expensive rabbits for things that mutts routinely get culled over.

Antibiotic free and/or drug free animals just come at the cost of heavy handed culling, and sometimes, seeing even our favorites or higher priced animals just not make the cut.
It's HARD, and not everyone can do it.
IMO breeders who work that way deserve to ask for higher prices for their products...
Not just for meat, since natural resistance in live animals is incredibly valuable.

Breeding parasite resistance takes a lot of patience. And buying from breeders who don't medicate their animals a lot.
You can slowly select by not keeping animals that don't do well even when you deworm them. Start slowly deworming less.

This is why after my move I plan to get meat/mutt goats. Unfortunately a lot of the dairy goats haven't been culled for poor resistance to parasites and quite frankly it's hard to find any that thrive especially on FL browse... meanwhile I could find some really bulky looking boer, kiko, and "unknown breed" just about anywhere that can just about live on stripped clean browse and not look it. The problem is no one has qualms taking a poorly producing meat goat to a butcher because they hurt business all around... Dairy goats, it adds to the cost but it's more expensive replacing a good producing dairy goat just because it has worm issues than it is to just follow a strong worming routine. I've been to and seen quite a few of the larger goat milk producers in my area and every last one of them keeps paired does in smaller dirt pens with hay, mineral, and pellets and STILL worm pretty regularly. They have turn out areas, but those are usually nothing but dirt too and entirely just for exercise. Unfortunately, that sort of situation can only produce goats with absolutely no ability to handle parasite load from brush.

If you want parasite resistance, unfortunately you are going to need to be pretty heavy handed on culling as you would be undoing generations of just avoiding the problem entirely.

As I have no buck, would getting a mutt buck be a good start?

It might take years but its a worthwhile goal. I like breeding rabbits better though, its soooo much faster than goats, I dont know if I have the patience needed for this project! :lol:

It could help if you have enough room to grow a tall forage item. That would keep them from feeding off the ground to some extend possibly allowing you to monitor for parasites without them getting really sick. Especially if your working with stock which has very little resistance.

I think that MaggieJ pretty much nailed it with her observation that if allowed animals will "self medicate" using plants. Michael4Garden's practice of feeding allium plants would be a good start.

Many medicinal plants have strong and/or unappealing flavors which might give your milk an off flavor, so I would feed them before your does freshen or at a time when you don't mind sacrificing your milk harvest.

Natural selection (or culling by breeders) undoubtedly play a part as well- wild goats who can't tolerate a parasite load will not contribute much to the gene pool since they themselves may expire or not be able to deliver and support healthy young.

GBov":2jo6170l said:

As I have no buck, would getting a mutt buck be a good start?

Click to expand...

Breed doesn't really matter- you want to select one that has shown resistance to parasites. Hybrid vigor only applies to the first generation cross in any case, so unless the genes you are seeking are already present in the stock the second generation wont benefit from being crossbred.

What I meant by Mutt MammaS was a buck from a herd of goats that no one medicates but looks healthy anyway. Scrub goats or meat goats or the like. Many years ago I bought a goat for meat from such a herd, they were fat as butter with no care or love, the owner just picked out a few to eat or sell every now and then and the rest just got on with life.

I dont know enough about how much milk would result in a doe of that cross or its flavor but if I have my first three and this springs babies to give reliable milk (and keep them on their parasite control schedule) then I could use next years crop as generation one of breeding resistance while keeping a reasonable milk production.

Or I could save really really hard, find someone who has already done it, and buy replacement does from them in a few years time.

Seems a bit more "fun" the first way. And far more reachable on my income. :roll: :lol:

Our goats get garlic scapes in summer and the dried bulbils in winter to help with parasites and we haven't noticed any off taste in the milk. We also offer other browse that is said to help with worms--thyme, oregano, multi-flora rose (an invasive here) and willow. Most of these are good feed, not just "medicine" and they do seem to know when they need more or when to leave it alone.
I have some idea that parasites are just more of a problem where you don't have winters that kill anything off so don't know if any of this is applicable to your situation.

GBov, or if you find a breeder who already did all that, you could pay for stud services to your does and just cull offspring that don't handle parasites well and keep the doelings that do and breed from there (possibly studding back to the breeder). Unfortunately, the parasites in this area are especially insane. Even with heavy worming, I almost lost a rescued kid and had to give him regular B Complex injections from the amount of bloodloss the suckers resulted in. If that didn't work, he was going to need a blood transfusion to survive. Thankfully that was the boost he needed to come back enough to let the newer wormers do their jobs. He still had parasite issues though so I re-homed him to a pet family that fed peanut hay high off the ground (I have no intentions of feeding like that).
(Note: As someone said earlier, cull does not always mean kill. I can't seem to remember who said it though... you can always re-sell the ones that don't make the grade for parasite resistance to homes that don't brush feed their goats)