Safeguard for Goats... ok to use on nursing mom??

I can imagine that info sounds confusing when you're new. Here's the explanation. There are no dewormers that are off-limits for does nursing kids. No one worries about drug residues in the kids because these drugs are approved for use in livestock.

If you use a dewormer for a doe that is being milked, then there are various milk withdrawal periods. Injectables are as long as 3-4 months, so do NOT use those on any goat that you ever plan to milk. Most oral dewormers have withdrawals of one to three weeks for human consumption of milk.

The info I just found said that there is no milk withdrawal established by the FDA for using Safeguard in dairy goats. However, the milk withdrawal in milking cows is 0 days because the level of the drug found in the milk is very low. However, if you look at the actual test results, they were finding some drug residues for about 5-7 days, so personally I'd avoid drinking the milk for a week or two. In this particular case, you wouldn't want to drink the milk anyway since it'll be colostrum for the first few days, and she'll need it to feed the babies. We usually double whatever they say the milk withdrawal period is.

Also, remember it is not a good idea to use a dewormer unless a doe really needs it. Every time you use one, you are taking one step closer to dewormer resistance and a day when that dewormer won't work for you. If you are simply giving it to her because you read on someone's website that you should deworm all does after kidding, that is VERY old advice that was not based upon research. The most recent research says that you should only give a dewormer to goat that actually needs it -- just like you should only give antibiotics to animals that really need them.

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Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 27, 2017 at 11:30pm

I can imagine that info sounds confusing when you're new. Here's the explanation. There are no dewormers that are off-limits for does nursing kids. No one worries about drug residues in the kids because these drugs are approved for use in livestock.

If you use a dewormer for a doe that is being milked, then there are various milk withdrawal periods. Injectables are as long as 3-4 months, so do NOT use those on any goat that you ever plan to milk. Most oral dewormers have withdrawals of one to three weeks for human consumption of milk.

The info I just found said that there is no milk withdrawal established by the FDA for using Safeguard in dairy goats. However, the milk withdrawal in milking cows is 0 days because the level of the drug found in the milk is very low. However, if you look at the actual test results, they were finding some drug residues for about 5-7 days, so personally I'd avoid drinking the milk for a week or two. In this particular case, you wouldn't want to drink the milk anyway since it'll be colostrum for the first few days, and she'll need it to feed the babies. We usually double whatever they say the milk withdrawal period is.

Also, remember it is not a good idea to use a dewormer unless a doe really needs it. Every time you use one, you are taking one step closer to dewormer resistance and a day when that dewormer won't work for you. If you are simply giving it to her because you read on someone's website that you should deworm all does after kidding, that is VERY old advice that was not based upon research. The most recent research says that you should only give a dewormer to goat that actually needs it -- just like you should only give antibiotics to animals that really need them.

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