Ticks

Hi everyone

I haven't been online much in the last week because we finally moved to our new TN farm! We have been crazy-busy getting an area set up for the horse and pony (who arrived this morning at 5AM!) and we have been working on goat areas. Putting up fencing in a humid TN summer sucks, pure and simple. I am supposed to pick up my goats on Weds the 6th, though there is some question as to whether one of my bucklings will be able to come home-his breeder thinks he has been battling pneumonia.

OK-so the tick question. This is tick hell. Even with K9 advantix applied, my dogs are still picking up a tick here and there. What do y'all use for tick control in your goats? Will get guineas eventually, but I'd need hundreds so that really isn't a real answer. I've searched on "tick" in the archives here and looked at other sites and the only recurring answer I see is Sevin dust. But can this be applied when the goat is pregnant or milking? (not that mine will be either this summer, but for future reference). Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially from those of you in the South.

We have lots of ticks here, and I have only found them on a goat twice. We find them on humans multiple times every May. In our early years, we'd find them on ourselves daily, as well as our dogs. We have a flock of 50 chickens though, so I'm sure that helps. In some areas the ticks seem to like goats more than here in Illinois. Maybe they're different ticks. We have mostly the big, common dog ticks. I would not use Sevin as it is not approved for use on animals. It's meant for garden use, and I'm sure it's never been tested on animals, especially pregnant or milking. I'm pretty sure that any of the topical lice and fly treatments approved for use in cattle would also work for ticks, such as Cylence. I would not use anything (such as Frontline) that has not been tested on ruminants. Although goats and cows are different, they are not as different as goats and single-stomach animals.

Replies

Deborah Niemann-Boehle July 4, 2011 at 6:13pm

We have lots of ticks here, and I have only found them on a goat twice. We find them on humans multiple times every May. In our early years, we'd find them on ourselves daily, as well as our dogs. We have a flock of 50 chickens though, so I'm sure that helps. In some areas the ticks seem to like goats more than here in Illinois. Maybe they're different ticks. We have mostly the big, common dog ticks. I would not use Sevin as it is not approved for use on animals. It's meant for garden use, and I'm sure it's never been tested on animals, especially pregnant or milking. I'm pretty sure that any of the topical lice and fly treatments approved for use in cattle would also work for ticks, such as Cylence. I would not use anything (such as Frontline) that has not been tested on ruminants. Although goats and cows are different, they are not as different as goats and single-stomach animals.

This reply was deleted.