WormBoss expanded to include goats

Goat producers now have access to industry-specific information and tools to help tackle parasite management in their livestock with Australia's sheep worm control resource, WormBoss, expanded to include goats.

The incorporation of goat-specific information to the WormBoss website – www.wormboss.com.au – has been supported by the Goat Industry Council of Australia (GICA), through Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).

WormBoss is managed by ParaBoss, the national organisation that leads the development and extension of best practice information, training and tools to improve parasite management of sheep in Australia. It is supported by industry partners including MLA, Australian Wool Innovation, and the Sheep CRC and is managed by the University of New England.

MLA Goat Industry Project Manager, Julie Petty, said the WormBoss website now included relevant best practice information relating to goats which will help support industry, reduce control costs and manage chemical resistance.

“Worms are one of the most important parasites of intensively managed goats, and control strategies, while similar to those used in sheep, have important distinguishing features, especially with regards to management of drench resistance,” Ms Petty said.

ParaBoss Executive Officer Dr Lewis Kahn said wide-reaching consultation was conducted to collate goat-specific information for the site.

“While the site contained extensive information about integrated parasite management for sheep producers, the information directly applicable to goats wasn’t there, and so GICA and MLA have moved to address that,” Dr Kahn said.

“What we have aimed to create is a common site that clearly differentiates information applicable for sheep and goats to save producers from having to wade through vast amounts of information to find what they’re looking for.

“The other driving factor in GICA and MLA’s move to include goats on WormBoss was the need to put all the relevant information at one common point, so producers didn’t have to search through different sites to find the resources they needed.”

The expanded site now includes best practice advice relating to treatment of roundworms, tapeworms and flukes in goats.

It also contains regional worm control programs with practical strategies around grazing management, breeding for worm resistance, when to drench and test and managing drench resistance.

Tests available to use, as well as management tools such as drench decision guides and a drench database are also available to goat producers.

The goat content on the WormBoss website will be supplemented by a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/paraboss-goats