Internal parasites, particularly barber pole worms, are among the most significant welfare challenges in goat farming. Evidence-based targeted selective treatment reduces welfare harm while managing anthelmintic resistance.
Internal parasite management in goats represents a welfare challenge where the primary intervention — anthelmintic treatment — is losing effectiveness through resistance development driven by overuse. The barber pole worm causes anemia that progresses from subclinical welfare compromise through weakness and reduced production to death in heavily parasitized animals. Individual animals with high worm burdens experience significant welfare harm from anemia-driven fatigue, weakness, and reduced immune capacity. The shift from blanket treatment to targeted selective treatment using FAMACHA scoring and fecal egg counting addresses both the welfare of individual heavily affected animals — who receive treatment when they need it — and the long-term welfare of future flocks by slowing resistance development. The genetic selection approach adds a prevention dimension: breeding bucks with demonstrably high parasite resistance transmits improved resistance to offspring, progressively reducing the welfare burden from parasites in subsequent generations without increasing anthelmintic use. The welfare-sustainable approach to internal parasite management therefore combines individual welfare monitoring, targeted treatment, refugia management, and genetic selection.