Worms Killed 87,000 goats in 2015

In 2015, about 500,000 adult and kid goats were lost to all causes (nonpredator and

predator) in the United States, which represented 9.8 percent of U.S. adult goat inventory

and 19.4 percent of kids born in 2015.

Nonpredator causes accounted for about three-fourths of all adult goat and kid death

losses in the United States in 2015. Undetermined causes (found dead or unknown)

accounted for the highest number of nonpredator losses in both goats and kids. Of known

losses due to nonpredator causes, internal parasites were the primary cause of loss,

resulting in almost 87,000 goat and kid deaths in 2015.

Internal parasites accounted for 22.7 percent of all known death losses: 24.8% of goats, 15.6% of pre-weaned kids, 37.7% of post-weaned kids, and 21.5% of all kids. Some of the unknown (found dead) death losses may also have been the result of internal parasites. Source: Goat and Kid Predator and Nonpredator Death Loss in the United States, 2015