Ringworm is a common fungal disease in goats. It is a fungus, not a worm, and mostly appears during prolonged periods of wet weather. As with many other skin conditions, keeping the loafing and sleeping areas clean and dry will help reduce the occurrence of ringworm.

Ringworm can be located almost anywhere on the goat’s body. Left untreated, it gets bigger and bigger.

Warning: Ringworm is contagious both to other goats and livestock, and even to humans.

In the case of ringworm, we treat twice daily.

Treatment: WEAR STERILE RUBBER GLOVES WHEN TREATING RINGWORM!

We begin by (again, wearing gloves) picking the ringworm ‘scabs.’ After the scabs have been ‘picked,’ dry any puss that comes out with a paper towel. Spray with WD-40 on any area showing ringworm signs. Allow to rest with this until evening.

Evening Treatment: Apply straight tea tree oil on any area showing ringworm signs, then spray with iodine. Dust with sulfur, and give 1 tsp sulfur internally. We also at this time give 1 tsp of copper sulfate, along with a Tbsp of dolomite internally.

We continue this treatment until all areas dry up; we then let it scab over. Most of the time, this comes about 8 days after treatment. It will normally take about 3 weeks for the hair to grow back in the affected areas.