The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank is looking to auction off its goat herd after a high number of goat deaths connected to parasitic worms. 

Land Bank livestock manager Winston Bell said there has been an increase of parasite-related deaths among the herd in the last two years, partially due to the goats getting older and the fact that the worms, most of which are barber’s pole worms, are becoming resistant to dewormer.

The worms that survive the medical treatment reproduce, creating a dewormer-resistant population.

“The more frequently the animals are treated, the more rapidly the population of treatment-resistant parasites increases,” Mr. Bell said in an email. “So really, the spike represents an increasingly rapid acceleration of what has already been occurring for some time.”

The land bank started to use goats to help manage grasslands at several properties in 2013. Mr. Bell hopes to auction off the 168-goat herd by early November and he proposes the land bank stop using goats to graze its properties for up to two years, allowing the treatment resistant worms to die out.

“Whoever we auction them off to, we’ll obviously give full disclosure about the health issues, so they should be working under the supposition that they do have the parasite,” Mr. Bell said. 

He added that he has already gotten requests from people interested in buying the goats to use as companions for horses. 

“They’re pretty useful in calming broody mares,” he said.

Mr. Bell has suggested swapping in 25 to 30 head of Pineywoods cattle for grazing.

“They are as close an equivalent impact wise and management wise [to the goats],” Mr. Bell said. 

Pineywoods are smaller than average breeds and require less hay during the winter. The breed is also highly heat-tolerant and parasite-resistant, according to Mr. Bell’s proposal to the land bank commission.

Until the goats are auctioned off, the land bank will continue to administer necessary medical care. Mr. Bell told the Gazette that the goats will continue to be moved before they eat the grass down too short, which increases the chance of consuming the parasites.