I am certainly not an expert but i may have researched more information on worms than anyone here so my two cents. i think the only parasite to really worry about in ruminants is liver fluke. not even sure we can get it from eating the meat. you can get it from snails, their eggs i think even their slime trail. so you could easily get it even from washed lettuce. pig shit might even be able to kill you. at least it can cause permanent cysts in the muscles and the brain. do not ingest pig or human shit especially. canine, bear, pig, coon, rat...
Normally cow, goat and sheep shit is fairly safe to eat. a sick animals shit may get you sick with a bad bacteria or perhaps even coccideosis a tiny parasite that is usually always present but mostly only harmful at heavy infestation levels. humans I believe can get lungworm and heartworm but i am pretty sure we don`t share the same species of those worms with ruminants. in an analogy to cars, it's like there are several makes of worms but most are by necessity specialized in a few different species so there is a different model for different animals. sheep and goats share many but cows share few with either of them. horses and pigs share none. different species are literally used sometimes by necessity to clean grasslands of parasite infestations.
If a cow eats a sheep parasite the parasite dies and visa versa. but it gets more confusing. one school of thought is that you should alternate pastures of species to keep a cleaner pasture. however studies show that when multi species grazing with cows and sheep together, the sheep have higher worm loads than in the former method yet actually grow faster than either rotating cows and sheep or by only raising sheep. this shows that cows somehow make sheep grow faster in multiple ways yet to be proven.
Colonic might not worn very well at all on worms, even tape worms. tape worms are not harmful usually. worms in general are mostly harmless unless you are in a poor state of nutrition or immunity or your loaded with them. you wouldn't be loaded with them if you were not any of those first. it is probably important to ingest too many though as even healthy stock can take a hit from them. but how healthy are they? animals have actually been bred to be intolerant of them through the constant use of worm medication. now a days the parasites have become so resistant that the chemical worners barely work.
How to prevent infestation in livestock? rotate pastures to allow rest, heat and dry make life in the pasture hard for worms. employ ducks, chickens and turkeys. they scratch up dung piles, making them dry out faster making them a more poor place for them to live and actually ingest a great deal of them. use herbs and poisonous plants and high tannin plants and high copper plants. birds foot treefoil, chicory, willow and poplar are supposed to help and are good every day feeds. garlic, ginger, oregano all are good tonics that kill worms. black walnut hulls and wormwood are the main herbal worm nukes. as i said also plants high in copper, saint john's wort, heliotrope work wonders which leads me to perhaps the most important info i have to give today
Copper is thought of as the mineral throw switch of parasites. having a high copper blood level exiles them from the body. my secret weapon is what they use to turn pools blue. copper sulfate is one of the few chemicals my animals ever eat. it is poison and can destroy the liver. it is safe in small batches the liver can handle. somehow mixing it with calcium makes it safe, or at least dolomite does. i try to mix it with as many minerals as possible and also offer the minerals without copper. they eat more without the copper but eat the copper too. they usually know how much they need. rarely i drop a bunch in the mouth of a reluctant eater.
The best prevention is copper in the plants and a high level of nutrition. most pastures are sewn and even sprayed to prevent weeds and a lot of soil in humid climates and everywhere is low on copper. low copper is a factor in mad cow and likely human mental diseases. it also cures foot rot, ring worm, lice the shits often... they use it in fish only aquariums to kill parasites. plants, coral, crabs, starfish, octopus cannot handle it. hope this helps
