Suzanne W. Gasparotto
HC 70 Box 70
Lohn, TX 76852
Phone 325/344-5775
Originators of Tennessee Meat Goats
VITAMIN AND MINERAL DEFICIENCIES IN GOATS
Proper vitamin and mineral levels are essential to the good health of goats. Although no single mineral can be singled out as more important than others, copper, zinc, and selenium levels are especially critical. The interaction of minerals is astoundingly complex. The most difficult task in raising goats is getting nutrition right, and vitamins and minerals are key. Most producers are not knowledgeable enough to formulate their own feed ration with appropriate levels of minerals and vitamins included. Achieving this is a complex task that is best left to a trained goat nutritionist.
Selenium: Major portions of the United States have soils that are deficient in selenium. Selenium deficiency is widespread in most of the eastern coast of the U.S., into the Great Lakes area, and throughout the northwestern part of this country. Plants grown in these soils are selenium deficient and therefore cannot provide adequate selenium to the goats that eat them.
Selenium deficiency, like Vitamin E deficiency, can cause white muscle disease (nutritional muscular dystrophy), causing the goat to have difficulty controlling its muscles. Newborns with weak rear legs may be selenium-deficient. Kids may be too weak to nurse their dams. Pneumonia may result from weakness in muscles that control breathing.
Producers raising goats in areas having selenium-deficient soil must make sure that this mineral is added to feed. Many producers give BoSe injections to newborn kids, as well as to adult goats. BoSe is a vet prescription item. Contact the local county extension agent or your veterinarian for information on your particular area or google 'selenium levels United States' for data.
Zinc: Zinc is needed in the synthesis of proteins and DNA and in cell division. Excessive salivation, deformed hooves, stiff joints, chronic skin problems, abnormally small testicles, and reduced interest in mating are some of the signs.
Copper and Molybdenum: Unlike sheep, for whom copper is toxic, goats must have copper in their diet. Inadequate copper levels can cause loss of hair color, coarse hair that has hooked end tips, abortions, stillbirths, anemia, frequent bone fractures, poor appetite, weight loss, and decreased milk production.
Molybdenum and copper amounts must be balanced or health problems appear. More than 3 ppm of molybdenum binds up copper and creates a deficiency of copper in the goat.
It is also possible to cause copper toxicity in goats by feeding too much copper. Researchers and producer experiences seem to be proving that goats need more copper than originally believed. Make sure that the copper level in feed is correct for your goats by consulting a trained caprine nutritionist knowledgeable about your area.
Water: Yes, water. The goat's body is normally more than 60% water. Rumen contents must be about 70% water to function properly. Even a slight dip in water consumption can result in a goat with fever and off feed.
Iron: Unless a goat is anemic, iron deficiency is generally not a problem in foraging goats. Certain onion-type plants can, however, cause anemia. Stomach worms, sucking lice, and blood loss are common causes of anemia in goats. Goats that are seriously ill with anemia may be supplemented with injectable iron (Ferrodex 100) or oral adminstration of Red Cell. Conversely, an excess of iron can contribute to decreased fertility in goats.
Iodine: Iodine is as essential in goats' diets as it is in humans. Goiters are the most visible sign of iodine deficiency. Newborns whose dams are iodine deficient can be born with goiters. Commercial feeds and minerals contain non-iodized salt, so it may be necessary to offer iodized salt on a free-choice basis. A quicker method of getting iodine into the goat is to paint 7% iodine on the hairless tailweb and to offer kelp (seaweed) free choice.
Calcium and Phosphorus: Calcium and phosphorus must be in proper balance or serious illnesses can occur. Female goats that have been bred at too young of an age can develop lameness and/or bowed legs if they are calcium deficient. Calcium is essential to bone formation and muscle contractions (including labor contractions). A calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 2-1/2 to 1 is proper and helps prevent urinary calculi. Too much phosphorus in relation to calcium causes urinary calculi. An imbalance of calcium and phosphorus can result in birth defects.
Salt: If a goat lacks salt in its diet, it may be seen licking the ground -- trying to get salt from the dirt. Offer salt as part of an appropriate mineral mix on a free-choice basis. Do not force-feed salt by mixing it with processed feed; this procedure is used to limit feed consumption. Salt is often used as a feed limiter, as heavily salted rations cause goats to eat less. A pregnant doe who consumes too much salt may have udder problems -- edema (subcutaneous accumulation of fluids).
Sulfur: Excessive salivation may be a sign of sulfur deficiency. A properly balanced loose mineral and vitamin mix is required. Direct supplementation of sulfur can result in the binding up of iron and copper.
Potassium: Goats on forage usually get all the potassium they need. Penned animals need potassium added to their processed grain mix. Emaciation and muscle weakness are signs of severe potassium deficiency.
Magnesium: Goats deficient in magnesium have lowered urine and milk production and may become anorexic.
Manganese: Slow growth rates in kids (especially buck kids), reduced fertility and abortions in does, improperly formed legs, and difficulty in walking are general signs of manganese deficiency. Too much calcium interferes with manganese absorption.
Vitamin A: Inadequate amounts of Vitamin A in a goat's diet can lead to thick nasal discharge, difficulty in seeing or blindness, respiratory diseases, susceptibility to parasites, scruffy hair coat, and diarrhea. Kids with coccidiosis need more Vitamin A because they have reduced intestinal absorption of nutrients. Adults are likely to be less fertile and more susceptible to diseases if they do not have adequate levels of this essential fat-soluble vitamin.
B Vitamins: A sick goat must be supplemented with B vitamins, particularly Vitamin B 1 (thiamine). The B vitamins are water soluble, so they need to be replenished daily. One of many conditions that depletes the goat's body of B vitamins is diarrhea (which is a symptom of greater problems). Goats whose rumens are not functioning properly or have had their feed regimen changed should be supplemented with B vitamins, particularly B1 (thiamine).
One of the most common examples of Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency is polioencephalomalacia (goat polio). Thiamine must be given to counteract severe neurological problems. Thiamine-deficient goats display rigid bent necks that won't straighten and a loss of eye focus. This disease usually results from eating moldy hay, feed, or sileage; however, it occasionally occurs because the organism exists under certain environmental conditions and a susceptible goat picks it up. The symptoms mimic those of tetanus and dehydration. Because all B vitamins are water soluble, it is difficult to overdose them.
Vitamin B12, an injectable red liquid requiring a vet prescription, is essential in the treatment of anemia.
Vitamin D: Enlarged joints and bowed legs (rickets) are a result of Vitamin D deficiency. Penned goats must have Vitamin D added to their feed.
Vitamin E: Feeding sileage or old hay can produce Vitamin E deficiency and result in white muscle disease. The injectable prescription product BoSe contains both selenium and vitamin E and is often given to newborns in selenium-deficient areas. Vitamin A-D-E Gel is available for supplemental oral use.
Conclusion
This list is by no means comprehensive but is intended to provide a producer overview. If you get nothing else from this article, understand that proper goat nutrition is very complex and not for amateurs.
For producers affected by Tall Fescue Toxicity, several companies around the USA make a fescue-balancer loose mineral. If mineral deficiencies are widespread in your herd, Mineral Max II is available. An injectable cobalt-blue colored liquid that must be obtained from a vet, Mineral Max II contains zinc, manganese, selenium, and copper in chelated (timed-release) form. It is given to goats IM (into the muscle) usually one injection per year and in decreasing amounts as the goat ages. Mineral Max II is made by Sparhawk Labs in Lenexa, Kansas for RXV Products in Westlake, Texas. It may be available under other brand names. Do not give BoSe and Mineral Max II together.
Producers who live near a feed mill that makes commercial goat feed are encouraged to use their services and purchase their products. Such firms employ livestock nutritionists who have knowledge of the nutritional needs of goats in the areas for which they manufacture their products. If such mills are non-existent in your area, contact your county extension agent or closest agricultural university for assistance. These folks should have knowledge about feed mixtures that the average producer does not possess. Find out what your area is deficient in and make sure that is added into your feed supply.
Do not attempt to formulate your own feed unless you are a trained goat nutritionist. If such expertise is not available in your area, locate and hire a goat nutritionist to formulate a feed ration for you. This service is not expensive but you may be required to buy four to six tons of feed, so contact your neighboring goat producers about working together on this purchase. There are computer programs into which the nutritionist can input information unique to your farm and your management techniques to develop a feed mix specifically for your needs. The health and well-being of your goats are depending upon your making wise decisions about their nutrition. Find a place to cut costs other than goat nutrition. You cannot starve a profit out of a goat.
Suzanne W. Gasparotto
ONION CREEK RANCH
5-11-09
Showing posts with label Tennessee Meat Goats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennessee Meat Goats. Show all posts
22.4.10
Prevention of Diseases
Suzanne W. Gasparotto
Lohn, TX 76852
Phone 325-344-5775
Originator of Tennessee Meat Goats
DISEASES OF GOATS: PREVENTION, CONTROL, AND MANAGEMENT
A major concern of responsible goat producers is the introduction of diseases onto their property. Prevention is of course the producer's desire, but realistically speaking, control and management are most likely to be goal.
Disease can enter the producer's farm or ranch from many sources. Introducing new animals is the usual avenue but definitely not the only way that illness finds its way into the herd.
1) Bringing new animals into the herd from offsite. Quarantine and handling procedures will be addressed in this article.
2) Offering stud service. This typically involves bringing other producers' does onto the property for service by an on-site buck.
3) Goat shows. A huge source of infection and illness, shows are like children's day-care centers -- incubators for disease.
4) Visitors. Infectious materials can enter on visitors' shoes, clothing, and hair; on the tires of their vehicles; in hay, water, tubs/buckets, feed and other supplies that visitors have brought with them.
5) Unclean conditions in pens and pastures.
6) Poor health management practices within the herd.
7) The producer's family members and pets.
Most producers are aware that they should quarantine new animals brought from outside the ranch property in order to protect their goats from whatever diseases the new animals might be carrying. However, the reverse is just as true: newly-introduced goats need to be protected from organisms present on the ranch to which they've never had their immune systems previously exposed. Recognize that these goats are on a new property in a changed environment and often in a much different climate from which they had been previously adapted for living. From the moment they left their previous homes, these new goats' immune systems are under constant assault.
Set up a pen and shelter sized to accommodate the producer's anticipated needs and locate it away from pens and pastures where healthy animals are regularly kept. The pen should be large enough to provide space for proper exercise and should have at least a three-sided shelter with roof to protect the new goats from bad weather. Nearby but not within this pen/shelter area, there should be several smaller gated pens and sheds where sick and/or contagious animals can be confined for observation and treatment. Place a shallow plastic cat-litter pan and a gallon of bleach outside each pen and require persons entering and exiting to wet the soles of their shoes in the bleach. The producer and all other persons handling these goats should consider using disposable gloves.
New and/or ill goats should be kept in appropriate parts of these "sick pens." Goats new to the ranch should be quarantined for a minimum of four weeks, during which time they should be dewormed, vaccinated, and otherwise examined, based upon the producer's management practices. If blood testing for specific diseases is part of the program, do it while the goats are in quarantine. If the tests come back positive and the new goats are already running with the main herd, exposure to disease has probably already occurred.
Offering breeding services on the ranch is an avenue for contamination. Before making a decision to offer such services, the producer should read this writer's Article entitled Pros and Cons of Offering Breeding Services on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. A lot of decisions must be made and agreements put into writing before the first goat arrives on the servicing ranch.
Participating in goat shows is almost a no-win situation with regard to disease. The producer must take extraordinary precautions to protect both goats and human participants from exposure to contagious bacteria, viruses, and other organisms. Animals and people, both young and adult, present risks to all in attendance. Consult an experienced goat-show participant to find out what steps to take to protect you and your goats from taking "unwanted visitors" home with you. At the very minimum, sick goats and ill people should not attend shows and should not be allowed to participate. If they are, leave immediately. Don't even unload your animals. The health of your goats is much more important than a forfeited entry fee or a winning ribbon.
Visitors, relatives, children, pets, and even the producer can easily bring to the ranch infectious bacteria, viruses, and other organisms without ever realizing it. Using a shallow plastic cat-litter pan and a bottle of bleach, the producer should have all visitors step through the solution. This is the very minimum protective action that goat ranchers should take. If the producer knows that visitors or family members have had direct access to goats from outside the ranch, then those folks should be asked to change clothes and shoes before they enter your property. A visit by kids to the 4H barn is a good source of contamination -- a fact that probably never crosses peoples' minds.
Unclean/unsanitary pens, feed troughs, and water containers are excellent sources of infection -- worms and coccidia oocysts thrive in these environments. Flies carry disease from goat to goat. Less often recognized is the exposure to disease that occurs when infective birthing materials are left in pens/pastures for healthy goats to contact. Infected placentas left lying around after birthing are transmitters of abortion diseases such as chlamydiosis; many other diseases are spread through placental material and mucous secretions. Footrot/footscald is highly infectious and contaminated ground very efficiently spreads these diseases. Viral-borne diseases such as some types of Pinkeye at quickly passed around in crowded herds. Caprine Arthritic Encelphalitis (CAE) is a viral disease that is spread through body fluids and mother's milk. Cutting open and draining an active Caseous Lymphadinitis (CL) abscess and exposing the exudate (pus) to other goats and the ground upon which they walk is one of the main ways that CL is spread throughout a herd. Reusing contaminated needles, syringes, and scalpels is another easy way to transmit disease.
Raising quality goats requires planning and hard work. Doing the planning part in advance will cut down on the amount of hard work each producer faces daily.
How to select a healthy goat
by Patricia Stewart
Picking a healthy goat is very important whenever you are bringing a new goat home. There are some nasty diseases with no cures, and once they get established in your soil, there's nothing you can do but start over on a new piece of land. Start out by just observing behavior and general coat condition. A healthy goat should have clear eyes and nose, a shiny hair coat with no bald patches, and a twinkle in its eye. Bald patches may be a sign of a mite or lice infection, causing the goat to rub due to irritation.
If you are buying from a breeder, ask them if they test for CAE, Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis. This disease has been an issue for a long time in goats, and thankfully, conscientious goat farmers are finally taking it seriously. There are three blood tests, any of which will give you a heads up if there's a problem. Any possibly "positive," should be automatically checked with one of the other tests to verify. CAE shows up after awhile with stiff and swollen legs, awkward walking, sometimes a click from the knees of an infected goat. The udder is often hard and the animal's coat may be oily or scaly. If you are buying from a large farm, ask if they practice CAE prevention, which means the kids are bottle fed, never nursing off of mom. CAE is most commonly spread in the milk, but often doesn't show up as an illness for many months or years.
If you see any signs of swelling beneath the jaw or any oozing sores, do not buy that goat. Do not buy a goat from that farm, and wash your hands immediately. Caseous lymphadentitis, CL, is a highly contagious disease spread by discharge. The abcesses swell up in the lymph glands and as they pop, they spread the disease.
Always ask the seller what type of vaccinations they give. When was the last time the goat was wormed, and what kind of wormer was used. A healthy goat should not have visible ribs or backbone. It should have healthy pink eyelids and gums and manure that comes in pellets, individually. A goat that is passing runny or clumpy manure is not at its best. It may just be a rich diet or stress, or it may have a severe case of worms.
Keeping a goat healthy is really pretty easy. Good hay, adequate grain, fresh water and draft free home. But curing a sick goat is often impossible. I would not recommend ever buying from a sale barn, as those animals are exposed to many different germs under high stress conditions. This makes the more susceptible to bringing a problem home with them. Often times, the animals are taken to the sale barn because they are sick, or old, and the owner can't, or doesn't want to invest in healing them.
It's a good idea to keep any new goat in isolation from the existing herd, for at least two weeks. Usually, if something is "brewing" that is enough time to see how the animal does, without endangering the rest of the herd. But remember, goats are herd animals, so if possible, buy two new ones, at least, so they can keep each other company during the quarantine. They'll be much hardier and happier that way.
Introduction to a Meat Goat Quality Assurance Program
and HACCP Roger Merkel
Langston University
Biosecurity PPP #1 - Establish a biosecurity plan for your farm
Consider your production operation and devise a plan to ensure your animals are protected from diseases entering your herd. Potential ways in which diseases could enter your farm include: visitors, feed deliveries, new animal acquisition, and show animals returning to the herd, stray animals, rodents, birds, and others. The potential risk from these various areas should be examined in the context of your production situation. Plans should be made to protect animals from identified risks and to deal with animals that become ill so that diseases occurring on your farm are not transmitted beyond your farm gate.
Biosecurity PPP #2 - Minimize or avoid contact between your animals and animals not on your farm
Many diseases are transmitted through animal to animal contact. Avoiding contact with animals not on your farm will reduce disease outbreaks. Consider the location of pastures and grazing areas in relation to your neighbors’ animals. If new facilities are planned, consider the location of neighboring livestock barns and pens. Do not build facilities in or near drainage areas from livestock facilities. If your animals are very valuable, for example breeding males whose semen is collected for sale; consider double fencing along adjoining property lines to further protect them from neighboring animals. At exhibitions, house animals using solid partitions to minimize contact. Control stray animals, both domestic and wild. Maintain quarantine procedures. Do not haul other animals with your own and clean mud and manure from livestock trailers.
Biosecurity PPP #3 - Establish a quarantine protocol for animals entering your herd
Preventing diseases entering your herd from new animals begins during purchase. Be sure to ask the seller for health and production records on animals you plan to buy. Ask about the disease or herd health program followed. Also, look at the whole herd, not just the few animals you plan to purchase. This will give an indication of the health program followed. Upon arrival at your farm, place new animals in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days. Consult a veterinarian for a quarantine vaccination and deworming protocol and any diagnostic tests that should be performed. Buckets, shovels, fencing, etc., used in the quarantine area should not be moved and used in the general herd. Feed and care for quarantined animals last and do not re-enter your herd before changing clothing and washing boots to prevent carrying diseases from new animals to your herd. As an example, if a quarantined animal has a caseous lymphadenitis abscess that bursts, a person may inadvertently step in the pus from that abscess and carry that on his or her boots. If that person then reenters the farm herd, he may contaminate the ground or other animals.
Quarantine animals upon return from exhibitions or fairs if they have had contact with other animals. Follow the same quarantine guidelines for these animals as with purchased animals. Do not haul animals other than your own to and from shows.
Biosecurity PPP #4 - Establish a protocol for visitors to your farm
Many visitors to your farm will likely be producers themselves. To ensure that diseases are kept from entering your farm area, establish a protocol for any visitors and their vehicles. Control traffic entering your farm and have a separate parking area or ensure that vehicles are clean of mud and manure. This includes livestock trailers, feed delivery trucks, and veterinary vehicles. Consider having disposable boots available for visitors who wish to tour your facilities and herd. Alternatively, have a footbath with disinfectant where visitors can clean their shoes before and after seeing your animals. Have a wash basin or facility for visitors to wash their hands before and after handling animals. Explain that your procedures protect not only your herd, but theirs as well.
Biosecurity PPP #5 - Do not allow persons who have had contact with livestock in foreign countries on your farm, or bring clothing or other items from them to your farm, for a period of 5 days after their arrival in the U.S.
Largely in response to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in other countries, the USDA published guidelines for persons from, or who have traveled to, foreign countries where FMD is present. These persons are encouraged not to have contact with livestock for 5 days after entering the U.S. Some states or institutions, such as Langston University, recommend a 10-day waiting period. The virus causing FMD can be carried in hair and nasal passages, clothing, luggage, shoes, etc. Following this PPP helps safeguard the entire U.S. livestock industry. Outbreaks of FMD, while not a threat to humans, result in the necessary destruction of all infected and potentially infected animals with enormous industry and economic consequences.
Preventing or minimizing contact between foreign travelers and your herd for the period after their arrival may also prevent the spread of other diseases as well.
Lohn, TX 76852
Phone 325-344-5775
Originator of Tennessee Meat Goats
DISEASES OF GOATS: PREVENTION, CONTROL, AND MANAGEMENT
A major concern of responsible goat producers is the introduction of diseases onto their property. Prevention is of course the producer's desire, but realistically speaking, control and management are most likely to be goal.
Disease can enter the producer's farm or ranch from many sources. Introducing new animals is the usual avenue but definitely not the only way that illness finds its way into the herd.
1) Bringing new animals into the herd from offsite. Quarantine and handling procedures will be addressed in this article.
2) Offering stud service. This typically involves bringing other producers' does onto the property for service by an on-site buck.
3) Goat shows. A huge source of infection and illness, shows are like children's day-care centers -- incubators for disease.
4) Visitors. Infectious materials can enter on visitors' shoes, clothing, and hair; on the tires of their vehicles; in hay, water, tubs/buckets, feed and other supplies that visitors have brought with them.
5) Unclean conditions in pens and pastures.
6) Poor health management practices within the herd.
7) The producer's family members and pets.
Most producers are aware that they should quarantine new animals brought from outside the ranch property in order to protect their goats from whatever diseases the new animals might be carrying. However, the reverse is just as true: newly-introduced goats need to be protected from organisms present on the ranch to which they've never had their immune systems previously exposed. Recognize that these goats are on a new property in a changed environment and often in a much different climate from which they had been previously adapted for living. From the moment they left their previous homes, these new goats' immune systems are under constant assault.
Set up a pen and shelter sized to accommodate the producer's anticipated needs and locate it away from pens and pastures where healthy animals are regularly kept. The pen should be large enough to provide space for proper exercise and should have at least a three-sided shelter with roof to protect the new goats from bad weather. Nearby but not within this pen/shelter area, there should be several smaller gated pens and sheds where sick and/or contagious animals can be confined for observation and treatment. Place a shallow plastic cat-litter pan and a gallon of bleach outside each pen and require persons entering and exiting to wet the soles of their shoes in the bleach. The producer and all other persons handling these goats should consider using disposable gloves.
New and/or ill goats should be kept in appropriate parts of these "sick pens." Goats new to the ranch should be quarantined for a minimum of four weeks, during which time they should be dewormed, vaccinated, and otherwise examined, based upon the producer's management practices. If blood testing for specific diseases is part of the program, do it while the goats are in quarantine. If the tests come back positive and the new goats are already running with the main herd, exposure to disease has probably already occurred.
Offering breeding services on the ranch is an avenue for contamination. Before making a decision to offer such services, the producer should read this writer's Article entitled Pros and Cons of Offering Breeding Services on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. A lot of decisions must be made and agreements put into writing before the first goat arrives on the servicing ranch.
Participating in goat shows is almost a no-win situation with regard to disease. The producer must take extraordinary precautions to protect both goats and human participants from exposure to contagious bacteria, viruses, and other organisms. Animals and people, both young and adult, present risks to all in attendance. Consult an experienced goat-show participant to find out what steps to take to protect you and your goats from taking "unwanted visitors" home with you. At the very minimum, sick goats and ill people should not attend shows and should not be allowed to participate. If they are, leave immediately. Don't even unload your animals. The health of your goats is much more important than a forfeited entry fee or a winning ribbon.
Visitors, relatives, children, pets, and even the producer can easily bring to the ranch infectious bacteria, viruses, and other organisms without ever realizing it. Using a shallow plastic cat-litter pan and a bottle of bleach, the producer should have all visitors step through the solution. This is the very minimum protective action that goat ranchers should take. If the producer knows that visitors or family members have had direct access to goats from outside the ranch, then those folks should be asked to change clothes and shoes before they enter your property. A visit by kids to the 4H barn is a good source of contamination -- a fact that probably never crosses peoples' minds.
Unclean/unsanitary pens, feed troughs, and water containers are excellent sources of infection -- worms and coccidia oocysts thrive in these environments. Flies carry disease from goat to goat. Less often recognized is the exposure to disease that occurs when infective birthing materials are left in pens/pastures for healthy goats to contact. Infected placentas left lying around after birthing are transmitters of abortion diseases such as chlamydiosis; many other diseases are spread through placental material and mucous secretions. Footrot/footscald is highly infectious and contaminated ground very efficiently spreads these diseases. Viral-borne diseases such as some types of Pinkeye at quickly passed around in crowded herds. Caprine Arthritic Encelphalitis (CAE) is a viral disease that is spread through body fluids and mother's milk. Cutting open and draining an active Caseous Lymphadinitis (CL) abscess and exposing the exudate (pus) to other goats and the ground upon which they walk is one of the main ways that CL is spread throughout a herd. Reusing contaminated needles, syringes, and scalpels is another easy way to transmit disease.
Raising quality goats requires planning and hard work. Doing the planning part in advance will cut down on the amount of hard work each producer faces daily.
How to select a healthy goat
by Patricia Stewart
Picking a healthy goat is very important whenever you are bringing a new goat home. There are some nasty diseases with no cures, and once they get established in your soil, there's nothing you can do but start over on a new piece of land. Start out by just observing behavior and general coat condition. A healthy goat should have clear eyes and nose, a shiny hair coat with no bald patches, and a twinkle in its eye. Bald patches may be a sign of a mite or lice infection, causing the goat to rub due to irritation.
If you are buying from a breeder, ask them if they test for CAE, Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis. This disease has been an issue for a long time in goats, and thankfully, conscientious goat farmers are finally taking it seriously. There are three blood tests, any of which will give you a heads up if there's a problem. Any possibly "positive," should be automatically checked with one of the other tests to verify. CAE shows up after awhile with stiff and swollen legs, awkward walking, sometimes a click from the knees of an infected goat. The udder is often hard and the animal's coat may be oily or scaly. If you are buying from a large farm, ask if they practice CAE prevention, which means the kids are bottle fed, never nursing off of mom. CAE is most commonly spread in the milk, but often doesn't show up as an illness for many months or years.
If you see any signs of swelling beneath the jaw or any oozing sores, do not buy that goat. Do not buy a goat from that farm, and wash your hands immediately. Caseous lymphadentitis, CL, is a highly contagious disease spread by discharge. The abcesses swell up in the lymph glands and as they pop, they spread the disease.
Always ask the seller what type of vaccinations they give. When was the last time the goat was wormed, and what kind of wormer was used. A healthy goat should not have visible ribs or backbone. It should have healthy pink eyelids and gums and manure that comes in pellets, individually. A goat that is passing runny or clumpy manure is not at its best. It may just be a rich diet or stress, or it may have a severe case of worms.
Keeping a goat healthy is really pretty easy. Good hay, adequate grain, fresh water and draft free home. But curing a sick goat is often impossible. I would not recommend ever buying from a sale barn, as those animals are exposed to many different germs under high stress conditions. This makes the more susceptible to bringing a problem home with them. Often times, the animals are taken to the sale barn because they are sick, or old, and the owner can't, or doesn't want to invest in healing them.
It's a good idea to keep any new goat in isolation from the existing herd, for at least two weeks. Usually, if something is "brewing" that is enough time to see how the animal does, without endangering the rest of the herd. But remember, goats are herd animals, so if possible, buy two new ones, at least, so they can keep each other company during the quarantine. They'll be much hardier and happier that way.
Introduction to a Meat Goat Quality Assurance Program
and HACCP Roger Merkel
Langston University
Biosecurity PPP #1 - Establish a biosecurity plan for your farm
Consider your production operation and devise a plan to ensure your animals are protected from diseases entering your herd. Potential ways in which diseases could enter your farm include: visitors, feed deliveries, new animal acquisition, and show animals returning to the herd, stray animals, rodents, birds, and others. The potential risk from these various areas should be examined in the context of your production situation. Plans should be made to protect animals from identified risks and to deal with animals that become ill so that diseases occurring on your farm are not transmitted beyond your farm gate.
Biosecurity PPP #2 - Minimize or avoid contact between your animals and animals not on your farm
Many diseases are transmitted through animal to animal contact. Avoiding contact with animals not on your farm will reduce disease outbreaks. Consider the location of pastures and grazing areas in relation to your neighbors’ animals. If new facilities are planned, consider the location of neighboring livestock barns and pens. Do not build facilities in or near drainage areas from livestock facilities. If your animals are very valuable, for example breeding males whose semen is collected for sale; consider double fencing along adjoining property lines to further protect them from neighboring animals. At exhibitions, house animals using solid partitions to minimize contact. Control stray animals, both domestic and wild. Maintain quarantine procedures. Do not haul other animals with your own and clean mud and manure from livestock trailers.
Biosecurity PPP #3 - Establish a quarantine protocol for animals entering your herd
Preventing diseases entering your herd from new animals begins during purchase. Be sure to ask the seller for health and production records on animals you plan to buy. Ask about the disease or herd health program followed. Also, look at the whole herd, not just the few animals you plan to purchase. This will give an indication of the health program followed. Upon arrival at your farm, place new animals in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days. Consult a veterinarian for a quarantine vaccination and deworming protocol and any diagnostic tests that should be performed. Buckets, shovels, fencing, etc., used in the quarantine area should not be moved and used in the general herd. Feed and care for quarantined animals last and do not re-enter your herd before changing clothing and washing boots to prevent carrying diseases from new animals to your herd. As an example, if a quarantined animal has a caseous lymphadenitis abscess that bursts, a person may inadvertently step in the pus from that abscess and carry that on his or her boots. If that person then reenters the farm herd, he may contaminate the ground or other animals.
Quarantine animals upon return from exhibitions or fairs if they have had contact with other animals. Follow the same quarantine guidelines for these animals as with purchased animals. Do not haul animals other than your own to and from shows.
Biosecurity PPP #4 - Establish a protocol for visitors to your farm
Many visitors to your farm will likely be producers themselves. To ensure that diseases are kept from entering your farm area, establish a protocol for any visitors and their vehicles. Control traffic entering your farm and have a separate parking area or ensure that vehicles are clean of mud and manure. This includes livestock trailers, feed delivery trucks, and veterinary vehicles. Consider having disposable boots available for visitors who wish to tour your facilities and herd. Alternatively, have a footbath with disinfectant where visitors can clean their shoes before and after seeing your animals. Have a wash basin or facility for visitors to wash their hands before and after handling animals. Explain that your procedures protect not only your herd, but theirs as well.
Biosecurity PPP #5 - Do not allow persons who have had contact with livestock in foreign countries on your farm, or bring clothing or other items from them to your farm, for a period of 5 days after their arrival in the U.S.
Largely in response to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in other countries, the USDA published guidelines for persons from, or who have traveled to, foreign countries where FMD is present. These persons are encouraged not to have contact with livestock for 5 days after entering the U.S. Some states or institutions, such as Langston University, recommend a 10-day waiting period. The virus causing FMD can be carried in hair and nasal passages, clothing, luggage, shoes, etc. Following this PPP helps safeguard the entire U.S. livestock industry. Outbreaks of FMD, while not a threat to humans, result in the necessary destruction of all infected and potentially infected animals with enormous industry and economic consequences.
Preventing or minimizing contact between foreign travelers and your herd for the period after their arrival may also prevent the spread of other diseases as well.
8.6.09
HERD MANAGEMENT
CULLING IN A MEAT-GOAT HERD
Suzanne W. Gasparotto
HC 70 Box 70
Lohn, TX 76852
Phone 325/344-5775
Originators of Tennessee Meat Goats
"Healthy," "hardy," and "adaptable" are adjectives that must be descriptive of goats in a meat-goat herd. Unlike humans, there are no EMS services, doctors, or hospitals "on call" for the weak and infirm; if not culled, they will spread illness and attract predators to the herd. Each goat must function at its optimum every day of its life in order to survive, thrive, and not be a risk to the rest of the herd.
How does a producer decide who and when to cull? The following list is in no particular order and may leave something out that is important to your unique situation. Conditions and needs vary from location to location. Some of these categories overlap.
1) Age and Sex. Pasture/forage-raised meat goats tend to *peak* at six to seven years of age. An udder on breeding does begin to show wear and tear from briars/bushes and from nursing multiple kids. Males usually have shorter life spans than females. A six-year-old male goat is middle aged; his teeth are beginning to wear down and he finds it more difficult to feed himself on forage. The rougher the conditions, the younger they should be culled.
2) Hooves and Legs. Goats must be able to travel over much territory daily as they forage/browse and keep up with the herd. Staying with the herd means protection from predators. Bad hooves make this impossible. "Bad" hooves include overgrown feet and claws that are too soft. Goats with weak pasterns (the part of the leg above the hoof's fetlocks) will not be able to survive on forage. Weak pasterns may be attributable to White Muscle Disease and can sometimes be remedied by giving injections of selenium and vitamin E (BoSe).
3) Udders and teats. Pendulous udders and bulbous teats are difficult for newborns to grasp and nurse. Multiple pregnancies resulting in litters of kids are very hard on pliable udder and teat tissues. Udders that are sagging and/or have poor attachment to the body are prone to injury as the goat walks over varying kinds of terrain daily. Mastitis (infected udder) is usually incurable and recurs with subsequent kiddings (chronic), making it a cull factor. A doe with a damaged or torn udder should be culled.
4) Teeth and Mouth. Goats have all four sets of permanent teeth usually by four years of age. After that, teeth begin to buck outward, spread, and wear down from years of grasping and tearing plant materials. A goat with worn-down teeth can't feed itself and will starve to death. An overbite or under bite prevents the goat from properly grasping and efficiently grinding its food because its teeth are out of alignment.
5) Body Conformation. Pelvic structure is important for does to kid easily. Hips that are too narrow make for difficult delivery of kids. A large body barrel is important for carrying multiple fetuses. In both females and males, a sizeable rumen is a sign of a good digestive factory. (A goat with a big rumen is not a fat goat.) A doe that has problems kidding over and over again should be culled.
6) Non-Breeders. Both males and females who do not breed on a recurring basis should be culled. This obviously includes hermaphrodites (goats with both male and female genitalia).
7) Poor Mothering Instincts. Does that are not interested in nursing their kids don't belong in a meat-goat herd. Sometimes bottle babies who grow up to become mothers exhibit this behavior, never having been dam-raised themselves. This is just one more reason to never have bottle babies.
8) Low or No Milk Output. Occasionally a doe kids and has no milk. Sometimes the problem is nutritional. Some diseases (Caseous Lymphadenitis, Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis, mastitis, abortion diseases) reduce milk production. If the producer determines that the doe is genetically a poor milker, cull her.
9) Recurring Kidding Problems. A doe that consistently needs assistance in kidding should not be kept in the herd. The producer will lose production when does on pasture produce weak or dead kids or they die in childbirth.
10) Abortion Diseases. Each producer must decide how to handle abortion diseases in the herd. Since goats are the poor step-children of the livestock industry, many illnesses/diseases have not been well researched and medications have not be developed specifically for goats. Producers must either use off-label products or nothing at all. Many abortion diseases fall into this category. Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL is the drug of choice in most cases. The producer may consider the costs, both in time and money, to be prohibitive and instead choose to cull the does affected. Because the various abortion diseases which affect goats are transmitted in so many different ways over which the producer has little to no control, this writer does not believe that severe culling will resolve this problem long-term. Such constant turnover presents its own risks -- the producer will cull some does that possess desirable characteristics and will further risk the introduction of new diseases via new goats into the herd . Aggressively addressing the issue with medicines and improved hygiene should result in a herd of does with improved resistance to the organisms. Example: Preventatively injecting pregnant does with Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL every 40 days from breeding until birthing and efficiently and properly disposing of infected placental materials are essential steps towards reducing abortions..
11) Internal Parasites. Maintain records so that parasite-tolerant goats can be retained and wormy and coccidiosis-prone goats can be identified for culling. (There is no such thing as a parasite-resistant breed of goats.) Parasite-tolerance means that the goat can tolerate a certain level of internal parasites and still function effectively. Assuming that the goats are not overcrowded and pastures are rotated every three weeks (the life cycle of a stomach worm), parasite-tolerance is a trait that can be passed from generation to generation (heritable trait). Depending upon dewormers and coccidiosis medications to control internal parasites will not result in a parasite-tolerant herd. Instead, the producer will have a herd of goats whose internal parasites have developed immunity all classes of dewormers.
12) Unthrifty. Goats that do not maintain body weight/conformation and are always too thin should be checked for internal parasites. (A goat with visible ribs is too thin. A thin layer of subcutaneous fat should cover the ribs.) Sometimes these goats are heavily infested with worms or coccidia oocysts or might have Johnes Disease. If unthrifty goats cannot be turned around quickly, cull them.
13) Slow Growers. Some producers cull because they consider the growth/weight gain rates to be sub-par. A variety of factors unrelated to the breed or cross-breed can affect growth rates: worms, coccidiosis, inadequate nutrition (overcrowding leading to lack of forage/browse), and un-identified chronic illness to name a few. Inexperienced producers may incorrectly conclude that the goats need to eat more grain concentrates for faster weight gain. Not true. A goat can only process so much feed into muscle and bone; the rest goes to deposit fat and exit the body via waste materials..
Some breeds are historically known as slower growers than others. This writer does not view this condition as a drawback. There are many different markets for varying live weights of slaughter goats and the demand so much exceeds the supply that the meat-goat producer should be able to sell his production without difficulty. The keys to profit are to know your market, breed for your market, and keep input in the form of feed, labor, and medication to the minimum.
14) Disease Tolerant. There are some goats that are simply not healthy animals. For a variety of reasons, their immune systems can't handle the stresses that goats encounter daily. For some reason -- sometimes never discovered -- they are illness prone. Give such a goat a chance to get well and adapt; if it can't, cull it. It is a threat to the rest of the herd.
15) Culling for Incurable Diseases: Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis (CAE), Johnes Disease.
CL is manageable in meat-goat herds. See this author's article on Managing CL with Formalin on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. Colorado Serum will soon have a CL vaccine for goats. Remember that goats must be negative for CL for it to work. If a goat has multiple CL abscesses, it should be culled; that goat probably got a very large dose of the bacteria and will be a recurring problem.
CAE usually isn't a problem in meat-goat herds, because animals destined for slaughter generally don't live long enough to display full-blown symptoms.
Johnes Disease -- a chronic wasting disease -- is hard to diagnose and is thankfully apparently not wide spread in meat-goat herds. When all else is ruled out, test for Johnes. If contagious Johnes (yoh-knees) is in the herd, the producer has a serious herd-wide problem and needs to cull heavily and immediately.
16) Number of Offspring Born. Some producers cull for single births. Many first-time mothers have singles -- particularly when they are young. It is God's way of protecting their young bodies from too much demand on them. Give the doe a second chance.
This writer finds triplets and quadruplets to be less desirable than singles and twins. Most does struggle to feed three or four kids. Bottle babies are cost- and time-inefficient for meat-goat producers. Twins are the ideal. Studies have revealed that twins bring the most money to the bottom line.
17) Non-pigmented Hairless Skin. If the producer lives in climatic conditions where the sun's rays are very strong, pink skin is prone to melanoma (skin cancer) -- particularly on tail webs. Unless caught very early, skin cancer is impossible to remove. Sometimes it is not cost effective to remove regardless of when discovered.
18) Guard Hair. In very cold climates, guard hair is essential to keep the body warm.
19) Overly Aggressive/Difficult "Keepers." Bucks and does that are overly aggressive are dangerous animals. All goats need a certain level of aggressiveness in order to survive. Outright mean goats will injure or kill other goats in the herd and should be culled. Goats that repeatedly jump fences and gates make the producer's job more difficult and can destroy carefully-established breeding programs.
There are pros and cons to almost all issues involving culling. Each producer must evaluate his own needs and make decisions that fit his goals. ***
Important! Please Read This Notice!
All information provided in these articles is based either on personal experience or information provided by others whose treatments and practices have been discussed fully with a vet for accuracy and effectiveness before passing them on to readers.
In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Neither tennesseemeatgoats.com nor any of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.
The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. Acknowledgement must also be made that the articles were first published in GOAT RANCHER Magazine, for which Suzanne Gasparotto writes exclusively. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)
KHIMAIRA FARM
2974 Stonyman Road
Luray VA 22835 USA
540-743-4628 (Voice) 540-743-7932 (Fax)
web@khimairafarm.com (e-mail)
Presented to: Florida Goat Conference June 14, 1997 Linda S. Campbell
CULLING DAIRY GOATS
Culling within your herd is an ongoing process; it never ends. It should start the day you bring home your first goat. Before it can even begin, however, you have to decide upon the goals for your herd. If you have a commercial dairy, good production will be a major requirement. If you are selling fluid milk, then volume will be more important than fat percentages. If the majority of milk is used for cheese production, then fat and protein content will play important roles. Long and even lactations will also yield a higher return for your dairy. Excellent tools for those breeding dairy animals are available through the American Dairy Goat Association. These include the linear appraisal system, official testing (DHIR), sanctioned shows and blood typing (which may soon be replaced with DNA typing as technology changes).
• Is your herd on pasture and traveling many miles to forage? If this is the case, you’ll want a strong emphasis on feet and legs.
• If you only want a family milk supply, you’ll probably be much less demanding that conformation be quite the level required by someone with a breeding operation. Good temperament, however, will probably be an important criterion, especially if young children are spending time with the animals.
• If you are dam raising kids, then a strong mothering instinct will be essential in your selection process.
• Do you want to have a small hobby herd selling foundation stock to other breeders? If this is the case, you’ll probably be inclined to spend more effort on selecting for good type as well as production. If it’s important that you stand at the front of the class in the show ring then a strong mammary will be a definite goal.
What is a cull in one herd might be perfectly acceptable in another. The longer we breed our dairy goats, the more demanding of perfection we can become. At the same time, our goals are likely to change to reflect our level of knowledge or the use of the animal. This experience factor will greatly influence the end result of our culling efforts. Talk with fellow breeders in your area and at shows and seek their opinions.
RECORD KEEPING
In order to determine patterns of problems within the herd, it can be very helpful to keep complete records of animals that have been removed from the herd. An easy summary and overall view of reasons for culling can be seen if a simple chart method of record keeping is used. The pieces of information can be varied according to personal choice, but some items could include:
• Date
• Name
• Tag or ID Number
• Registration Number
• Age when culled
Next we start identifying the reasons for removing the animal:
• Reproductive problems: This can range from infertile animals through difficulty in kidding.
• Production: By using more specific information, this could include low production, low butterfat, high somatic cell count, short lactation.
• Mastitis: If you have cultured the milk to try to determine the causative agent, this could be a very useful item to see if there is some pattern.
• Other Diseases: Specify the problem. Often when an animal goes down in condition from one major problem, stress situations can make the animal susceptible to illnesses such as pneumonia. Try to record primary and secondary causes. When deciding whether or not to cull for particular diseases, consider whether or not the animal will be able to fully recover. For example, sore mouth is a nuisance disease, but once the animal recovers, it basically as no residual or ongoing problems. Caseous lymphadentis, however, is a disease that will cause lingering problems, infect others in the herd, and there’s no permanent cure. You have to decide what you will tolerate.
• Temperament: If the goat is too aggressive or just plain stubborn with an attitude problem, she may be just fine in a very small herd, but a real nuisance in a large herd.
• Structural problems: Using the linear appraisal method of looking at body components can be helpful in identifying specific problems. Maybe the front end assembly is consistently a problem, or perhaps weak pasterns, or postiness. Again, animals that must spend hours foraging will need good feet and legs to live a long and productive life. The animal that barely leaves her pen will not have as much dependence on that area of strength.
• Injury: Sometimes involuntary culling must occur due to accidents. This could range from dog attacks to falling gates or poor fences. If you are seeing consistent specific injuries, you should make management changes to reduce those injuries.
• Finally: take note of where your culls are going. Animals that are culled for poor health or disease should not be passed on to uninformed buyers, but rather sold for meat. When a goat goes through local stock sales, we have little control over how the animal will be used. It seems that the largest majority of goats sold through such operations are health culls. Goats that can’t be a part of a strong show string can still find a good niche as a family milker, and most of those sales can be successfully done in a one on one arrangement.
SUMMARY
So, if you can take some time to identify your goals for your dairy goat operation, you will have taken a major step in progressing towards those goals. Decide what is important to you in your own personal situation. Keep those complete records on the culls you make, and you’ll find that you may be able to identify consistency of problems that you may have missed by relying upon memory or by only noting minimal information.
Remember that culling is necessary and ongoing, and by keeping your goals in mind, you’ll soon find that you’ve make progress in producing the dairy goat that suits your specific purposes and helps you achieve your goals.
Key word: CULL - (Think: Cut Your Losses! )
Culling
Jodie A. Pennington Professor - Dairy
Jeremy Powell Assistant Professor Veterinarian
Culling is essential to the overall productivity of the herd. Goats will be injured, some will not become pregnant during the breeding season and some will produce less milk than you are willing to accept. Some animals become unthrifty and “waste away.” Animals with these symptoms may not have a single disease but a syndrome. Generally, if a goat is well fed and has good teeth and a low parasite load, it should thrive in a sound environment. If it begins “wasting away” and does not respond to antibiotics, it should be culled.
The major causes of this syndrome, in addition to poor nutrition, parasitism and dental problems, are paratuberculosis or Johnes disease caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (contrary to cattle, goats show little or no diarrhea and thickening of the intestinal walls); internal abscesses associated with caseous lymphadenitis due to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (ovis) or Corynebacterium pyogenes; locomotor problems (particularly arthritis due to retrovirus infection [CAE virus or caprine arthritis encephalitis]); and any chronic hidden infections (e.g., metritis, peritonitis or respiratory problems). Tumors occur rarely. These diseases are usually not treatable, and many are contagious. Also, the chronic nature of their symptoms make the diseases difficult to diagnose. Culling is the best option for the infected goat in most cases.
Suzanne W. Gasparotto
HC 70 Box 70
Lohn, TX 76852
Phone 325/344-5775
Originators of Tennessee Meat Goats
"Healthy," "hardy," and "adaptable" are adjectives that must be descriptive of goats in a meat-goat herd. Unlike humans, there are no EMS services, doctors, or hospitals "on call" for the weak and infirm; if not culled, they will spread illness and attract predators to the herd. Each goat must function at its optimum every day of its life in order to survive, thrive, and not be a risk to the rest of the herd.
How does a producer decide who and when to cull? The following list is in no particular order and may leave something out that is important to your unique situation. Conditions and needs vary from location to location. Some of these categories overlap.
1) Age and Sex. Pasture/forage-raised meat goats tend to *peak* at six to seven years of age. An udder on breeding does begin to show wear and tear from briars/bushes and from nursing multiple kids. Males usually have shorter life spans than females. A six-year-old male goat is middle aged; his teeth are beginning to wear down and he finds it more difficult to feed himself on forage. The rougher the conditions, the younger they should be culled.
2) Hooves and Legs. Goats must be able to travel over much territory daily as they forage/browse and keep up with the herd. Staying with the herd means protection from predators. Bad hooves make this impossible. "Bad" hooves include overgrown feet and claws that are too soft. Goats with weak pasterns (the part of the leg above the hoof's fetlocks) will not be able to survive on forage. Weak pasterns may be attributable to White Muscle Disease and can sometimes be remedied by giving injections of selenium and vitamin E (BoSe).
3) Udders and teats. Pendulous udders and bulbous teats are difficult for newborns to grasp and nurse. Multiple pregnancies resulting in litters of kids are very hard on pliable udder and teat tissues. Udders that are sagging and/or have poor attachment to the body are prone to injury as the goat walks over varying kinds of terrain daily. Mastitis (infected udder) is usually incurable and recurs with subsequent kiddings (chronic), making it a cull factor. A doe with a damaged or torn udder should be culled.
4) Teeth and Mouth. Goats have all four sets of permanent teeth usually by four years of age. After that, teeth begin to buck outward, spread, and wear down from years of grasping and tearing plant materials. A goat with worn-down teeth can't feed itself and will starve to death. An overbite or under bite prevents the goat from properly grasping and efficiently grinding its food because its teeth are out of alignment.
5) Body Conformation. Pelvic structure is important for does to kid easily. Hips that are too narrow make for difficult delivery of kids. A large body barrel is important for carrying multiple fetuses. In both females and males, a sizeable rumen is a sign of a good digestive factory. (A goat with a big rumen is not a fat goat.) A doe that has problems kidding over and over again should be culled.
6) Non-Breeders. Both males and females who do not breed on a recurring basis should be culled. This obviously includes hermaphrodites (goats with both male and female genitalia).
7) Poor Mothering Instincts. Does that are not interested in nursing their kids don't belong in a meat-goat herd. Sometimes bottle babies who grow up to become mothers exhibit this behavior, never having been dam-raised themselves. This is just one more reason to never have bottle babies.
8) Low or No Milk Output. Occasionally a doe kids and has no milk. Sometimes the problem is nutritional. Some diseases (Caseous Lymphadenitis, Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis, mastitis, abortion diseases) reduce milk production. If the producer determines that the doe is genetically a poor milker, cull her.
9) Recurring Kidding Problems. A doe that consistently needs assistance in kidding should not be kept in the herd. The producer will lose production when does on pasture produce weak or dead kids or they die in childbirth.
10) Abortion Diseases. Each producer must decide how to handle abortion diseases in the herd. Since goats are the poor step-children of the livestock industry, many illnesses/diseases have not been well researched and medications have not be developed specifically for goats. Producers must either use off-label products or nothing at all. Many abortion diseases fall into this category. Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL is the drug of choice in most cases. The producer may consider the costs, both in time and money, to be prohibitive and instead choose to cull the does affected. Because the various abortion diseases which affect goats are transmitted in so many different ways over which the producer has little to no control, this writer does not believe that severe culling will resolve this problem long-term. Such constant turnover presents its own risks -- the producer will cull some does that possess desirable characteristics and will further risk the introduction of new diseases via new goats into the herd . Aggressively addressing the issue with medicines and improved hygiene should result in a herd of does with improved resistance to the organisms. Example: Preventatively injecting pregnant does with Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL every 40 days from breeding until birthing and efficiently and properly disposing of infected placental materials are essential steps towards reducing abortions..
11) Internal Parasites. Maintain records so that parasite-tolerant goats can be retained and wormy and coccidiosis-prone goats can be identified for culling. (There is no such thing as a parasite-resistant breed of goats.) Parasite-tolerance means that the goat can tolerate a certain level of internal parasites and still function effectively. Assuming that the goats are not overcrowded and pastures are rotated every three weeks (the life cycle of a stomach worm), parasite-tolerance is a trait that can be passed from generation to generation (heritable trait). Depending upon dewormers and coccidiosis medications to control internal parasites will not result in a parasite-tolerant herd. Instead, the producer will have a herd of goats whose internal parasites have developed immunity all classes of dewormers.
12) Unthrifty. Goats that do not maintain body weight/conformation and are always too thin should be checked for internal parasites. (A goat with visible ribs is too thin. A thin layer of subcutaneous fat should cover the ribs.) Sometimes these goats are heavily infested with worms or coccidia oocysts or might have Johnes Disease. If unthrifty goats cannot be turned around quickly, cull them.
13) Slow Growers. Some producers cull because they consider the growth/weight gain rates to be sub-par. A variety of factors unrelated to the breed or cross-breed can affect growth rates: worms, coccidiosis, inadequate nutrition (overcrowding leading to lack of forage/browse), and un-identified chronic illness to name a few. Inexperienced producers may incorrectly conclude that the goats need to eat more grain concentrates for faster weight gain. Not true. A goat can only process so much feed into muscle and bone; the rest goes to deposit fat and exit the body via waste materials..
Some breeds are historically known as slower growers than others. This writer does not view this condition as a drawback. There are many different markets for varying live weights of slaughter goats and the demand so much exceeds the supply that the meat-goat producer should be able to sell his production without difficulty. The keys to profit are to know your market, breed for your market, and keep input in the form of feed, labor, and medication to the minimum.
14) Disease Tolerant. There are some goats that are simply not healthy animals. For a variety of reasons, their immune systems can't handle the stresses that goats encounter daily. For some reason -- sometimes never discovered -- they are illness prone. Give such a goat a chance to get well and adapt; if it can't, cull it. It is a threat to the rest of the herd.
15) Culling for Incurable Diseases: Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis (CAE), Johnes Disease.
CL is manageable in meat-goat herds. See this author's article on Managing CL with Formalin on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. Colorado Serum will soon have a CL vaccine for goats. Remember that goats must be negative for CL for it to work. If a goat has multiple CL abscesses, it should be culled; that goat probably got a very large dose of the bacteria and will be a recurring problem.
CAE usually isn't a problem in meat-goat herds, because animals destined for slaughter generally don't live long enough to display full-blown symptoms.
Johnes Disease -- a chronic wasting disease -- is hard to diagnose and is thankfully apparently not wide spread in meat-goat herds. When all else is ruled out, test for Johnes. If contagious Johnes (yoh-knees) is in the herd, the producer has a serious herd-wide problem and needs to cull heavily and immediately.
16) Number of Offspring Born. Some producers cull for single births. Many first-time mothers have singles -- particularly when they are young. It is God's way of protecting their young bodies from too much demand on them. Give the doe a second chance.
This writer finds triplets and quadruplets to be less desirable than singles and twins. Most does struggle to feed three or four kids. Bottle babies are cost- and time-inefficient for meat-goat producers. Twins are the ideal. Studies have revealed that twins bring the most money to the bottom line.
17) Non-pigmented Hairless Skin. If the producer lives in climatic conditions where the sun's rays are very strong, pink skin is prone to melanoma (skin cancer) -- particularly on tail webs. Unless caught very early, skin cancer is impossible to remove. Sometimes it is not cost effective to remove regardless of when discovered.
18) Guard Hair. In very cold climates, guard hair is essential to keep the body warm.
19) Overly Aggressive/Difficult "Keepers." Bucks and does that are overly aggressive are dangerous animals. All goats need a certain level of aggressiveness in order to survive. Outright mean goats will injure or kill other goats in the herd and should be culled. Goats that repeatedly jump fences and gates make the producer's job more difficult and can destroy carefully-established breeding programs.
There are pros and cons to almost all issues involving culling. Each producer must evaluate his own needs and make decisions that fit his goals. ***
Important! Please Read This Notice!
All information provided in these articles is based either on personal experience or information provided by others whose treatments and practices have been discussed fully with a vet for accuracy and effectiveness before passing them on to readers.
In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Neither tennesseemeatgoats.com nor any of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.
The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. Acknowledgement must also be made that the articles were first published in GOAT RANCHER Magazine, for which Suzanne Gasparotto writes exclusively. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)
KHIMAIRA FARM
2974 Stonyman Road
Luray VA 22835 USA
540-743-4628 (Voice) 540-743-7932 (Fax)
web@khimairafarm.com (e-mail)
Presented to: Florida Goat Conference June 14, 1997 Linda S. Campbell
CULLING DAIRY GOATS
Culling within your herd is an ongoing process; it never ends. It should start the day you bring home your first goat. Before it can even begin, however, you have to decide upon the goals for your herd. If you have a commercial dairy, good production will be a major requirement. If you are selling fluid milk, then volume will be more important than fat percentages. If the majority of milk is used for cheese production, then fat and protein content will play important roles. Long and even lactations will also yield a higher return for your dairy. Excellent tools for those breeding dairy animals are available through the American Dairy Goat Association. These include the linear appraisal system, official testing (DHIR), sanctioned shows and blood typing (which may soon be replaced with DNA typing as technology changes).
• Is your herd on pasture and traveling many miles to forage? If this is the case, you’ll want a strong emphasis on feet and legs.
• If you only want a family milk supply, you’ll probably be much less demanding that conformation be quite the level required by someone with a breeding operation. Good temperament, however, will probably be an important criterion, especially if young children are spending time with the animals.
• If you are dam raising kids, then a strong mothering instinct will be essential in your selection process.
• Do you want to have a small hobby herd selling foundation stock to other breeders? If this is the case, you’ll probably be inclined to spend more effort on selecting for good type as well as production. If it’s important that you stand at the front of the class in the show ring then a strong mammary will be a definite goal.
What is a cull in one herd might be perfectly acceptable in another. The longer we breed our dairy goats, the more demanding of perfection we can become. At the same time, our goals are likely to change to reflect our level of knowledge or the use of the animal. This experience factor will greatly influence the end result of our culling efforts. Talk with fellow breeders in your area and at shows and seek their opinions.
RECORD KEEPING
In order to determine patterns of problems within the herd, it can be very helpful to keep complete records of animals that have been removed from the herd. An easy summary and overall view of reasons for culling can be seen if a simple chart method of record keeping is used. The pieces of information can be varied according to personal choice, but some items could include:
• Date
• Name
• Tag or ID Number
• Registration Number
• Age when culled
Next we start identifying the reasons for removing the animal:
• Reproductive problems: This can range from infertile animals through difficulty in kidding.
• Production: By using more specific information, this could include low production, low butterfat, high somatic cell count, short lactation.
• Mastitis: If you have cultured the milk to try to determine the causative agent, this could be a very useful item to see if there is some pattern.
• Other Diseases: Specify the problem. Often when an animal goes down in condition from one major problem, stress situations can make the animal susceptible to illnesses such as pneumonia. Try to record primary and secondary causes. When deciding whether or not to cull for particular diseases, consider whether or not the animal will be able to fully recover. For example, sore mouth is a nuisance disease, but once the animal recovers, it basically as no residual or ongoing problems. Caseous lymphadentis, however, is a disease that will cause lingering problems, infect others in the herd, and there’s no permanent cure. You have to decide what you will tolerate.
• Temperament: If the goat is too aggressive or just plain stubborn with an attitude problem, she may be just fine in a very small herd, but a real nuisance in a large herd.
• Structural problems: Using the linear appraisal method of looking at body components can be helpful in identifying specific problems. Maybe the front end assembly is consistently a problem, or perhaps weak pasterns, or postiness. Again, animals that must spend hours foraging will need good feet and legs to live a long and productive life. The animal that barely leaves her pen will not have as much dependence on that area of strength.
• Injury: Sometimes involuntary culling must occur due to accidents. This could range from dog attacks to falling gates or poor fences. If you are seeing consistent specific injuries, you should make management changes to reduce those injuries.
• Finally: take note of where your culls are going. Animals that are culled for poor health or disease should not be passed on to uninformed buyers, but rather sold for meat. When a goat goes through local stock sales, we have little control over how the animal will be used. It seems that the largest majority of goats sold through such operations are health culls. Goats that can’t be a part of a strong show string can still find a good niche as a family milker, and most of those sales can be successfully done in a one on one arrangement.
SUMMARY
So, if you can take some time to identify your goals for your dairy goat operation, you will have taken a major step in progressing towards those goals. Decide what is important to you in your own personal situation. Keep those complete records on the culls you make, and you’ll find that you may be able to identify consistency of problems that you may have missed by relying upon memory or by only noting minimal information.
Remember that culling is necessary and ongoing, and by keeping your goals in mind, you’ll soon find that you’ve make progress in producing the dairy goat that suits your specific purposes and helps you achieve your goals.
Key word: CULL - (Think: Cut Your Losses! )
Culling
Jodie A. Pennington Professor - Dairy
Jeremy Powell Assistant Professor Veterinarian
Culling is essential to the overall productivity of the herd. Goats will be injured, some will not become pregnant during the breeding season and some will produce less milk than you are willing to accept. Some animals become unthrifty and “waste away.” Animals with these symptoms may not have a single disease but a syndrome. Generally, if a goat is well fed and has good teeth and a low parasite load, it should thrive in a sound environment. If it begins “wasting away” and does not respond to antibiotics, it should be culled.
The major causes of this syndrome, in addition to poor nutrition, parasitism and dental problems, are paratuberculosis or Johnes disease caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (contrary to cattle, goats show little or no diarrhea and thickening of the intestinal walls); internal abscesses associated with caseous lymphadenitis due to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (ovis) or Corynebacterium pyogenes; locomotor problems (particularly arthritis due to retrovirus infection [CAE virus or caprine arthritis encephalitis]); and any chronic hidden infections (e.g., metritis, peritonitis or respiratory problems). Tumors occur rarely. These diseases are usually not treatable, and many are contagious. Also, the chronic nature of their symptoms make the diseases difficult to diagnose. Culling is the best option for the infected goat in most cases.
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