Goat Herd Health

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Goat Herd Health

• Oklahoma Meat Goat Conference
• Gene Parker Jr. DVM
• Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service Food
  Animal Quality and Health Specialist

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Goat herd health procedures

• Deworming
• Nutrition
• Vaccinations
• Disbudding
• Descenting
• Dewattling
• Castration

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Tetnus and Overeating disease

• Clostridium tetanii
• Clostridium perfringens type C D
• Organism is found frequently in soil
• Causes sudden death in young kids on feed
• Combination called CDT or 3-way
• Most important vaccine in goats
• Kids vaccinated at 4 and 8 weeks of age
• Bucks and does vaccinated once a year about 4
  weeks before kidding

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• ESSENTIAL 3TClostridium Perfringens Types
  CDTetanus ToxoidDetoxified Toxin  Cat. 11302
  20ml 10 DoseCat. 11304 100ml 50 DoseCat.
  11305 250ml 125 Dose

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Vibrio \ Lepto

• Abortion diseases caused by Leptospirosis and
  Campylobacter
• Fetus will be partially degraded or rotted
• More important in wetter climates
• Vaccination is the only prevention since it does
  not respond to medical treatment and immunity
  after infection is poor
• Abortions may reach up to 75 of herd

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Enzootic Abortion

• Caused by Clamydia organism
• Organism introduced by new goats
• Less of a problem in goats than in sheep
• Responds to medical treatment
• Produces immunity after the disease
• Aborted fetus is well preserved not rotted
• Optional unless you have a problem

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Sore mouth (orf)

• Caused by Parapox Virus
• Vaccine is a live unattenuated virus and can
  infect people which handle it
• Humans are exposed by infected goats
• Only use if you have a herd problem
• Vaccinate Kids at 2-3 days old
• Scabs in pens are infective for years
• Introduced by newly purchased animals

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• Print Page
• OVINE ECTHYMA(Sore Mouth)Live Virus
•   
• Cat. 19305 100 Doses
• FOR VETERINARY USE ONLY

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Caseous Lymphandenitis (CL)

• Caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
• Causes abcesses in the lymph nodes around the
  head, neck, and internally
• No vaccine labeled for goats
• Sheep vaccine causes severe reactions in goats
  with soreness, fever, and knots
• Vaccine only aids in the control

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Contagious Foot Rot

• Caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum
• Can infect up to 100 of the herd
• Introduced by new additions to herd
• Destroys tissue at the skin-hoof junction
• Dying tissue has a unpleasant odor
• No permanent immunity after recovery
• Vaccination at 3-6 month intervals where
  continuing foot rot is a problem

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Bluetongue

• Caused by Orbivirus
• Spred by bites from black knats
• Very seasonal only during summer and fall
• Goats and cattle infections are self limiting
• Severe problem in sheep and deer
• Vaccine only available for sheep and only one of
  the 5 strains are in the vaccine
• Not much of a problem in goats

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• Print Page
• BLUETONGUE VACCINEType 10Modified Live Virus
•  
• Cat. 19204    100ml    50 Dose

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White Muscle Disease

• Vitamin E \ Selenium deficency
• Many soils and forages are deficient
• Weak kids that fail to rise and nurse
• Muscles are pale on necropsy
• Commonly seen in bottle fed kids
• Treat does 4 weeks before kidding
• Treat kids at birth if you have problems

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Disbudding Kid Goats

• No need to disbud meat goats
• Disbudding should be done at 2-4 weeks
• Use a hot debudding iron with short times
• A dehorning box is helpful
• Kids resist the block of local anasthesia as much
  as the debudding iron
• Always give tetnus antitoxin 100 I.U. IM
• Caustic paste is unreliable and messy

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Descenting Goats

• Only needed on Pet goats
• Not needed on market or meat goats
• May be done at disbudding
• Always give tetnus antitoxin 100 I.U. IM
• Area of scent gland is behind and inside the horns

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Dewattling Goats

• Only needed on show goats
• Clipped off at birth with scissors
• Apply blood clotting powder if needed
• Procedure not needed on meat goats

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Castrating Goats

• Pet goats should be castrated at debudding when
  they are 2-4 weeks old by the banding method
• Meat goats may not need to be castrated at all by
  market age
• Testicles rapid growth bigger goats more
  pounds to sell more money
• Match castration method to size of goat
• Give tetnus antitoxin 100 I.U. IM

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Predator Control in Goats

• Oklahoma Meat Goat Conference
• Gene Parker Jr. DVM
• OSU Extension Food Animal Quality and Health
  Specialist

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USDA Predation Statistics

• The United States Department of Agriculture's
  National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS)
  keeps track of what America's goats die from and
  periodically publishes findings in a report
  titled Goats Death Loss. According to the
  edition issued on May 6, 2005, predators killed
  155 thousand goats during 2004, accounting for
  slightly more than 37 percent of goat deaths that
  year.

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Lethal Predator Control

• Live traps
• Leg hold traps
• Snares
• M -44s (cyanide bombs)
• Predator calling (shooting)
• Arial Gunning (helicopter)

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Non-Lethal Predator Control

• Night penning or shedding year round
• Specialized fencing
• Predator wire, Electric wire, Net wire
• Noise making devices
• Guard Animals (dogs, donkeys, llamas)

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Guard Animals for Predators

• The concept of livestock guardian animals goes
  back a long, long way about six thousand years
  ago, to the mountain regions of Turkey, Iraq, and
  Syria, where guardian dogs were first trained to
  protect sheep and goats. Today's farmers and
  ranchers still use guardian dogs to protect their
  livestock, but they've also added guardian
  donkeys and llamas to the mix.

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Guard Donkeys
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Guard Donkey Advantages

• They eat what goats eat (no special diet)
• They hate canines but love people
• They will stay in fences made for goats
• No training required or needed
• Very heat and humidity resistant
• Only a single animal needed in herd
• Most suited for larger range conditions

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Guard Donkey Disadvantages

• Gelded jacks work best
• Dont bond with the goats
• Cant leave alone in the pasture
• Rumensin is toxic to equines
• Life span is 20-30 years

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Guard Llamas
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Guard Llama Advantages

• They eat what the goats eat
• They dislike dogs and coyotes
• They will stay in fences made for goats
• Dont roam like some dogs
• Rumensin is not toxic to llamas
• Only a single animal needed in a pasture
• No training needed

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Guard Llama Disadvantages

• Castrated males work best
• May not be friendly to people and may be hard to
  catch and handle
• Must Shear in summer or will have heat stress and
  often die
• Many dont bond with goats
• Dont like people as much

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Guardian Dogs
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Guardian Dog Advantages

• Like people (easy to handle and care for)
• Dogs bond with the goats
• People are more familiar with dogs
• They will clean up kids and remove afterbirth
  that attract predators
• They will alert owner of danger other than that
  of predators
• They will move goats away from danger

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Guardian Dog Disadvantages

• Have to feed separate from goats
• Dogs require different health program
• May roam if only a single animal
• Bark a lot (may disturb neighbors)
• May require special fencing to keep in

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Three Keys Good Predator Control

• Good Fences
• Guard animals
• Be a good shot