Goat Diseases

Goat Diseases

By Daniel Truelove

When talking about many different goat diseases I have found that many people are
not aware of many of the phisiological data that must accompany proper diagnosis.

With that being said here are some facts that we will cover in this section of Goat diseases.   The myths about human contracting goat diseases.  Examining for Goat Diseases,  Examination Checklist, and complete compiled list of all goat diseases.  Covering most common goat diseases and also, a list of rare goat diseases.  I am putting together a complete list of the goat diseases that will be published on the goat guy site in a downloadable,  file format: PDF.

Normal Goat Physiological Info.

Temperature:  104 degrees F

Heart rate:  70-80 per minute ( kids are faster)

Respiration:  12-15 per minute

These are the very basics one must know to maintain a healthy livestock.  Goat diseases are properly managed by crop rotation, eliminate overcrowding, and proper medication.

Examining For Goat Disease Symptoms;

You should observe all your animals at least daily to have some visual comparison to determine if there are any health problems.  You are looking for symptoms, of lagging behind the herd, poor appetite, limping, diarrhea any unusual behavior.  You are also looking for grinding of teeth and grunting.  If you feel you need more proffessional exam contact you veterinarian.  He or she needs to know what your noticable behavioral differences are between and the questioned and the regular herd.

Examining Checklist;

1. We consider the age of the animal being examined.
2. Can it stand on its on.
3. Does it have its vision or is it bumping into objects.
4. Does she seem to be in pain.
5. Does the goat seem bloated and grunting, or swollen area’s
6. Count the respiration’s per minute( here you are looking for swells in belly and the exhales
7. Does she seem to have diarrhea it usually is obvious
8. Does have swollen udder

That is about all you can observe visually from a short distance.  You will next need to examine more therally. You must make contact with your animal.  Heed of caution here she doesn’t need to exert or run this will effect temperature, respiration and pulse reading.  That we will need to make an evaluation.

1. Take the goats temperature.  Thermometer in anal cavity.
2. Count the heartbeat (below the lower rib) beats per minute
3. Check the eyes for vision impairment, objects, running, or if she does blink with hand movement, slowly toward eye.
4. Probe around with palm and feel for rumen movement.  Note: If she shows pain or feels slushy or full of water in this area.
5. Listen to the chest area for rattles, wheezing.  Stethoscopes are readily available. Put your head against the chest areas and listen.
6. Check the mucous glands for color pink or almost white.
7. Doe Lactating: check the udder for swollen, lumps, or hardness in udder. Check milk for blood and texture of milk. Feel for heat on the udder.

This is a pretty thorough examination and with the info gathered you can make educated evaluation.  The veterinarian will need to know these things to help you the most without taking the goat in.

Levamisole Hydrochloride “swine label”

Here last week or so, I drove to Abilene TX to purchase Levamisole content product for my herd.   John Beckmeyer said he really thought it had dropped there problems in parasite control down to bare minimum.  I bought several bottles and when I got home, to my suprise there was no brakedown from mg to ml per body weight.  So I contacted the Vet. with this email:  CRranch@moment.net

Coni,  I was talking to John Bekemeyer, from CCity,  He said you were the go to gal for a question like mine.
Project; Primary control Heamanous Contorus, and various other parasites
 We are using the FAMACHA charts.  Purchased Levamisole Hydrochoride for swine. 

Durvet product.-Swine Label- Mixes 0.712 oz. powder to 500 ml water, which is for 50 head per /100 lbs.  Now this stuff wants to then mix 2tsp to 1 gal for swine, without delution that is 10ml per head from 500ml bottle.  Of coarse no label for goats. Ivemectin cased out here at 12-15% or so cure ratio. 

My question, should I delute a second time for use as drench for goats or  administer 2-5ml doses or delute partial and increase dose per head.  Honestly 10 ml, that is a lot of product for drench.
I tipped my finger in it and it tastes as bad as others but that is a touch not even a cc  I have 1360 head to do yet.  We are  40-60% pregnant on meat goat side .  Needless to say I have an abundance on hand. 26/$19.00 bottles. We did 10 this morning 2 ways they didn’t like it at all. Seemed strong to me. Will share ill-effect results with you tomorrow or soon.
 Looking for your reply,
 Daniel Truelove
RE: Daniel
I would have to see the label.
Have you called Walco or one of the other supply companies? They have the pkts. of Prohibit( Levamisole) for cattle, and there is a gallon jug with powder in it that is filled to the line on the jug with water, then 4cc per 100lbs oral is given. The jug will worm 300 head of 500lb calves, so it should worm 1200 125 lb goats. In the Valley Vet catalog, it is $179. for this jug.  The smaller pkt is diluted with 17.5 oz of water, with the same dose. The price is $17.49. . I could not find the # of milligrams in the hog product, so would be reluctant to recommend using it until I see the # of milligrams per ml it is supposed to be. I would bet goats won’t drink it if it is mixed by the gallon.
I would recommend you have a bottle of Atropine on hand. The dose is 1cc/100lbs IM if you have a goat react, this is the antidote. Levamisole is a cholinesterase inhibitor, and can be toxic even when dosed correctly. I will tell you that in the past 30 years, I have had only 3 reactions, and two in one day several weeks ago. If the goat is valuable it is more likely to die to spite you. One of my friends lost a really good buck because of not having atropine on hand.
 I mix it in a quart jar for small groups of goats,  and that dose is 4cc/100lbs. I run 1,000 now, but have cut down because of our drought. I will try to be down to 750 by Sept. if we don’t have rain. Feed is high, and we have only had 5” of rain since Sept. of last year.
Do you have flukes up there? I would worm the goats, dry lot for 24-48 hours, and put on fresh pasture.
Valley Vet:  800-468-0059  or www.valleyvet.com. I think they are as competitive as most of the catalogs.
 
Coni Ross
CR Ranch
13285 Ranch Rd 2325
Blanco, Tx 78606
Email: crranch@moment.net
Website: www.crranch.org

Why Meat Goats

Why Meat Goats
                                                                            By Daniel Truelove

This is a question I have heard for years since I got in the goat business. To me there is nothing else.  The world population outside of the United States consumes goat on a daily basis much like we do with beef.  Near 72% of the world population eats goat.  All across the world goat meat is known to be lean, tender and healthy alternative to beef, poultry, pork and lamb. It has less in fat than the previous mentioned meats and actually is quite delicious.  ABGA has prepared a nutritional chart for comparison

http://www.abga.org/nutritional.php

 Do to the Euro-Asian influence into the United States. This is one of the reasons demand has provided an increase in goats. On the Western seaboard as well as North-Eastern regions of the United States.  Lamb and goat are available in restaurants and meat markets much more than the South and Central regions.  Goat meat definitely is becoming more in demand. Where the dairy goat has been established for some time now in North and South America. It too has its qualifications in nutritional benefits and very pleasant taste. Many people in passing express a strong desire and have asked me for milk from goats. This industry is regulated by FDA.  In the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the goat industry. A contributing factor is the large scale Mohair industry in Australia and New Zealand. This has contributed as well as general progress a technological advancement in disease recognition.  The advancements in artificial insemination and embryo transfers have unleashed new innovative advancement for the goat industry as a whole. This brings us to the introduction of the Boer goat into America.

The United States only produces 1% of the goats in the world market. It is estimated that Asia holds 56.5% of the world population of goats. Africa holds 32.4%.  Now for decades the many various types of goats that had been introduced the United States were small mountain, Spanish, and dairy goats.

Due to the Boer introduction just over five years ago into America. We have noticed that the size has increased and price has doubled and tripled to say the least. My wife Granddad Ollie Cox, brought over a thousand goats into Nolan County back in the early 1920″s.  It was years later sometime after the great depression that the goat value was as much as $15- $20 dollars per head.  Now herds are purchased every day of 200 head and up for a standard price of $120.00-$150.00 per head. This is good quality breeding stock.

Now to answer the question “why goats.”  The front runner in the goat auction market is San Angelo Texas. The price yesterday was $1.43 per pound in 2008.  This is the price on goats at 60-80 pounds. The goats with Boer influence have been recorded and are bred, for rapid growth. Closer than ever before, approx. one pound, per day gain after birth.  I feed a supplement feed at a rate of 14 cents per day, per animal for approx. 100 days.  I also need to mention I provide ample hay for the little ones. They are ready for auction at 70-80 pounds in that time frame. Now for the best part. The goat will birth 6 off-springs in a two year period. 

Many people in the meat goat industry don’t feed at all. Only to maintain herd appearance so to be observed and doctored as needed. Now a captive goat needs 10-11 pounds of hay per day. That is the equivalent to 3.75 pounds per day of feed.  In the winter I feed three round bale of hay per 200 head, per week in the pasture. That is approx. 2250 pounds per 100 head of hay weekly to supplement in harsh winters. They do fine with that. That is a cost of $2.40 per animal per month. Compared to beef which consumes 300 pounds per day per animal of hay and needs huge amounts of protein, mostly fed in cubes.  Cattle prices are up or down but of late, right at 1.00 per pound on hoof.  For the most part every cow will be wintered before bred or sold.

 It is simple, to do the math.  You can actually lease land and make profit on goats.  Wintering an animal is your greatest cost. With winter oats and wheat, if blessed with cultivation, greatly offsets your cost. The goat will do fine in pasture with a little hay during winter.  While we are on the subject it is estimated that you can run four to six goats per acre. With proper crop rotation and or irrigation you’ll find an improvement on that. Where cattle need 10 acres per head in this part of the country.