abscess

[txgoatfarmer]

Ok thank yall for all yalls help..

 

[currycomb]

okay, going to get my head chopped off here. i asked my vet, a goat type vet, what cl actually did to the goat that made it such a "bad" disease. his only answer was it was like horse strangles. well i have dealt with strangles, and with cl in the herd. i am asking here, what is it about cl that makes it such a bad disease that you kill good goats? i am not being a smart@ss, i really want to know. yes, some of my herd has it, and when i sell an animal, i tell the new owners i have it, so that is their decission. other than having the annoying abcesses, what is the problem with cl? is it caused by cornybacterium? my neighbor lost a horse to that, years before we even had goats here. told it is in the ground, just like tetnus. so help, don't bash.

 

[cmjust0]

Well.. Around here, and I'm sure in a lot of other places, people who raise meat goats aren't terribly concerned about the health of their herds so long as they're not losing a ton of animals from an outbreak of something acute.. That's fine, I guess...I don't operate that way, but to each their own.

What I wish they realized, though, is that CL is still an economic problem for them. CL affects carcass quality, which affects their bottom line at the market. If not for the presence of CL in such a high percentage of meat goat operations, I personally believe the market price for all slaughter goats would be much higher.

It's also an economic problem in dairy goats. Since CL is a zoonotic disease, meaning that humans can be infected with it, there aren't many people who are willing to purchase a known CL+ goat to provide their family with fresh milk to drink. Having uncontrolled CL in a dairy herd makes it basically impossible to sell kids.

Now...if you go beyond the dollars and cents and risk to humans and actually consider the welfare of the animal, it's important to understand that CL doesn't only manifest itself as knots under the skin. A goat can get CL abscesses on its internal organs, and they often affect the lungs, liver, heart...sometimes even the spinal cord and other organs. Ill-thrift sets in, pneumonia, downers..

Make no mistake...goats die from CL. It absolutely is a terminal disease.

Here's the thing...I truly believe CL could be all but eradicated if people would only spend $0.50/head on Case-Bac. That's economical for anyone -- I don't care how big or small your herd is.

To me, that's probably the most frustrating thing about it.

 

[Roll farms]

CL *can* be fatal....internal abscesses can cause infections, etc.

BUT....if you provide good feed, keep them otherwise healthy, and control the spread with vaccines, etc. there's no reason it has to be a terminal disease.

Ever since my vet gave me positive test results and told me I should cull 4 of my favorite / first does, I've lived w/ CL.
Honestly, it's not much more than an icky inconvenience.

Between old age, culling for other reasons, etc. I'm down to 3 positive does who live away from the rest of the herd...They are 7 and 8 years old.

The vaccine is controlling the spread and the old lumpies, as we call them, are still productive and loving members of our goat family.

As long as I'm honest about it, and I'm ok w/ living with it...
I will never be convinced I made the wrong choice.

I wish I'd never bought the doe who brought it here, I hate having to deal w/ it, and it is a pain. And I do care about my herds health...A LOT.

 

[txgoatfarmer]

I have been doing some research to know a little more about CL in goats.

I was wondering what the puss really looked like and what it smelled like.

And what ways it is spread to other goats?


Thank yall again for all yalls help