Bought Goats Raised Organically

[the simple life]

Well I bought a pregnant nigerian dwarf and a pygmy goat as well as a black belllied barbados sheep recently.
The doe kidded this week, she had twins.
When I inquired about their vaccines, health etc. the people I bought them from told me they have never vaccinated any of their animals as they are very strict on the all natural/organic method.
They told me they don't have any issues and all their animals are very healthy.
They did appear very healthy, they looked really good and their farm was very well maintained.
I bought the pregnant doe, the pygmy and the sheep.
I had the vet come out to check them out and test them.
I explained the situation, although I practice organic husbandry I also don't want to be irresponsible and sought her advice.
She was very surprised at how healthy they were and how low their worm count was, she did not expect them to do so well with no previous intervention.
She had said before she did the fecal test that they would probably at least have to be de wormed but when she did the test she said they did not need to be treated for that at all.
I was also very pleased and relieved.
The vet gave me a few things to mull over regarding vaccinations and told me to get back to her.
She said if I planned to breed the other goats/sheep any time soon I would have to hold off on certain vaccines anyway.
She said if I had to hold off until after they had their kids they should be okay since they have done fine thus far.
While its hard to argue with the results I also worry about the risks regarding the new kids.
I feed them the best hay I can get, put acv in their water, I feed shredded beet root and a small amount of grain.
From reading the threads here it looks like the minimum anyone here has ever done is the cd/t vaccine.
So anyway, I thought I would share my experience and I will do some more research on this subject and see what I decide on.

 

[ksalvagno]

It sounds like the original owners take very good care of their goats and that they are very healthy. You can always look into herbal wormers which you would give them on a monthly basis before having a problem. If you go to Fiasco Farm http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm , they offer a lot of info on raising goats organically.

It is hard to say whether to give vaccines or not. That is up to you. Since I plan to sell my kids, I will vaccinate with CDT because that is what most people expect and i do worry about the clostridium diseases and tetanus. It takes them down so fast. But that is me and you have to decide what you want to do. I also disbud and it really is good for them to have tetanus on board when you do that.

Good luck with your new goats!

 

[freemotion]

Well, imagine that! Organic husbandry can work!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I just want to say that vaccines *are* allowed in certified organic operations. Unless you're sticking with organic=absolutely no chemicals or vaccines, then they can be vaccinated and still be organic.

But it's good to hear they're healthy.

 

[the simple life]

Thank you everyone.
I did order the herbal dewormer from Fiasco farm in case I need it.
I know that they can give some vaccines and still be considered organic, especially some of the supplemental vitamin types, I just have to figure it all out.

The vet said some of her clients are giving the rabies vaccine which surprised me, I guess I never thought of that with goats.
Its not a vaccine that is approved for goats but its what they are doing in some cases.
She was giving me examples of what people are doing at each end of the spectrum and she told me to decide just how organic I wanted to go.

Its nice to have such a clean slate with animals where they weren't already over laden with chemicals.
It gives me a great starting place.

 

[the simple life]

Just thought I would update this thread a little.
I had the goats and sheep tested for CAE, CL and Johnes when the vet was out here and I got the call today that the results had come in and they all tested negative.
Our area is TB and Brucella free.
I realize they can test negative for years and all that but I still feel good about it.
Its actually a big relief!
The pregnant doe gave birth recently so she is in milk, I really want to be able to make cheese and yogurt and all that with the milk and even though some people say its okay to consume the milk of a cae positive doe I just feel a whole lot better about it.

 

[ksalvagno]

That is great. I'm waiting for test results for my does and hope they are negative. I too don't want to use milk from a doe that has any type of disease.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

even though some people say its okay to consume the milk of a cae positive doe I just feel a whole lot better about it.

I plan on using milk from my possibly CAE positive goat. I've done lots of research and there's absolutely NO link between CAE and human issues. It's your personal decision, of course, but there has been NO studies at all showing any possible effects on humans.

 

[the simple life]

Yes I have heard about the studies.
I have also met someone who swears on her life that drinking the milk from her cae positive doe contributed to her rheumetoid arthiritis.
True or not, its food for thought.
I never see anything in black in white like that.
Just like the talking heads that said it was perfectly fine to put mercury (thimerisol) in our children's vaccines for years and now they come out and say whoops not such a good idea.
They had their studies that they claim showed it would do no harm and now their new studies claim that it can and has done harm in certain individuals and removed it from most vaccines.
Well of course a neurotoxin is a bad thing to inject in your body and I don't need a study to tell me that but their original studies said differently and people trusted that information.
While cae may not affect the majority you never know if it will affect one out of a million people who could be prone to it or the virus somehow changes it's makeup and that changes everything.
I am not saying this could or will ever happen but is just something that makes me uncomfortable.
So while I understand what you are saying about them not having proved it could cause anything in humans yet I never say never.
Hence my reluctance to ingest anything that is carrying a virus.