CL testing kids

[shannonk03]

My does have been vaccinated with the CL vaccine, this was done before they were bred. I want to test the kids before vaccinating, but I am wondering if maternal antibodies would be in their systems and affect the test results at all? My babies are almost three months old and that is the age they can get the first CL vaccine but wanted to have negative test results first. Thanks in advance, google is not really helping!

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

Have you had CL in your herd before? If not, I wouldn't worry so much about testing the kids if there has never been an abscess burst near them and their moms didn't have an abscess in their udder (which is rare anyway).

 

[shannonk03]

I haven't, I only have four adult does and I am building my herd and want to do it right. Pretty much every breeder in this area tests and you can't use their bucks for breeding unless you have negative test results. With the current size if my herd I really don't want to purchase a buck, so testing is my best option.

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

If you vaccinate, your goats will always test positive...so you may have effectively screwed yourself right out of breeding the adults already.

 

[shannonk03]

I know the adults will always test positive, I am not asking about them, I am asking about the kids. No need for rudeness. :/

 

[shannonk03]

Is there anyone on here who tests and vaccinates? Or is it either one or the other? I use the new goat approved CL vaccine if it makes a difference.

 

[kstaven]

Don't test kids before 6 months of age unless you want false positives.

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

I know the adults will always test positive, I am not asking about them, I am asking about the kids. No need for rudeness. :/

Not quite sure how I was rude....just saying that by vaccinating you will create positive test results. I would imagine that you will also want to breed the adults next year, so their positive result will turn the buck owners away.

If your doe does not have an open abscess and your other goats have never had one, or they did and you lanced/took care of it, then there should be no reason why a buck owner shouldn't let you.

 

[shannonk03]

I know the adults will always test positive, I am not asking about them, I am asking about the kids. No need for rudeness. :/

Not quite sure how I was rude....just saying that by vaccinating you will create positive test results. I would imagine that you will also want to breed the adults next year, so their positive result will turn the buck owners away.

If your doe does not have an open abscess and your other goats have never had one, or they did and you lanced/took care of it, then there should be no reason why a buck owner shouldn't let you.

Sorry, hard to get tone with message boards-most of the breeders in my area are big show breeders and have pretty stringent requirements. There are some who don't mind, but I was hoping to get some nice show lines in my herd without the expense of purchasing a buck. Thanks for all of the replies, I will probably wait a few more months and test the babies so I won't have any false positives. I'm not worried about them catching anything in the mean time.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Just my humble opinion, but you shouldn't vaccinate for CL. Just do yearly or bi-yearly testing and you can keep whole negative herds. This is what all the breeders do around here. Otherwise if you vaccinate they will come out positive, even when they really aren't, and then you can't distinguish between ones that really DO have it and test positive and the ones that have tested postiive from the vaccine... JMHO. And you would test babies at over 6 months of age. Hope this helps!