Help!! New goat mommy in CT.

[babsbag]

Welcome to BYH and the world of goats...they are addictive so be careful. It sounds like everyone gave you great advice. You mentioned that they had a CDT last week so they won't need another one before they kid, they will be fine. I do mine anywhere from 30 days all the way to 4 months, just depends on when they got bred as I do my entire herd at one time.

 

[babsbag]

We are family so ask all the questions you need to and most of all...HAVE FUN. BTW, I leave my minerals out all of the time. They eat A LOT of it, more than the bag says that they should but selenium and copper is so deficient in my area that I feel that they need all they can get. I also supplement both of those with injectable minerals 2x a year, but again, my area is horrible in regards to minerals naturally occurring in the hay or browse. I would leave the minerals out for now and see what they do.

As far as testing, some states have labs you can use. I send mine to CAHFS (UC Davis) in CA. Another popular one is WADDL in WA state. There may be some closer to you. I know that NC has one but not sure of the costs for out of state people. A vet should have all those answers for you too.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Oh no. I have no idea if they were tested. I will look into this!! Where do you send blood? I purchased the mineral however the bag says not to offer free choice. My hay is Timothy and orchard grass. I put a feeder with mineral and a small amount of baking soda in their pen. They are very sweet and always appear to be hungry and looking for food.

Timothy and Orchard grass are very good and very common in your part of the country.

 

[sadieml]

A great big South Carolina welcome!!! Sounds like you're off to a great start. Your girls are GORGEOUS. Twins and triplets are the norm with the little gals, so good luck in March. As far as the breeder saying they usually have does, does he realize that the buck determines gender, just like with people? Henry VIII never knew and blamed his poor wives, but in this day and age I thought everyone knew! Still, if you're doing goats primarily for milk, does are great!!! (obviously)

@Latestarter said:

Just thought of something else you'll need, but it can wait another couple of weeks... The longer you wait, the more you'll need it...
MORE Goats!

You are sooo right!!! AND hilarious!!!

 

[Southern by choice]

Welcome to BYH and the world of goats...they are addictive so be careful. It sounds like everyone gave you great advice. You mentioned that they had a CDT last week so they won't need another one before they kid, they will be fine. I do mine anywhere from 30 days all the way to 4 months, just depends on when they got bred as I do my entire herd at one time.

We at one time didn't see the need to give a month before because our goats were all vaccinated earlier and didn't want over vaccination... our vets recommended differently and now we only give the doe CD&T a month before.
There will be little to no immunity if given much earlier than a month before.
We also disbud and want to make sure those kids have some level of protection considering the disbudding is done a few days after kidding.
There are several articles on this-
here are a few that may be helpful
http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/vaccinating-goats-against-enterotoxemia-and-tetanus-is-it-necessary
http://www.sheepandgoat.com/#!cdt/cbcc

 

[babsbag]

Well @Southern by choice I stand corrected but still doing mine all at one time. Rounding up 40 obstinate goats is enough to make me crazy and I call in all the favors and pay handsomely to get help so it is a one day deal. And I DO NOT want 40 does kidding on the same day.

I do have a friend that gives the tetanus antitoxin at disbudding time.

I think there are as many ways to do this as there are goats, but that being said, would you give the CDT again in Feb. if they just had it a week ago? Perhaps vaccinate the kids earlier? I read that you can do them as early as 7 days and the tetanus antitoxin at birth. What say you ???

 

[Southern by choice]

oops missed the testing part... I would ask the breeder about any testing done.
We use Rollins Lab (in NC) for CAE and Johnes (serum) in state it is $1.50 per test out of state $3 per test plus ascension fee.
The CL we send to UC Davis as Rollins doesn't do CL testing... we are out of state for UC Davis so it costs us $14.50 per test.

Of course your cost will be higher as your vet will charge considerably more. With two goats it would be easier to take the goats in than have a farm call... well- maybe... depends on your vet.

Whatever you do make sure YOU GET THE PAPERWORK WITH RESULTS from your vet! Too many mistakes are made and it is the herd owners responsibility as well to make sure of the tests run and results.

Fecal sampling for Johnes should only go to certified labs.
NC is certified for one type and not fecal.
Fecal is best analysis.

CL and Johnes are zoonotic diseases.
Johnes is MAP disease - linked to Crohn's disease and it is NOT killed through pasteurization.
More about Johnes here-http://www.johnes.org/

 

[Southern by choice]

@babsbag don't know- everything I have read says it takes weeks for the immunity so if that is the case I don't know it would make a difference to give it and disbud. Not enough time for antibodies to take affect.
This is a good article on the basics of immunology...
http://goatconnection.com/articles/publish/article_182.shtml

I only have 30 goats and I have help so doing ours in groups of 3 is not as hard as it is for you Babs... Later this month I will give those due in January theirs, then in Feb those due in March and then in March the final group.

I know what you mean though... the dogs are on different rabies vaccine schedules and we keep working on getting them all in sync! Same as HW prevention... just finally got that in sync! 13 dogs to coordinate was ridiculous.

 

[babsbag]

@Southern by choice she gives the antitoxin not the toxoid so I guess she is thinking that the antitoxin will work IF there is any problem ??? I am guessing here...another question for my vet.

 

[babsbag]

@Southern by choice ...just read one of the articles you posted and they say it is common to vaccinate kids from vaccinated does at 8 weeks. I don't know anyone that does them at 8 weeks. We all do them at 3 weeks out here in CA. A good example of "as many ways to do things as there are goats".