Possible chlamydia outbreak - advice please!

[freechicken]

I have a total of five does in my herd, three of which are bred and due to deliver within the next nine days. The other two are doelings that haven't been bred yet and are new additions to the herd.

One of my pregnant does, a first freshener, began to have a little discharge last Sunday. At the time, we weren't convinced she was actually pregnant because she hadn't developed any udder yet, hadn't become noticeably round, and we couldn't feel kid movement. So we sent in a pregnancy test and were pending results. In the meantime, we decided to cover our bases and run her with a buck just in case she hadn't settled and the discharge was related to a heat cycle. We dropped her off for an overnight date on Monday and picked her up Tuesday. By then we had positive pregnancy test results from Biotracking. But we were really surprised to see a large amount of discharge, yellowish/rust colored, around her vulva. My husband thought she might be in labor so we isolated her and started watching her closely. No labor began but over the next 12 hours it became evident that something else was going on - likely an abortion. We called our vet who recommended dosing her with biomycin at a rate of 4.5cc every three days to try and prevent the abortion or at least to prevent our doe from getting ill.

My questions are:
1.) Is the dosage correct for the biomycin? from reading other posts it seems like we may want to give it more frequently? thoughts?
2.) Should I preemptively dose my other does that are due this week as well, just in case they have it too but aren't showing symptoms yet?
3) Is there a way to determine if this is indeed Chlamydia?
4) If it is chlamydia, how to I get it out of my herd? And can I drink their milk once they kid?

5) anything else I need to know???

 

[Latestarter]

Hope it's nothing serious or contagious. Sorry, I can't answer your Qs... Maybe @Goat Whisperer @Southern by choice @babsbag @goatgurl ?

 

[babsbag]

I would give the Biomycin every day for 4 days.
I would treat the other does too, but I am not sure it will do any good. You normally treat at about 105 and 120 days.
Not sure about testing, but I know you can send the placenta in for testing if she does abort. I am pretty sure you can do a blood test too, but not sure who does them. I hope your doe carries to term for you. I had one abort 10 days early a few weeks ago. No apparent reason, sometimes it just happens.

I really can't tell you about the milk, I would be tempted to pasteurize it unless you can find a reliable source that says that it is ok.
Here is an article that can tell you more than I can about the disease.

http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/abortiondiseases.html

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Maybe I missed something, but are you basing the idea that she has chlamydia simply on her having a discharge? Your due date for her is roughly a week away, right?

Chlamydia does indeed cause abortions, but if she is less than 10 days from kidding it is highly likely that her kids are fine and that her discharge is simply the normal discharge that most does have before kidding.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

At this point I don't think is chlamydia. IF she is aborting (big IF-see FEM's post) I think it would be from the stress of moving her and putting her in with the buck. When you think about it, the doe was moved right before kidding and was tossed in with a buck. Most bucks will chase a doe especially when they start to pick up on the hormones, whether it is from being in late gestation of in heat. If the buck was chasing her overnight, that can cause an abortion for sure.


If she does abort, take the kid and placenta and send it out for a necropsy. You are really going to want to do this, especially if somebody else's herd is involved.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

@freechicken

How is everything going? I hope the doe is okay & didn't abort!

 

[freechicken]

Turns out she had aborted when she had her overnight date and we didn't know until 3 days later. We kept her separated from the herd until all discharge ceased and gave her a round of antibiotics, but I suspect that the abortion was due to something other than chlamydia. Our other girls delivered at full term with healthy kids.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That just stinks... The owners of the buck didn't tell you there was an aborted baby? That late in her pregnancy it would have been noticeable.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. Hopefully she'll have better luck next time.

 

[norseofcourse]

Glad you know at least, and it's not something contagious to your others. I'd be ticked at the buck owner too - that would be something to call about ASAP!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Sorry she aborted.

Glad it's not chlamydia though!