When/where/how of testing!

lemonpoppyseed

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Forgive what is probably s silly question from a goat newbie! We have just two LaMancha does (one of whom is due on Easter, one who just had two bucklings), bought from a small untested herd. Now that we have kids, we've been thinking that we should be testing since
a) they're being dam raised and
b) we will want to sell at least a couple of them, and I would never want to be the cause of spreading a disease to someone else's property.

There is no vet that deals with goats in our area, and the cooperative extension website wasn't particularly helpful. Tried to do a bit of online research, and I keep seeing an awful lot of websites that talk about WHY to test, but not the specifics on how.

Are there independent labs? Do we need to find a vet that will do it, even if they don't typically deal with goats? What kind of samples will they require? Anything other than CAE, CL, or Johnes that we should be testing for? If our goats test positive, what does that mean for us? What are the typical costs associate with testing? Any and all advice would be helpful!
 

Hens and Roos

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we send in blood samples to WADDL(Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab(it's where the person we purchased from sent samples to be tested). We have our goats(at least 6 months and older) tested for Johne's, CAE and CL- we do the testing in the fall.

We pull our own samples

I know there are other labs you can sent samples to for testing

@OneFineAcre @Goat Whisperer @Southern by choice @babsbag and others might have other labs to use
 

babsbag

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I use UC Davis (CAHFS) and Sage Ag Lab. I test for CAE, CL, and Johnes, but I don't test every year. After 7 years of negative testing I now only test goats that I buy. I don't show so mine never leave my land. A friend draws the blood for me and I send it in.
 

lemonpoppyseed

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How many tests do you need to determine if they're disease free, and how far apart?
 

NH homesteader

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I have my vet draw blood and sent it in for me. I think it goes to UNH, but I'm not sure. Some people test every year, some don't... I don't know what the recommended amount of time should be before you test again. Sorry, but one of the people tagged above will have a better idea, I only have 4-6 goats at a time and they all come from tested herds, I have tested them each only once thus far.
 

Southern by choice

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You should test annually for at least 5 years. Thereafter CAE should still be done annually as titres can change.
CL after consecutive negatives (5 years) can be farther apart maybe every other year etc... titres, again, can change.

Johnes, serum sample yearly. Fecal (group) yearly for 2years after age 18 months then every other year or longer BUT only if not adding goats to the herd.


Trying to keep this short but I do want to mention a few things...

1. ALWAYS ask for results when going through a vet.
mistakes can happen, sometimes tests you though were done may not have been or test results came in and in a quick glance something was missed.
These things do happen even with a good vet, when the HERD owner and the vet both have copies of the test results then it is less likely to miss something.

2. When buying any new animal requests to see or get a copy at purchase of the test results!
several reasons for this....
you know exactly what was tested for
some say "tested herd" but that does not mean the WHOLE herd tested negative ( whole herd is best but there may be animals positive and it MAY be ok depending on what was positive etc) trying not to go into too much detail here...
many people are honest but you have those that aren't.... these are the ones that have seen on forums, facebook, craigslist etc the term "tested herd" and have decided they should put that on their add too... they will say Tested for blah blah blah.... and they aren't!
any breeder testing will gladly show you proof of testing!

No test is 100% accurate and there are some issues with some of the tests but at the same time when you test annually and year after year you have negative results there is no way the same goat is going to have a false negative over and over.

As far as what to do if an animal tests positive... cross that bridge if you get to it! ;)
 

babsbag

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I have over 40 goats and about 90% of them have been born on my land. I only test my original two goats and all goats I bring in. If they are born here and their dam and sire test negative I don't test the kids...ever. Most of the goats I have bought come from herds that I know test and have been clean for years. The ones from herds I don't know get tested every year for 3 years, but I still don't test their kids.

If I was showing my goats and sending them out for breeding I would have to do things differently.
 

Southern by choice

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I have over 40 goats and about 90% of them have been born on my land. I only test my original two goats and all goats I bring in. If they are born here and their dam and sire test negative I don't test the kids...ever. Most of the goats I have bought come from herds that I know test and have been clean for years. The ones from herds I don't know get tested every year for 3 years, but I still don't test their kids.

If I was showing my goats and sending them out for breeding I would have to do things differently.

If someone has 100 goats no they aren't going to test all those animals every year but in general most people on this forum have small herds and can easily monitor their goats.
The issue with not testing the older goats (not talking about the kids born to the tested parents) is titres change. CAE negative goats can have titres that go up and at 8 years old are suspect or may even go over the limit and are considered positive. It does happen and I think if a person can monitor their herd then they can also make necessary adjustments. If an older goat ends up in the positive range then prevention would be best and beneficial. If a goat has higher titers for CL it isn't necessarily a cull but that goat should be watched more closely and monitored with titre changes. Some CL positive goats may never have a lump some may end up with internal CL and that is bad! CL is prevalent in the meat goat world and is finally being addressed but considering it is zoonotic I think dairy goat people should take it more serious. Johnes is also zoonotic. CAE only affects goats and is not zoonotic yet that is the one everyone cares about... understandably so but still.

Knowing how to draw your own blood is a big cost saver of course and that helps.

When you first start out and are learning most people have a few goats, best to have the vet out and draw the blood and teach you how then you have that skill for the future.

On the flip side there is only so much any goat owner can do, you can only do your best but the reality is some things are out of our hands.
 
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