HEALTH OF OUR FAINTING GOAT HERD

It is understood that knowledgeable goat buyers are very interested in the health status of the goats they purchase.  Our goal is to have healthy goats and laboratory testing is a important part of our herd management.  Our approach at B's Barn and our status with each disease is discussed below.

Caprine Arthritis Encephalomyelitis (CAE)
Caprine Arthritis Encephatomyelitis is usually transmitted through mothers milk to their kids.  It is more common among dairy goats raised on pooled milk than it is among goats that raise their own kids.  Tennessee Myotonic Goats are a low-risk breed unless they are housed with other goats, or are part of a embryo transfer program involving dairy does, which is not the case at B's Barn.  We tested negative in 03/2010 & 11/2006.


Footrot
Footrot is a bacterial disease that is usually brought in with newly acquired goats. We have never had a case of footrot, and the few goats we purchased are quarantined and foot trimmed until we are sure that we are not introducing the bacterium that causes footrot onto our farm.

Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL)
Caseous lymphadenitis is a bacterial disease that causes pus filled abscesses.  It lasts in the environment up to 6 months, and the incubation in an exposed goat can be up to a few years but is usually six months or less.  In 05/2006 , 03/2010 & 04/23/11, our entire herd was tested and all were negative.  We have never had a case of CL and are confident we do not have this organism on the farm.

Parasites
We manage our parasites minimally.  Animals are generally dewormed after kidding, and then on the basis of the FAMACHA system.  We are trying to avoid making the worms resistant to dewormers.  We have never had a goat show signs of the meningeal deer worm that causes brain and spinal damage.

Pneumonia
In the 11 years of raising fainter's we have had 2 deaths from pneumonia.  Due to our area being hot and humid with evenings temps cooling right down we have determined it is in the best interest of our breeding stock to be vaccinated to pneumonia. 

Abortion
We have never documented an infectious cause of abortion on the farm from 1998-2011.

Johnes Disease
Johnes disease is an insidious bacterial disease that causes wasting.  This usually occurs in middle-aged animals, although the course of the disease varies considerably and it should be considered whenever a goat has chronic wasting.  Johnes' is generally spread from a dam to her kids.  The disease can spread to older animals but with much more difficulty than to youngsters a few days old.  The most susceptible time period is the short time span right after birth, and the environment needs to be heavily contaminated so that oral exposure occurs.  Infected does generally have the organism on their udders, which is how the kids get an early and infectious exposure.  The organism can last in soil up to a year, which represents a certain low risk in extensive pasture-based systems.  This is in contrast to more closely housed dairy situations (especially cattle) where significant environmental contamination is assured throughout most facilities, and most youngsters are closely housed in confined groups.

The tests for Johnes' disease all have drawbacks, but are useful if used appropriately.  The AGID blood test is very specific, meaning that animals that are positive by this are nearly all infected.  This test does miss some infected goats, however.  The ELISA blood test, in contrast, picks up more of the infected animals (not all) but also tends to pick up as positive some that are not infected, especially if they have been exposed to or vaccinated for Caseous Lymphadenitis. There is also a fecal test that can take up to 14 weeks to complete depending on which method is used (there is a liquid test or a solid test).  A negative fecal test in not definitive as the animal can be shedding the bacteria intermittently, or not shedding at all when they are not exhibiting symptoms.  A positive fecal test, however, is considered the "gold standard" in testing for Johnes', meaning a positive test means the result means the animal is infected.  The status of the tests is important to consider when evaluating the status of the herd- a negative test coming from a herd of all negatives.  Animals are also only likely to be positive by either test if actually shedding the organisms.  So, an animal with an early, non-contagious case may well be negative and then become positive only later as it develops the clinical disease and becomes infectious.  It is therefore important to evaluate test results on the basis of the entire herd and not only the individuals in the herd.  In addition, testing should be done regularly so that those animals that convert to positive status late are culled prior to becoming overly contagious.  All animals currently in our herd tested negative for Johnes' Disease on their ELISA blood tests done on 05/2006, 11/2006, 11/2008 and 03/ 2010 by our veterinarian and tested negative.  On 04/23/2011 our vet tested our herd and received negative results. Our veterinarian pulls the blood samples and those samples are sent to the Diagnostic lab in Kentucky.
We cannot say we have no risk for Johnes', nor can any herd make that claim since testing indicates only no positives at a given time.  We feel confident that the present animals in our herd are "low risk".  Our plan to test annually will allow us to assure ourselves that we remain in the "low risk" status with respect to this disease.  After several consecutive years of negative test results for the entire herd, we will feel confident that we are more along the lines of "little to no risk".

We advise all customers to have their animals tested, by their veterinarian, on a routine basis to verify that none of the insidious diseases have been unknowingly brought into the herd, especially if they are buying from multiple sources. We feel testing done by a veterinarian will be able to be verified thru that veterinarian.