HERD HEALTH
We take the health of our herd and disease prevention very seriously. Our animals stay on the farm unless there is a medical emergency that requires us to take them to see a vert for immediate care. We only bring clean tested animals into our herd. All new goats are quarantined for a period to ensure they are healthy before we integrate them into with our other animals.
Other than family, vets, and caretakers, we do not allow visitors into our barn in an effort to maintain biosecurity measures.
We do vaccinate our animals, but only deworm if indicated by a fecal sample. We run fecals on our entire herd every six weeks or as needed. Our animals are on a herbal wormer protocol.
DISEASE AND TESTING POLICY
Next Test Date: October 2021
CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis)
CAE is a contagious, viral disease with no cure. Goats can carry the disease and not test positive. This happens because the disease must be active at the time blood is drawn to receive a positive test result. Primary method of transmission is from mom to kid through milk. There are different forms of the disease. To learn more about CAE, click here and here.
TESTING: Does: Annually // Bucks: Every two years
Johnes
Johnes is a fatal, contagious gastrointestinal disease. It is caused by a bacteria. It can be transmitted in feces, possibly in milk or in utero. Once infected, a goat will test positive; however, signs may not show for months, years, or never. To learn more about Johnes, click here.
TESTING:
CL (Caseous Lymphadenitis)
CL is highly contagious but rarely life threatening. There is a vaccine available, but it will make your goat test positive. CL forms lumps near lymph nodes (common) or on internal organs (rare). When the lump bursts, the discharge is odorless and super thick like cottage cheese. To learn more about CL, click here.
TESTING: