CAE psitive dairy goats- ok for personal use?

InHisName · #1 02/28/08, 03:10 PM

Does anyone keep a CAE positive dairy goat? Is it possible to seperate them? Saw one for sale, looked like a wonderful goat, but CAE positive. If it is just for home use- does it matter? thanks!

BlueHeronFarm · #2 02/28/08, 03:56 PM

I'm not sure what you're asking, but if you mean does it matter for your health? No. You can drink the milk from a CAE positive goat with no ill effects.

Eventually the goat would probably develop symptoms and you would probably have to put it down. You would also not want to let it raise its own kids, as the disease is passed through the milk.

I would never have one, but many people do. Maybe someone who has experience with a positive goat can give you more insight.

susanne · #3 02/28/08, 04:11 PM

a cae positive doe is okay for personal use if you are not planning to dam raise her kids. i have seen does that had a long productive life without any symptoms. the last one i saw was 17 years old when the breeder had her put down.
be prepered that she might get symptomatic through moving stress or kidding stress. can you put up with the heart pain when she needs to be put down?
if you are planning to get more goats, i would advise to keep her separate. do you have enough space to do so? this means twice the time on feeding chores. do you have enough time?
than go for it

**mygoat** · #4 02/28/08, 04:58 PM

Don't use it's milk or colostrum to feed to kid goats. Isolate it from the rest of your herd to eliminate spread. Test herd again in 6 mon. ALWAYS RAISE HER KIDS ON STRICT PREVENTION using milk/colostrum from different does - Don't even let her clean off her kids.

The doe, however, is not a lost cause as a diary doe until she becomes symptomatic. When her hard udder doesn't milk out or her knees swell, put her down asap so she doesn't suffer.

CountryHaven · #5 02/28/08, 05:08 PM

I'm no expert on CAE, but I've heard in can 'live' on the premisis for years after the affect goat is gone, meaning you'll not be able to put another goat where she was for years afterwards without risking infecting it. That's besides the heartache posibility of a doe getting symptomatic.

cseger1 · #6 02/28/08, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountryHaven

I'm no expert on CAE, but I've heard in can 'live' on the premisis for years after the affect goat is gone, meaning you'll not be able to put another goat where she was for years afterwards without risking infecting it. That's besides the heartache posibility of a doe getting symptomatic.

That's CL. CAE does not live outside of its host.

CountryHaven · #7 02/28/08, 05:12 PM

Oh, okay, thanks for clearing htat up cseger. I don't have any personal experience with either, and got it confused in my head on that point

ozark_jewels · #8 02/28/08, 05:35 PM

You have gotten very good answers already.
The milk is safe for humans to drink.
You can also raise calves/pigs/chickens/puppies on it. Just not goat kids.
Many CAE positive does live to a ripe old age and never show any symptoms.
Be prepared that she *could* show symptoms and need to be put down.

celadon · #9 02/28/08, 07:59 PM

My advice. Do not get them. I just had to go through the pain of putting Sandy and Mandy down. It is so sad to see goats crawling around on there knees. And then to try and decide when to put them down. Hard to tell if they are in pain or not. I had them on B-L pellets for 7 months. Spent a lot of money to try and make them comfortable. Sooooo sad.

ET1 SS · #10 02/28/08, 09:48 PM

Five different tests exist.

None of the tests are greater than 50% acurate. If any test says posetive, than the goat has it. But if the tests say negative, it means maybe.

All you can do is wait, it may take years for sign to develop.

Since the primary method of spread is through milk, if the kids have suckled even once, I would put them down.

susanne · #11 02/28/08, 10:23 PM

this is wrong information.
you might go here and get some info
ttp://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts_waddl/caefaq.aspx

8. Is there a difference in the types of serology tests available for making a diagnosis of CAE virus infection?
Yes, WADDL has a validated and USDA licensed competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (cELISA) for CAE virus antibodies. This test is more sensitive (ability to detect true positive animal) than the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test. Values for the CAE cELISA have been set by double testing goat sera by ELISA and a very sensitive research assay, called immunoprecipitation. The positive cutoff score for the cELISA had a sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 99.6%.

ET1 SS · #12 02/28/08, 10:50 PM

And when a goat is a carrier yet does not have any antibodies in his blood yet, how good are these tests?

When they detect no antibodies, and give a 'negative', while the goat is still infected, becasue a goat can carry the disease for years without the antibodies kicking in.

Wendy · #13 02/28/08, 11:03 PM

Quote:

And when a goat is a carrier yet does not have any antibodies in his blood yet, how good are these tests?

When they detect no antibodies, and give a 'negative', while the goat is still infected, becasue a goat can carry the disease for years without the antibodies kicking in.

BINGO! Goats can test negative for years & then turn up positive. I bought from a tested herd, raise my kids on CAE preventive, but I personally do not test. It doesn't matter to me if they have it. I will keep them & if they show symptoms at any time & go downhill, I'll put them down.

goatkid · #14 02/28/08, 11:14 PM

Since there are so many goats available that are CAE negative, the only reason I could see for getting a positive one would be bloodlines and top show quality. I know someone who got a doe with a linear appraisal of 91. Her first show season, she became a finished champion. This person also has the space to run two seperate herds. She has to hand breed the does, tape the teats and be sure to be there when those does kid. They are removed immediately, cleaned off and fed the heat treated colostrum and pasteurized milk of negative does. She feeds the positive does milk to calves or humans. I, personally prefer to keep only CAE negative goats. You can sell the kids much easier if you do.

susanne · #15 02/29/08, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wendy

BINGO! Goats can test negative for years & then turn up positive. I bought from a tested herd, raise my kids on CAE preventive, but I personally do not test. It doesn't matter to me if they have it. I will keep them & if they show symptoms at any time & go downhill, I'll put them down.

wendy that is also not correct. a doe that was exposed to cae, will test positive in general after three month. the longest know case was 8 month. call waddl and talk to dr. john everman.
stories where does tested negative for years and all the sudden came up positive comes from times where the test was not as accurate as it is today.

susanne · #16 02/29/08, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

And when a goat is a carrier yet does not have any antibodies in his blood yet, how good are these tests?

When they detect no antibodies, and give a 'negative', while the goat is still infected, becasue a goat can carry the disease for years without the antibodies kicking in.

there is no evidence that a doe, carrying antibodies, but low enough to be detected, is infectious to her herd mates. this i exactly the reason why we test.

do you have goats?

ET1 SS · #17 02/29/08, 07:39 AM

Previously I have bought our goats from auction, last year alone two of them developed CAE. I put them down immediately. Any goat of mine that develops CAE, I put down right away.

Now I have a 'hook-up' with an Alpine goat dairy and cheesemaker, who does not want any of her kids this spring. All of her goats are papered. Her milk is tested. I plan to bottle-raise at least two dozen of her daughters this spring.

As far as I am able, I do not want any CAE in my herd.

susanne · #18 02/29/08, 07:45 AM

looks like you will have a good start, raising some kids from birth. make sure they have no contacts with their dams after they are born, no licking from the dam or a sipp from the teats.
do you know this herd tested negative for cae before breeding season started last year? about 10% of kids get infected with this virus when they are born, mostly through injuries in the birt canal from the dam. it is very importand to clean the kids and dry them off so they will not suckle on the birthing fluid from each other. are you present at kidding?
good luck with this

Wendy · #19 02/29/08, 09:24 AM

I don't want CAE in my herd either, but I am not going to put down a doe unless she is suffering, even if she would test positive. Some go on to live a symptom free life. I think that's a horrible thing to do. Just because they carry CAE is no reason to put them down. If they are suffering from it, then yes, but not just because they carry it.

cathleenc · #20 02/29/08, 10:22 AM

We have goats purely for home use - one of the does, my favorite, is CAE positive. She is symptom free, 7 yrs old, and healthy.

We plan on keeping the goats for their lifespan here on our farm - the offspring will become family food, the 2 does our family dairy producers.

I did pull the kids at birth and bottle feed with heat-treated milk. But I also let the kids interact/play/sleep with the 2 does so in theory transmission is still possible. For our household, culling and complete separation did not make any sense.