Meat Goat Herd /Boer testing..CL,CAE..

chris30523 · #1 12/30/08, 05:54 AM

Thought I would start a new thread as it was a complete drift on the other one and others might find this interesting.Those of you who do test your Meat herds test the adults once a year? Do you test for CL,CAE,Johnnes all these or just a couple. My foundation does were vaccinated for CL so should always test positive right. What about their kids do they pass on any immunity to this? If you have a doe who tests positive for CAE do you bottle feed her kids as the dairy people do or do you cull her?

mmurrey · #2 12/30/08, 08:07 AM

We have tested ours and two came back borderline, well to me that's too close to positive so we are pulling the kids and bottling them. She has a doe from a previous season and we have pulled her kids as well. We have one more that was borderline to kid yet, and we will pull them also. It is sad because we absolutely love these does but the rest of the herd has been testing neg. and thats the way I want to try to keep it.
We have never had to pull any kids before, and it is sad to hear the mommies crying for their babies so it's a little heartbreaking.
Mellissa
You can see their kids on the post thats is : We are seeing black and white!

chris30523 · #3 12/30/08, 10:45 AM

Nice looking goats. We are seeing spots at my house. What about CL have you had any test pos for this or do you just test for CAE.

hoofinitnorth · #4 12/30/08, 11:58 AM

I know of one herd locally that has meat goats and dairy goats that also tests at least annually for CAE, CL, and Johne's. She also only buys from trusted herds that test.

Jcran · #5 12/30/08, 12:14 PM

We test annually for CL and CAE. However, we don't test for Johnnes. Should we? You mentioned a borderline test on CL...what would that look like or mean?

chris30523 · #6 12/30/08, 04:55 PM

Does everyone do the tests themselves? Do you have the vet to do them.How do you find a place that will take and report tests to/from an individual?

Jcran · #7 12/30/08, 05:29 PM

We learned to pull our own blood samples two years ago; it is really quite easy. So we get together as a small group and help each other (whomever wants testing done that round) pull the blood, etc. Then one person sends the whole group of samples in to UC Davis. We get the results back in just a week or two. So we've tested 4 or 5 times now....good insurance in my book and FAR CHEAPER than having the vet do it. I just looked at an inexpensive goat on craigslist. When I found out what herd it came from, I politely declined since I know they don't test, and I know they've bought animals from another herd east of here that definitely HAD CL. The animal might be inexpensive, but the possible "luggage" it would bring onto the place could ruin me.

hoofinitnorth · #8 12/30/08, 06:10 PM

Since I am new to dairy goats and just building a clientele, I pay the vet to come and pull the blood and send it to the lab for tests. This way they get to do the once-over on everyone and catch anything I missed or answer any of my many questions I haven't answered on my own (or give another opinion to the answers I did find). I will pull blood myself when I am established or when I need to run tests in between annual tests. I am actually getting ready to do pregnancy tests now and will be asking for a few other analyses with the samples at the same time.

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #9 12/30/08, 07:13 PM

I am using biotracking.com this year, I love that they give you actual titers so you can track them from test to test...a rise even if she is negative would give you a warning to perhaps run a PCR test on the doe, especially if you didn't raise her yourself.

I don't run Johnnes, if you look at the tests they are meaningless except at necropsy.

I pull the blood myself and send it in myself, I only use my vet when selling show stock for bigger money or a valuable buck, this way the vet can read the tattoo, pull the blood, send it in and get back the results without me touching it...which she then would use if it was ever a problem after the sale...it's part of my contract. vicki

HappyFarmer · #10 12/30/08, 08:39 PM

We alternate between pulling blood ourselves & the vet. Vet pulled leaves little to be questioned by a buyer. We've used Waddle, Cornell, and PAVL. We'll check out biotracking for the next draw.
HF

chris30523 · #11 12/31/08, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jcran

We learned to pull our own blood samples two years ago; it is really quite easy. So we get together as a small group and help each other (whomever wants testing done that round) pull the blood, etc. Then one person sends the whole group of samples in to UC Davis. We get the results back in just a week or two. So we've tested 4 or 5 times now....good insurance in my book and FAR CHEAPER than having the vet do it. I just looked at an inexpensive goat on craigslist. When I found out what herd it came from, I politely declined since I know they don't test, and I know they've bought animals from another herd east of here that definitely HAD CL. The animal might be inexpensive, but the possible "luggage" it would bring onto the place could ruin me.

Unfortunately I am the only one in my area who raises anything but brush goats. So I am on my own.Our large animal vets will come out for goats but only know what the books told them at UGA.They would draw blood I am sure but at what cost.Cost me 600.00 for a cleaning and leg bandaging of a wound on a horse.DH is of little use in this area. I haven't bought goats in 4 years and we don't show so what ever we get is already here. I am looking for a new Boer buck this year. All of mine are preggers right now so I will probably try to catch everyone up in the spring. My foundation does were all vacinated for CL so they would always test pos. right. How about their kids??