Ranting & Sharing - Disease testing

LoneStrChic23 · #1 07/12/14, 04:25 PM

First of all, I'm going to start this post off by sharing my blog post and I wish folks would take the time to check it out, especially those new in the goat world:

http://noodlevilleadventures.blogspo...ood-draws.html

The link above is a picture "how-to" on doing your own goat blood draws for disease & pregnancy testing. In the post any text highlighted in orange is a clickable link.... Throughout the post I linked to sources for buying supplies, links to labs, testing info and about 3/4 of the way down, I've linked to printable submission forms for various test so you're not stuck digging through lab websites hunting for them.

Testing without the help of a vet is easy, fairly inexpensive and it arms you with knowledge about your herd allowing you to make sound management decisions for future generations and provide buyers with a bit of security that they are getting clean animals.

Now.... My rant. I'm so mad, irritated and heart broke for a gal I met earlier this year. She's a single mom, saved up her money and bought a pretty decent starter herd of dairy goats. Nice genetics and the herd they came from at one point tested, but then stopped for several years before selling out and claimed a "closed herd"....

I went out to her place and pulled blood for her to CAE test.... Results came back and almost 1/2 the animals are POSITIVE. Not only that, she was new, and thought that because of the quality of animals she bought (some SG and finished champs in the mix) and the claims of a closed herd after years of testing that it was safe to dam raise the kids from this spring.... Well guess what? She has a lovely pen of keeper doe kids she just weaned raised by these does!!

She is just devastated. Yes, it's possible to clean up the mess, but not without a lot of time, expense and work and when ya get right down to the bare bones of the matter, it's just beyond frustrating to me that with testing so readily available, so cheap and so easy to do that there are still newly infected animals creeping up in herds across the country.....Sure, they aren't cureable, but they are PREVENTABLE if more folks would just TEST!

I realize not all folks share my opinion on these things, but my gosh... As a producer, as a person making the decision to bring new living creatures into the world I feel it is imperative that you do the best you can to ensure that future generations aren't plagued by preventable diseases...

Ok... Rant over.

CAjerseychick · #2 07/12/14, 04:49 PM

yeah I feel you. The last set of goats bought from "tested" parents closed herd were all CAE positive (and when you buy kids you cant test them until after you have gone and bonded to them).... I went back in my emails and looked and had asked all the right questions...
stuck in a holding pattern with the remaining 2 does and a wether(different source), all tested negative TWICE so far. But scared to proceed ( I miss the milk I need buck service)...

LoneStrChic23 · #3 07/12/14, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAjerseychick

yeah I feel you. The last set of goats bought from "tested" parents closed herd were all CAE positive (and when you buy kids you cant test them until after you have gone and bonded to them).... I went back in my emails and looked and had asked all the right questions...
stuck in a holding pattern with the remaining 2 does and a wether(different source), all tested negative TWICE so far. But scared to proceed ( I miss the milk I need buck service)...

Aw I'm so sorry

I never take anyone's word for it when it comes to disease testing. I insist on current, herd wide, negative test in hand from an accredited lab. On bigger purchases, I've drove to the seller's house, pulled blood myself and put a deposit down with a signed contract stating that if the results come back positive I will receive my deposit back and if they are negative, I pick up the animal and pay remaining balance within 2 business days.

Did you have an ELISA test done on the animals or the AGID? ELSIA is pretty darn accurate if you use a good lab like Biotracking or WADDL... If you're still worried you could run a PCR CAE test on them .....

Cyngbaeld · #4 07/12/14, 05:36 PM

That is so sad. I know someone who claims "closed herd" and I know for a fact she has had animals in and out that she has no idea of disease status.

yarrow · #5 07/12/14, 07:52 PM

rant away.. I am so sick of hearing about *CLOSED herds* or folks who feel that since they tested ONCE their herd is Now a TESTED herd ... I always give a copy of the the yearly CAE test results (most years I only test the does, simply due to not wanting to handle the stinky boys LOL, so we they aren't exactly *herdwide* yearly tested.. but my bucks don't run with my does). I send off pregnancy tests at the same time I send the blood for CAE, so I don't have folks sitting around hoping for kids from a doe that ended up open.. oh also always a copy of the G6S test results along with reg. papers... I'm always floored when I have a buyer tell me they don't need a copy of the test results.. that they trust me.. I usually tell them NO.. don't trust me.. don't trust anyone.. insist on paperwork!!!!.. People LIE all the time, so they don't have to be out the money to do the tests..

(on purchased stock.. I don't ever breed/kid them out without AGAIN testing.. even if I got the paperwork.. I'd rather be out more money and KNOW for sure.. from blood I drew and sent in myself.. call me paranoid LOL).. even with the *Big name herds.. I will re-test before they have babies/sire babies.. Not just for CAE.. but for G6S too.. that means my Saada kids, my Golthwaite kids.. my Reuel kid.. the Windsong kid that I bought this spring... ALL will be redone, by ME.. this fall..

so sorry about your friend's does and the newly infected babies

susie

CAjerseychick · #6 07/12/14, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneStrChic23

Aw I'm so sorry

I never take anyone's word for it when it comes to disease testing. I insist on current, herd wide, negative test in hand from an accredited lab.

Did you have an ELISA test done on the animals or the AGID? ELSIA is pretty darn accurate if you use a good lab like Biotracking or WADDL... If you're still worried you could run a PCR CAE test on them .....

The animals were 3 month old doelings and a 2 month old buckling - too young to test and dams on them were tested (I saw the paperwork) but dont really remmeber how current they were or what lab.

The goats we kept were retested 6 weeks later after the above goats came back postive for CAE- negative twice for the ELISA test for CAE, drawn by our goat vet (she breeds and shows pygmies) and sent to the local lab in Davis, CA "the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory system"

so I think the results are pretty reliable, although vet said we need to retest in 6 months ...
if we are going to breed...

I guess in the future I will have my vet weigh in on whether the buck is deemed safe to breed to...

Sensiblefarmer · #7 07/13/14, 12:56 PM

Another good reason to bottle feed instead of dam raise kids. Even if the entire herd is tested, there's always the possibility of an inaccurate test result. The scourge of backyard chicken breeders in recent years has produced this whole culture of those who advertise and sell birds that are "disease free". No, they are tested for one or two diseases, but still a lot of people fall for it. PT Barnum was right.
Keep in mind that CAE is not the horror that some people make it out to be. Sure, it's nice not to have it, but it can be eliminated from a herd. The first step is to bottle feed all kids. Those of us who have had goats for many years remember when CAE was first recognized. Many herds had it, for years before. It wasn't the end of the world or our herds then, and it isn't now.

LoneStrChic23 · #8 07/24/14, 10:43 PM

Meh, bottle raising has it's issues too.... I pull all of my kids at birth and bottle raise, but CAE can be spread when folks pool milk, don't properly pasteurize and then feed it to the kid crop.... Just one positive doe milking into that pooled milk is all it takes to infect the crop.

And no.... Not the end of the world, but it's preventable and if more folks would step up and test, then take appropriate measures then there would be less animals infected.

IMO, there just isn't any reason in this day and age with information so readily available for free and testing so simple and relatively cheap to be having newly infected animals.

Just very sad for this gal who got suckered and now has this set back and extra work to deal with...

MDKatie · #9 07/25/14, 08:07 AM

Keep in mind that vaccines can alter test results and can show a false positive for CAE. Make sure you haven't vaccinated for anything at least 6-8 weeks prior to pulling blood for testing.

Backfourty,MI. · #10 07/25/14, 12:38 PM

Rant away Crystal! I wish everyone tested for CAE & Johne's. So many dairy herds test for CAE but not Johne's & that's my big pet peeve.
I am sorry for your friend, how sad she has to deal with this now.

tansyflower · #11 07/26/14, 05:19 PM

can someone please explain to me what the tests are for?

Goat Servant · #12 07/27/14, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tansyflower

can someone please explain to me what the tests are for?

There are some stickies at the top of the goat page, read read read.

Goat Servant · #13 07/27/14, 02:32 PM

Great topic. A friend is coming today to show me how to draw.