Mad cow in Goat?

[nappy]

Just noticed on CNN headline news at the bottom of the screen about a goat in Europe found to have the chronic wasting disease. So far only cows have been affected. I wonder if this is the kind of scare we have had in Michigan about bovine TB...no cases of bovine TB has been found in goats here. Testing for TB has been discontinued at the present time. Hope this news about mad cow disease in goats is in error but could be a potential problem for our goats as well.

Nappy

[IMContrary]

Unfortunately it is the real thing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4216431.stm

[westbrook]

I did battle a few years back with a feed company about just this thing! BSE was in the news and a National Scrapie program was being activated.

One question I asked (as there were several)..

Q:Why is there hydroginated poultry feathers in my goat feed?

A: to bring up the protein

Q: why couldn't you use soy?

A: because it will cost more

Q: like how much more? a few cents? seems easier to me to feed soybeans then to process feathers.

A: no one wants to spend more money

*I went down the line on this companies feed tag, addressing each item that was from some other animal. And basically his responses were the same.

Comment from me to the feed rep...

If I set down a bowl of hydroginated poultry feathers and a bowl of soy beans which one do you think my goat will go to? why are you mixing an animal by-product in a feed of an animal that is a vegetarian?

The rep then began an attempt to intimidate me ... I was very quiet since we were at the state 4H leader seminar. I honestly tried to keep my conversation at a whisper...but noooo...this jerk got loud and angry and did the "I know more then you and I bet this is about the BSE scare and do you even know what BSE stands for?" needless to say I was livid!

I never go unprepared... ever! I knew there was going to be a battle...so then loudly so all the crowd that he has now drawn...say.... "I represent the XXX XXXXXX Meat Goat Association and I will now go back and advise this organization of your response, I am sure they will agree with me that we will be using your competitors feed that doesn't have any of these animal by-products in it."

a few months later the formula was changed...I don't think it was sole because of me but because of the nation as a whole contacting these feed companies and complaining.

The reason I am mentioning this is Please, Please check your feed tags, make sure that what is in the mix is organic and not from another animal which is what got us into this Mad Cow (BSE) problem in the first place. We can not feed animal products to animals that are vegetarians. This goes for all your livestock not just goats.

If you are not sure of what is in your feed...contact the company ask them.

[SilverVista]

Chronic wasting disease is well-documented in deer, so I'm not surprised at all that it has shown up in a goat.

I try not to buy pelletted feed, no matter what's on the label. Anything and everything goes into the pellets, and it's not even consistent from one sack to the next, as long as the stated protein and mineral levels stay the same. In this area, it's mainly screenings from grass seed production, with the soy level adjusted as needed. And LOL, westbrook, when the soy level gets too high, that's when my animals start refusing the feed! The extra buck a sack for rolled commodity grains seems like a good investment to know just what's going into my ruminants!

Susan

(back to edit...) Oops! The chronic wasting in deer is closer to the wasting disease of cattle known as Johne's Disease. I think it's more closely related to OPP and CAE. But I'm still not surprised at the news!