February 2010 Articles

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Herd Health Program for Meat Goats

Herd Health Program for Meat Goats Jodie A. Pennington, Extension Dairy Specialist, Jeremy Powell, Extension Veterinarian
Importance of Health Program An effective animal health program is an essential part of a successful meat goat management program. Good feeding & breeding will not result in maximum production if goats are not kept in good in health. Since each herd is a different situation, each owner should work with their veterinarian to create their own herd health plan. Keep good records for each animal regarding medications, vaccinations, wormers, injuries, production, breeding & culling. Use this information to plan your herd health program. Preventive medicine is usually less expensive than treating the disease. The best economic returns are realized when disease problems are at a minimum. Because the symptoms of some diseases are so similar (i.e., white muscle disease, polyarthritis, CAE, tetanus), you need to work closely with a veterinarian, specifically one familiar with goats, if possible. In some cases, you may have to select a veterinarian that you like & allow them to gain experience with goats in your herd. The veterinarian has the training to provide a diagnosis or the means of obtaining a diagnosis when a disease occurs. The veterinarian should also be familiar with products for treating goats plus current regulations & health requirements for shipping animals. As part of the scrapie eradication program, all goat herds must now have a premise identification number for the herd. Goats will need ID tags if they are to be transported elsewhere, except for goats moving to slaughter, registered dairy goats with registration papers, castrated males for exhibition, moving goats for grazing, low-risk commercial goats such as those raised for fiber and/ or meat, not registered or exhibited, which have not been in contact with sheep, not from an infected or source herd, & not from a scrapie positive, high-risk or exposed herd. Also, in the next few years herds may require a premise identification number for their facility as part of the National Animal Identification System. Call (866-873-2824) for forms to obtain an identification number for the herd and to obtain tags for the goats. Observation and Records Spending a few minutes every day watching your animals is time well spent. You can learn the normal behavior and attitude of your goats and then recognize anything that may be wrong. This knowledge is one of the most important characteristics of a good herder. If abnormal behavior is observed, use common sense, your experience and knowledge & your physical senses to determine the problem. Don’t overlook the obvious. A physical exam may show an abscess, cut or bruise. Ask questions. How is the behavior abnormal? Is the head down or are the ears drooping? Is the animal off-feed? Is it sweating or shivering? Is the respiratory rate normal 12-20 times/minute? Is there a fever? Temperatures range from 101.7-103.5° F with an average of 102.3°F. Is the heart rate normal at 70-100 times/minute? Has this disease occurred previously? Record all observations on a permanent record. Do you have a record of these same symptoms at another time? Has your veterinarian seen these diseases in other herds? Nutrition & Feeding Practices Goats too skinny or too fat and goats off-feed are the most common nutritional problems. Each can be prevented by properly balancing the ration & controlling other diseases. Frequent observations can allow early detection of these disorders & minimize the dry period affects the doe & kids throughout at least the next year. Much emphasis should be given to the importance of nutrition in any stages for development of your goats. Nutrition of Meat Goats, MP427, is available with more details on feeding. Meat goats should be fed similarly to maximize production while minimizing feed costs. As such, good-quality forage should be the basis of the ration, & minimal amounts of a 14 to 18% protein concentrate should be fed as a supplement when does are nursing kids. Higher producing does with multiple kids may require additional energy in the ration. The most economical forages are usually pastures that are growing vigorously & have not reached maturity. Annual grasses such as ryegrass, wheat & millet make excellent feed for meat goats. Excess forage can also be harvested as hay or silage but should be cut when the grass is high quality (low fiber & in a vegetative stage of growth). Silage is not a common feed since most goats are kept in small herds, which does not justify costs of the equipment. Periodically, feel your does to determine their body condition & avoid overfeeding grain to does in late lactation. Usually does will not need extra grain after the kids are weaned unless they have poor quality forage or you want to flush the does before breeding. The best location to feel is along the backbone & over the ribs. Fat goats are more prone to go off feed, have problems at kidding & tend to have pregnancy toxemia. Additionally, overfeeding grain may lead to foundering the animal. Loose or block trace mineral salt TMS should be available at all times. Goats are susceptible to copper deficiency & are fairly resistant to copper toxicity. Therefore, goats or cattle TMS, rather than sheep salt with very low copper, should be offered. The salt & other feeds should be kept dry and off the ground. It is best to offer an excellent quality goat mineral, but it will usually cost more than cattle mineral. To avoid a decrease in water consumption, especially for does in early lactation that are nursing more than one kid, water should be fresh & plentiful. If possible, water should be warn in winter & cool in summer, although water from a ground source is acceptable if it is clean & free of manure & other disease sources. Bucks & wethers fed on substantial amounts of grain are pone to developed urinary calculi. Genetics may also be a factor in the disease. Reducing grain consumption, adding ammonium chloride to the diet, keeping the calcium: phosphorus ratio at about 2:1, & keeping the magnesium level low help prevent the buildup of calcium in the urinary tract. If you are not familiar with the meat goat ration, work closely with your County Extension agent in formulating diets for goats.