Biosecurity screening
Test results will be provided to prospective buyers upon request.
August 2024 – Johne’s (pooled fecal PCR) – All negative, testing done via University of Minnesota
October 2023 – CAE, Johne’s (ELISA), Brucellosis, Q-fever – All negative, testing done via Rollins
December 2022 – CAE, CL, Johne’s (ELISA), Q-fever – All negative, testing done via Rollins and WADDL
2021 – CAE, CL, Johne’s (ELISA), Brucellosis, Q-fever – All negative, testing done via Rollins and Texas A&M
2020 – CAE, CL, Johne’s (ELISA) – All negative, testing done via Rollins and UC Davis
2019 – CAE, CL, Johne’s – All negative, testing done via Rollins and UC Davis
2018 – CAE, CL, Johne’s (ELISA) – All negative, testing done via UBRL
Management (updated November 2024)
Kidding: All kids are removed from their dams immediately after birth, and bottle/lambar fed with heat-treated colostrum and pasteurized milk. Dams are milked twice a day. All kids are disbudded.
Hay: Does in milk receive primarily orchardgrass hay or timothy/orchard mix with a small amount of alfalfa. During the dry period, they receive orchard grass hay. Bucks receive orchard grass hay year round.
Feed: Kids and bucks receive Kalmbach milk and meat. Does receive either Kalmbach milk and meat or Blue Seal home fresh feed (some of my does are opinionated!).
Minerals: All goats receive free choice Sweetlix loose minerals, but I am still trying to optimize this and have used other brands at times.
Vaccinations:
- Frequent CDT vaccinations, at least every 3 months based on current research
- Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida vaccine to protect against bacterial pneumonia
- Inforce 3 to cover viral causes of pneumonia
Parasite management: We try to use integrated pest management to keep chemical deworming to a bare minimum, only using dewormers when necessary for the health of the goat. This slows down the development of resistance of the worms to the dewormers. FAMANCHA scores are checked at minimum every couple of weeks during the warmer, wetter parts of the year. FAMANCHA along with body condition scoring is used to identify goats that may have a parasite issue. This is always confirmed via fecal exam before deworming a goat, and then another fecal is done about a week after deworming, to make sure that the dewormer did its job. Farmatan and/or Bioworma are fed to help keep worm loads at a manageable level. Finally, breeding decisions are made with resistance and resilience to internal parasites in mind.
We use Pro Bac C for coccidia prevention until kids are 12 weeks old.