Undergrowth Ranch
Goat Diseases/Illnesses
A Guide to Identifying, Managing, Treatment, and Prevention
Diseases can enter your farm/ ranch from many sources. Introducing new animals is the usual avenue but not the only way that illnesses find their way into your herd. Here are some of the ways:
1) Bringing new animals into the herd from offsite.
2) Offering stud service. This typically involves bringing other producers' does onto the property for breeding service by an on-site buck.
3) Goat shows. A huge source of infection and illness, shows are like children's day-care centers -- incubators for disease.
4) Visitors. Infectious materials can enter on visitors' shoes, clothing, skin, and hair; on the tires of vehicles; in hay, water, tubs/buckets, feed and other supplies that visitors have brought with them.
5) Unclean conditions in pens and pastures.
6) Poor health management practices within the herd.
7) Your family members, livestock guardian animals, pets, and through the air
Abortion
Identifying: Doe acts like she is starting labor and is believed to be too early
Causes: This could occur due to drinking water containing salmonella typhinmurium, fed on rich clover or trefoil.
Treatment: Treated with Tetracycline, Oxytetracycline, and Chlortetracycline. Injection of 20 mg/kg of oxytetracycline given intramuscular at 105 and 120 days of pregnancy can prevent abortion.
Herbal Treatment: begin giving her False Unicorn Root (3 parts) and Lobelia inflata (1 part) right away. These parts are by WEIGHT (i.e. 1/2 oz, 1 oz. etc), NOT volume (i.e. 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp etc). Make it into an Infusion (strong tea) using 1 tsp of herb mix to 8 oz of distilled water just off the boil (like when you make tea). Distilled water is preferred when the situations are serious, since it pulls more out of the herbs than other types of water. Reverse Osmosis is second best. Give 1/2 cup of that Infusion every half hour until you achieve results. This mix will not harm, it will only support the body in whatever it needs to do.
