Herd Health & Management

Dr. Samuel B. Guss in his 1978 book, Management and Diseases of Dairy Goats, said there is no substitute for the "Eye of the Master" in dairy goat herd management. I would agree and find myself lingering in the barn after chores, observing, thinking, and planning. We are also constantly evolving our protocols as a result of education and experience. 

Here are a few highlights and thoughts:

BioSecurity -

• We have a strong bias for a closed herd. We rarely bring adult does in to our setting, just recently providing a home for my mother's Nubian micro herd, and then after full testing, knowing her herd had been CAE negative for many years. 

• We have brought in bucks from time to time, but have made a point to seek out herds that are either CAE negative (strongly preferred), or have a protocol of CAE prevention in place - plus a negative test, which we renew every year. We do not typically run these bucks with any does, and hand breed everything.

CAE / Johne's - 

• Our herd has so far remained CAE and Johne's negative. We test each year before kidding, and will send those results out with any animal we sell.  We practice biosecurity at shows within reason - easy enough for a tack pen to be a buffer, and keeping noses away from other animals at ringside. We are generally among friends whose herds we know, and getting out to shows is important to us.

Kids -

• We dam raise our kids and I'm a big believer in this, however it requires some management. The first few days of making sure udders are being completely emptied, and routine handling of all the kids (i.e., playing with them) are all really important in making this work. Every doe on our page has kids on her until they are 4-5 months old. We have no imbalances, lumpy udders, or any problems of that nature. The does come out 2x a day for their grain rations just as if they were being milked, and excess is milked out at that time, as well as overall udder health being monitored. When I want milk for the house, I can either pull a group of kids overnight, or there is often at least one doe who is overproducing and I end up with a good supply. We do drink the milk, make cheese, yogurt, etc. (of course!)

• Kids have access to a creep feed area with free choice grain where they also tend to nap as a group.

• Some trivia on dam raising - 

1. Mom's are important to their babies, but I've realized the importance of siblings. Even with kids just days apart in age, though they will all play together, they will all the time sleep in strict sibling groups. For instance, there will be a pile of Gambit's twins, a couple of feet away from a pile of Chimera's triplets, etc. The rare single we have is a lonely child at nap time.
2. Babies will also seek an out of the way "club house" where they all sleep away from the moms. This starts even at a day or two old, they want to find a spot outside of mom's pen, out of the way, and sleep in a sibling pile.
3. Most does pick their favorite kid or kids, and only tolerate the others. If you're watching carefully, you can see this even in the first day or two. As time goes on, this often intensifies. The less favored kids get good at watching the favored siblings nurse and will tag-a-long. If the favored kid is removed, the remaining one often will not be allowed to nurse. 
4. In a mixed group, "natural" herd, everyone pulls their punches on the young kids. No adult doe will severely head butt a young kid. If they want them out of the way, they will gently move them with their heads. This happens pretty routinely at the hay feeders, for instance. 
5. Even after weaning, separation, new batch of kids the next year, etc. - mom's and their grown daughters will be at the feeder next to each other. They will have their dominance scraps, but they are milder and once over will often be right back next to each other - as if daughter knows, that's just my mom, even after she's lost the encounter. They will also sleep next to each other the rest of their lives. I can pick out doe line families in my barn's loose housing.

• We disbud to prevent horn growth on all kids, even market wethers. The age we do this varies a lot, based on birth weight, horn growth, and kid size. We use a kid box to hold them - something that makes it much more humane for both parties. I do not do them in groups, I will heat up that iron for just one kid when it's the right time for that kid. Iodine and silver spray on the buds, back down to mom, and they forget all about it.

• We use an elastrator to castrate buck kids, usually at around 7 weeks or so. I go by their ability to extend and their increasing aggression toward their sisters. Banamine is used for pain and I always do this at dusk so they sleep through the first few hours.

• I wean kids at 3, 4, or even 5 months. Having kids on moms saves me a ton of work in milking, and it grows the wethers beautifully. Doe kids are pulled if they start to get too fat. However, often they are the less favored sibling (see above), so when brother heads out, mom is often full up and I learn that she has cut the doe kid off on her own - which is handy!

Health Protocols -

• In the beginning, we really thought that providing plenty of space and sunshine would keep health problems at bay. We started with CDT vaccination protocols as a baseline, and cultivated a close relationship with Anderson Vet in Zumbrota, MN. With their guidance and our experience in the last few years, these are the things we've added:

• CDT - mom's 1-month before kidding; Kids 4 weeks and 7/8 weeks booster.
• Grain - Free choice grower with decoquinate as a coccidiostat for the kids. This has recently been a little harder to find, so we do go with unmedicated feed some years. We cannot use rumensin as we have horses on the property and I won't take the risk. The toltrazuril (below) has been a good substitute to use as needed, and our outdoor spaces have been increased.
• Inforce pneumonia vaccine to all kids before they hit the show ring

Medicine Cabinet -

• Nuflor - the Inforce vaccine has prevented the pretty routine case of pneumonia from at least one kid from every show, but still will have the occasional kid get a fever and this knocks it right out. 
• Toltrazuril - our new "go to" for coccidiosis. We use as treatment and not preventive. 

Parasites -

• We are almost on a dry lot - though there is grass available, the does really don't touch it much with really good hay in front of them. Fecals have never yielded a treatable level, but in one case I did dose one with orally with injectable ivermectin as she was edging a little close. Our vet keeps an eye on FAMACHA for us and we'll run a fecal every once in awhile through them.

A Final Word -

• We will run a goat down to the vet in a heartbeat to get their input, as well as getting them on-site.  Dr. Amy and the rest of the doc's at Anderson Vet are one of the reasons we have experienced zero mortality in the 6 years we have had the Lamanchas.