How common is it to have problems with CAE with Nigerians? I will bring home my first Doe this spring. I have 2 Nubian weathers at home who were bottle fed. I had blood samples sent to Purdue last week to test my weathers for CAE and Johnes --I wanted to be certain they were not carriers before I brought my doe home. Results all came back negative. Do small farms who take precautions need to test everyone yearly? When I breed my ownI hope to feel safe letting kids stay with their moms. Do most of you totally bottle feed or do you keep the kids w/their dams? Do most breeders blood test their goats yearly or do you not worry about it if you have a small herd? Ruth goode
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I bought all my goats from tested herds. I have no intention of showing regularly, however I might do it once or twice for the experience. The kids the does had recently are dam raised, and I would not have it any other way. When my buck and whether come with my mentor she's going to teach me to do the blood draws and they will be sent off for testing. It seems to me that it would be reasonable to test every 2-3 years if you weren't bringing in new goats or showing.
I think it is an individual decision ... I prefer to buy all new goats from herds that have tested their entire herd within the past year... Of course I had a terrible experience in my first herd so I am probably over cautious. I would feel safe not testing annually after a few years, but for my buyers I will probably continue to test annually. We'll see. :). I also plan to keep my herd around 6 does and 2 bucks (I know, I know!) which should keep the testing affordable.
As far as kids, I dam feed them and they are very friendly. I believe that is the way they were created to get their milk and therefore the healthiest for them.
So, I don't know if that helps:). It really is a personal choice and like Deborah said, there are sometimes strong views on both sides
Funny you should ask this because I just saw someone post on Facebook yesterday that if you don't buy kids with documented negative test results, you can be sure they have CAE! That sort of blew me away, because I think it is grossly exaggerated. That was supposedly the case back in the 1980s when people first became aware of the problem, but testing became popular, and people started bottle feeding kids whose dams had CAE. I don't think it's a huge problem today, although it is does still exist. I haven't seen any recent statistics on what percentage of goats are CAE positive today.
The labs (like WADDL in Washington State) suggest that you test annually, but after a few years it starts to feel like a waste of time and money if you have a closed herd and don't show. If people show or are constantly bringing in new goats from untested herds, the chance of disease is higher. I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer for this question. Nine years ago, I would have said to only buy from herds that are tested negative. But we quit showing three years ago, and we haven't bought a doe in six years, so the odds of a goat in my herd picking it up are pretty slim. I wouldn't say anything is impossible, but I'm not crazy about the idea of continuing to stick my goats in the neck every year just to prove that they are still negative. I know there are stories about goats who tested negative for a few years before sero-converting, but I also have multiple daughters (granddaughters, great granddaughters, etc) out of my foundation does, so if the foundation does had it, they would have given it to their daughters and surely by now someone would have tested positive or be showing symptoms.
When we showed, I was always worried about picking up something. As far I know, the worst thing we ever brought home was pink eye, and that was bad enough! Ugh!!! I never felt very confident in my goats CAE status when we were showing, because they say it takes at least six months for them to test positive after exposure, and there is not usually six months between the end of show season and the start of kidding season.
We dam raise all of our kids, because that's just what works with my life and my philosophy. I love sitting out in the barn playing with babies, so I don't need to bottle feed to make them friendly. And if you pasteurize the milk, you're killing some of the good stuff, so I think babies should have raw milk. But you'll find people who'll argue the other side of that.
So, that was probably way more than you wanted to know! I just don't think there's a simple answer to that question, although I know some people feel very strongly one way or the other. I've seen some nasty arguments in some online forums with people on opposite ends.
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As far as kids, I dam feed them and they are very friendly. I believe that is the way they were created to get their milk and therefore the healthiest for them.
So, I don't know if that helps:). It really is a personal choice and like Deborah said, there are sometimes strong views on both sides
Funny you should ask this because I just saw someone post on Facebook yesterday that if you don't buy kids with documented negative test results, you can be sure they have CAE! That sort of blew me away, because I think it is grossly exaggerated. That was supposedly the case back in the 1980s when people first became aware of the problem, but testing became popular, and people started bottle feeding kids whose dams had CAE. I don't think it's a huge problem today, although it is does still exist. I haven't seen any recent statistics on what percentage of goats are CAE positive today.
The labs (like WADDL in Washington State) suggest that you test annually, but after a few years it starts to feel like a waste of time and money if you have a closed herd and don't show. If people show or are constantly bringing in new goats from untested herds, the chance of disease is higher. I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer for this question. Nine years ago, I would have said to only buy from herds that are tested negative. But we quit showing three years ago, and we haven't bought a doe in six years, so the odds of a goat in my herd picking it up are pretty slim. I wouldn't say anything is impossible, but I'm not crazy about the idea of continuing to stick my goats in the neck every year just to prove that they are still negative. I know there are stories about goats who tested negative for a few years before sero-converting, but I also have multiple daughters (granddaughters, great granddaughters, etc) out of my foundation does, so if the foundation does had it, they would have given it to their daughters and surely by now someone would have tested positive or be showing symptoms.
When we showed, I was always worried about picking up something. As far I know, the worst thing we ever brought home was pink eye, and that was bad enough! Ugh!!! I never felt very confident in my goats CAE status when we were showing, because they say it takes at least six months for them to test positive after exposure, and there is not usually six months between the end of show season and the start of kidding season.
We dam raise all of our kids, because that's just what works with my life and my philosophy. I love sitting out in the barn playing with babies, so I don't need to bottle feed to make them friendly. And if you pasteurize the milk, you're killing some of the good stuff, so I think babies should have raw milk. But you'll find people who'll argue the other side of that.
So, that was probably way more than you wanted to know! I just don't think there's a simple answer to that question, although I know some people feel very strongly one way or the other. I've seen some nasty arguments in some online forums with people on opposite ends.