We are still looking to buy goats and i came across a herd where all the does were tested but none of the kids. Is it safe to buy from a herd like that or should the kids be tested?
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Deborah- where did you find that Johnes is transferred in semen? I have never read anything other than fecal - oral, or sometimes through the placenta/milk of a heavily shedding doe?
If all her adults are clean and she has a closed herd, that is about as good as it gets. Since as Deborah said, it does no good to test anything that has not been weaned for at least 6 months. You will get false results. They have to have been off milk for 6 months to get accurate results. No one you buy from can give you any better than closed herd, with negative breeding stock. The only other thing you could do is buy adults. All of us who have bought kids, bought under the same conditions you are talking about because that is the best that can be done.
It is a waste of money to test kids prior to six months after weaning because you won't get reliable results. I've never heard of anyone who tests kids. They should also be testing their adult bucks because CAE and Johnes can be passed through sperm.
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http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/disease-transmissio... Here is the link to the studies Deborah posted.
Sorry I don't have time to look for it now, but I posted links to two studies on here a couple weeks ago under a thread in health.
If all her adults are clean and she has a closed herd, that is about as good as it gets. Since as Deborah said, it does no good to test anything that has not been weaned for at least 6 months. You will get false results. They have to have been off milk for 6 months to get accurate results. No one you buy from can give you any better than closed herd, with negative breeding stock. The only other thing you could do is buy adults. All of us who have bought kids, bought under the same conditions you are talking about because that is the best that can be done.
It is a waste of money to test kids prior to six months after weaning because you won't get reliable results. I've never heard of anyone who tests kids. They should also be testing their adult bucks because CAE and Johnes can be passed through sperm.