vaccines

There are no required vaccines in goats, such as rabies in dogs. That's because there are no goat diseases that are contagious to humans, which is why rabies is required for dogs. So, it's entirely up the individual owner.

CDT is the most commonly used vaccine, although many of us don't use it because it's not that effective in goats, and there is always the possibility of an anaphylactic reaction, which would kill a goat. CDT is a combined vaccine. It is for clostridium C&D, which is supposed to prevent enterotoxemia, as well as clostridium tetani, which is supposed to prevent tetanus.

Most other vaccines are NOT recommended by anyone unless you already have the disease on your farm, such as CL. Goats that have CL and goats that have been vaccinated for CL will both test positive. It is desirable to have your goats test negative for disease so that buyers can be confident that your goats are not going to make their goats sick. If your goats test positive for a disease, it's definitely bad for business.

Pumpkin seeds are supposed to have deworming properties. No need to crush them though. Goats can chew them just fine. They even eat tree bark. I haven't seen any published research on pumpkin seeds, but it won't hurt them. Not all goats will eat them though.

When you ask "what about during milking," are you asking about using dewormers? If so -- whenever you use a chemical dewormer, there are various withdrawal periods, meaning that the drug is excreted in the milk. This varies from drug to drug. It can be anywhere form 0 days to 4 MONTHS! And this is not an opinion thing. There is sold research to back up those recommendations. Unfortunately there are people who are continuing to share withdrawal dates from 10-20 years ago when we didn't have the research that we have today.

The parasite info in Raising Goats Naturally is 24 pages long, so it's tough to summarize here. If you don't want to buy the book, they do have it at libraries. If your library doesn't have it, you can get it through interlibrary loan. Parasites are the #1 cause of death in goats, so it's really important to educate yourself about it. The book also explains why you see conflicting information -- and what the latest research says.

Replies

Deborah Niemann-Boehle April 28, 2015 at 7:56am

There are no required vaccines in goats, such as rabies in dogs. That's because there are no goat diseases that are contagious to humans, which is why rabies is required for dogs. So, it's entirely up the individual owner.

CDT is the most commonly used vaccine, although many of us don't use it because it's not that effective in goats, and there is always the possibility of an anaphylactic reaction, which would kill a goat. CDT is a combined vaccine. It is for clostridium C&D, which is supposed to prevent enterotoxemia, as well as clostridium tetani, which is supposed to prevent tetanus.

Most other vaccines are NOT recommended by anyone unless you already have the disease on your farm, such as CL. Goats that have CL and goats that have been vaccinated for CL will both test positive. It is desirable to have your goats test negative for disease so that buyers can be confident that your goats are not going to make their goats sick. If your goats test positive for a disease, it's definitely bad for business.

Pumpkin seeds are supposed to have deworming properties. No need to crush them though. Goats can chew them just fine. They even eat tree bark. I haven't seen any published research on pumpkin seeds, but it won't hurt them. Not all goats will eat them though.

When you ask "what about during milking," are you asking about using dewormers? If so -- whenever you use a chemical dewormer, there are various withdrawal periods, meaning that the drug is excreted in the milk. This varies from drug to drug. It can be anywhere form 0 days to 4 MONTHS! And this is not an opinion thing. There is sold research to back up those recommendations. Unfortunately there are people who are continuing to share withdrawal dates from 10-20 years ago when we didn't have the research that we have today.

The parasite info in Raising Goats Naturally is 24 pages long, so it's tough to summarize here. If you don't want to buy the book, they do have it at libraries. If your library doesn't have it, you can get it through interlibrary loan. Parasites are the #1 cause of death in goats, so it's really important to educate yourself about it. The book also explains why you see conflicting information -- and what the latest research says.

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