Oct 2011 – v1:3 - Michigan Boer Goat Association, Inc.
Transcription
Oct 2011 – v1:3 - Michigan Boer Goat Association, Inc.
October 2011 Volume 1, Issue 3 B OER G OAT N EWS Michigan Boer Goat Association www.michiganboergoat.org INSIDE THIS ISSUE Happy Holidays! Happy Holidays! 1 By Karen Ibarra Boer Goats Thiamine Dosage for treating Goat Polio 1 Cydectin (moxidextin) 2 Normal Goat Health Information 2 Kidding Complications 3 MBGA Wether Series 5 Worms Editor’s Corner 5 7 This past year has been productive for our Association. Those of you who have become involved in helping MBGA grow have had the opportunity to: • • • • • • See more Youth participate in more Wether series events throughout the state. Help 2 deserving college students by donating to the scholarship fund. Advance your knowledge thru workshops and training like those offered @ Spring Goat Days. Network with other goat growers from around the world when you hosted the hospitality table at the American Dairy Goat Association Convention in Grand Rapids. Elect 3 new members to the MBGA Board of Directors, while enjoying a delicious meal @ the Annual meeting and Goat Roast. Continue our partnership with other small ruminant growers in this state by working with the Michigan Sheep Breeders Association to offer a meat goat series of workshops @ Shepherd’s Weekend in January of 2012. What new, amazing opportunities will present themselves to us in this coming year? I can’t guess, but I’m convinced the opportunities are endless. We just need to be present and willing to devote an hour here or there to promote our breed, our farm and our association. Anytime I have volunteered or attended an event, I have reaped benefits far beyond the initial purpose of that activity from the people I meet there. Come to the Christmas party in December and see what plans are already in place for next year. Meet or reconnect with the incredible people who have made this year happen and help draft plans for an amazing 2012 for all of us and our association. Karen Boer Goats – Thiamine Dosage for treating Goat Polio By Susan Rektorik Goat polio is a neurological condition caused in goats by a lack of sufficient Thiamine (Vitamin B-1). Technically, this condition is known as Polioencephalomalacia. Normally, the Vitamins B are produced by microorganisms in the gut. The composition of the gut organisms can change dramatically so that the goat does not get enough of the Vitamins B to function normally. Sometimes, the gut organisms die out. In other cases, there is an overgrowth of a certain type of organism that prevents the uptake of the thiamine (being produced by other organisms). Some of the symptoms of goat polio may include "star gazing", rapid eye movement, weakness in the back legs, loss of coordination, and seizures. Goats can fully recover; however, treatment needs to be prompt and adequate. When trying to calculate the thiamine dosage, I rely on the Merck Veterinary Manual guidance and use the mid-range amount. The Merck information is as follows: "Treatment and Prevention: The treatment of choice regardless of cause is thiamine. Therapy must be started early in the disease course for benefits to be achieved. If brain lesions are particularly severe or treatment is delayed, full clinical recovery may not be possible. The dosage of thiamine is 10-20, mg/kg, IM or SC, tid. Initial treatment may be administered IV. Beneficial effects are usually observed within 24 hr and sometimes sooner; however, if there is no initial improvement, treatment should be continued for 3 days... "tid" means three times a day. The Vet I worked with recommends treatment every 6 - 8 hours. To convert Kilograms into Pounds: Multiply the number of kilograms by 2.2046. So 10 to 20 MG per KG converts to 4.5 Please see Boer Goats- Thiamine Dosage for treating Goat Polio on page 6 Page 2 Boer Goat News Cydectin (moxidextin) ! By Steve Hart There is some confusion regarding the proper use of Cydectin (moxidectin) in goats. This is because originally the cattle pour-on was used orally, and then the injectable route was recommended by the Southern Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control (SCSRPC) because of better bioavailability. However, FARAD, the government organization that helps us to avoid drug residues when we use drugs in an off-the-label manner, recommended a 120-day withdrawal, which makes use of injectable Cydectin impractical because of such long withdrawal. Therefore the recommendation of the SCSRPC was changed back to oral. FARAD requires the use of the oral Cydectin sheep drench since it is the only available form of Cydectin formulated for oral use. It should be administered at 1.5 times the sheep dose, which results in a dose of 14 ml for a 100 lb. goat. The correct withdrawal Normal Goat Health Information • • • • • • • • time is 23 days. So, no injections, no injectable given orally or pouron given orally. Use the sheep oral formulation at 14 ml/100 lbs body weight and use at least a 23-day withdrawal time (don't send animals to market until 23 days have passed since giving the Cydectin). This information is provided to help the industry avoid drug residues in meat. As always, every year verify if the de-wormer is working in your herd by taking a fecal sample from several animals when you deworm (take to vet to see how many eggs in sample, you could have none) and take several samples from the same animals 7-14 days after deworming and have your vet check it. It should be free or nearly free of worm eggs. If not, you need to look for another de-wormer and check it out in the same way. Temperature = 102.5 - 104 - This varies depending on the temperature of the goat's surroundings. Pulse rate = 70 - 80 beats per minute Respiration =15 to 30 per minute Rumen (stomach) movements = 1 - 1.5 per minute Puberty = 7 weeks - 8 months (separate bucks from does at 2 month) Estrus/Heat Cycle = 17 to 23 days Gestation = 143 to 155 days Life span: o Does = 11-12 years average age, but... usually the death in does is kidding related. Does that are "retired" from breeding around age • 10 live longer: 16-18 years (and I just recently found a doe who was 24; she was retired from kidding at age 10). o Wethers = 11-16 years average age o Bucks = 8-10 average age bucks usually live shorter lives than does and wethers due to the stresses of going into rut each year. Full growth size: Most goats do not Please see Normal Goat Health Information on page 7 “Goat polio is a neurological condition caused in goats by a lack of sufficient Thiamine (Vitamin B-1).” . Boer Goat News Page 3 Kidding Complications By Terri Fryman Below is the Neocropsy report from my local Doctor, she has approved for me to use this as an educational piece to help other better understand what can happen with kidding complications and how much scaring can damage our Does, this particular Doe of ours was an awesome Doe (A picture is attached of her size, she had no other issues in the past of kidding but this particular time 2 years ago when she kidded I was not able to be here for her, when I arrived home from work she had past 3 large kids and one smaller doeling. The 3 larger kids appeared to me in a pile as if they passed out of her all at the same time, they were tangled, and in a pile and were dead by the time I got home, the smaller doeling was barely alive but I was able to save her, it was evident that she either came out last or first because she was off by herself. I knew at this time I was going to see some bad scaring from Natasha, but had no idea how bad. Last year she did not take, this year she did not take, then she started squatting as if she had a bad urinary infection, so I treated her with antibiotics for 10 days still no improvement. Then I put her in our stand to do a vaginal check on her and could not get my figures 1/2 inch into her, I then called our local vet, sadly you can see in the report below, we had to put her down. Keeping her alive would have been consisted of a very expensive surgery, a tube hanging from her the rest of her life (with infections) and she would never be able to breed again, per the doctor’s advice, we put her to rest. So my article below is to help others better understand the symptoms of vaginal scarring and damages and exactly what it looks like from the inside looking out after they cut the scarring membrane/tissue. It’s a sad event, but I could not find any education anywhere related to this particular situation, I hope it helps others. Terri Fryman Fryman Goat History: 5 year old Boer doe with 2 week history of intermittent hind end straining. Last time the doe kidded she had quadruplets, three of which were found dead and tangled together. Doe had been with buck earlier this year but pregnancy status was unknown. Owner had given series of long-acting oxytetracycline (LA-200) and penicillin antibiotics since goat began straining two weeks ago, although no improvement was noted. The doe had recently become anorectic. Examination: Pulse was elevated (around 100 beats per minute), but temperature and respiration were normal. Lung sounds were normal. Rumen contractions were slightly decreased in frequency and small, hard fecal pellets were passed when goat was straining. Small amounts of urine were also passed during straining. A transabdominal ultrasound was performed showing that the doe was not pregnant, although dilated loops of the uterus were seen filled with fluid. A manual vaginal exam revealed a fibrous membrane completely covering the vaginal vault cranial to the cervix preventing the passage of a hand or finger past about 5 centimeters into the vagina. The urethral opening was unable to be palpated and attempts at passing a catheter into the urethra failed. A serum biochemistry panel was ran and did not show any abnormalities. Outcome: Because the doe was suffering and had a poor chance of survival, the owner elected for the doe to be humanely euthanized. A necropsy (autopsy) was performed and showed a fibrous (scar-tissue) “wall” blocking the vaginal lumen and preventing passage of vaginal/uterine fluids out of the vagina. The fibrous tissue was also blocking >90 % of the urethral opening into the vagina, which prevented urine from exiting the bladder. The bladder was distended and filled with urine, but was otherwise normal. The uterus was also filled with clear fluid (hydrometra), most likely due to the inability to pass normal vaginal discharge over time. Page 4 Boer Goat News Discussion: The fibrous membrane sealing the vaginal lumen may have been formed over time after the doe gave birth to quadruplets. If three of the kids were tangled together and the doe passed all of them at the same time, significant trauma of the vagina may have occurred. Ruminants have an amazing ability to heal quickly and sometimes build scar tissue around injuries before we recognize there is a problem. This may have been the case with this doe, and over time the scar tissue resulted in an obstruction of the urethra. Urethral obstruction is more common in male goats and sheep and is usually caused by uroliths (stones). The doe in this case was exhibiting signs similar to those seen in male small ruminants that have obstructive urolithiasis (blockage of the urethra by stones) - straining to urinate, anorexia, etc. Her inability to become pregnant also can be explained by the vaginal membrane because it would prevent sperm from entering the reproductive tract. Natasha 2010 Page 5 Boer Goat News MBGA Wether Series By Tina Esham points for the series. We are working on contacting the show chairs for each show and then contacting sponsors who are the core of making the series a great success for our youth. It is hard to believe that we have awarded our winners of our 2011 series and now we are working on the details of the 2012 series. We are always looking for ideas and volunteers to help make the series a success every year so Thank you to all our sponsors and volunteers of the past and we hope that we will see you participating again this if you have input, award ideas or would like to volunteer year in this great event for our youth and the industry. some time by being on the committee we welcome anyone who is interested in working with myself, Michele Klingaman and Wendy Walters. We had our 1st meeting in November and it was great to go over information and start setting our goals. We have scheduled a meeting for January 21 at 3:00 pm if you can’t be there we are working on a way to do a teleconference as well so hopefully we can make this year for the wether series a great success. If you are interested in being a part of the January meeting please contact one of us on the committee. Our goal is to provide the youth with 10 shows that we can offer for them to accumulate Worms By Frank Welling Hello, Goat Fans I want to tell you of some recent experiences I have had in hopes that you can learn from my mistakes. Let me tell you that having to eat humble pie is a bitter thing to do. I thought that, with a BS in Biology, many years of farming, and all of the "how to" books I have read, that I was doing everything right in raising sheep and goats. Not! Last month, an 8-month-old Boer doeling (Fawn) died a few days from the time she began acting sick. She had a snotty nose and a cough, as did many of the other goats and a few of the sheep. That developed when we brought two goats back from the fair. That's where they probably picked what turned out to be a respiratory virus. Shortly after she developed those symptoms, she stopped eating and was lying down a lot. I gave her an antibiotic (LA-200), a multiple vitamin injection, wormed her with fenbendazole (Safe-guard), and fed her Nutridrench and water. Our veterinarian, Sherry Teegardin DVM, gave Fawn and the rest of the sheep and goats a long-acting antibiotic, some Banamine, and took a nasal swab. Within another day, Fawn was dead when I went out to the barn in the morning to do chores. A consult with “Adam” – Frank Welling’s Buck Kid Dr. Teegardin was done by phone, and I took Fawn to the MSU Diagnostic Center for autopsy. The cause of her death was severe anemia due to massive numbers of barber pole worms (Hemonchus contortus). The respiratory virus just made her situation worse. A fecal exam showed that she had over 23,000 worm eggs in one gram (about two goat droppings) of feces. Worming is recommended when the fecal egg count (FEC) approaches 500/gram. I had been using Ivermectin drench, and Safe-guard drench (fenbendazole), along with Valbazan as wormers. But I failed to have fecal egg counts done, since all of the goats looked healthy, had healthy babies, and were gaining weight. The decision not to do FECs proved to be fatal for Fawn and expensive for me. And I shudder to think of what a belly-full of worms was doing to the rest of the herd/flock. I still feel sick when I think of Fawn and have been mentally kicking my own butt. By the way, our most resistant doe, Isabelle, had a FEC of 3800 eggs/gram. All of the Shetland sheep appear to be resistant as well. I have dropped Ivermectin and Safe-guard from the treatment plan. Evidently, when we put together our Please see Worms on page 6 Page 6 Boer Goat News Boer Goats – Thiamine treatment - from page 1 to 9 MG per LB. The vet I work with recommends using a mid-range about of 7 MG per LB. I always use Fortified Vitamin B Complex because the amounts of B1, Thiamine, and B12, Cyanocobalamin, are so much higher than regular Vitamin B Complex. Each Fortified Vitamin B Complex product I have seen has 100 mg per mL of each B1 and B12. So, if the Fortified Vitamin B Complex product you have has 100 mg of Thiamine (B1) per each mL, then the rate of treatment is 700 mg per each 100 pounds or 7 mLs (or CCs) per each hundred pound. The rate could also be stated as 3.5 mLs or CCs per each 50 pounds. Check the label, but, most plain Vitamin B Complex products simply do not contain enough thiamine to correct polio. An alternative to using Fortified Vitamin B Complex is Thiamine Hydrochloride Injectable (which is available by RX only). If you do get Thiamine from your Vet, be sure you check the concentration. It should be stated on the label. It usually comes in two concentrations: 200 mg per mL and 500 mg per mL. When treating polio, you need to work with the right concentration when computing the dosage. Although all the Vitamins B are water soluble and the excess amounts are excreted from the body, Thiamine (Vitamin B1) is the only one than cause problems if too much is given. Worms - from page 5 Boer goat herd, one or several we bought brought in stomach worms which were hardly affected by those chemicals. My granddaughter and I wormed every goat and sheep with Cydectin drench. We doubled the dose for the goats, because they metabolize these chemicals faster than sheep do. A follow-up FEC was done 6 days later, and found only 75 eggs/gram! What a difference. Other treatments we are doing is pasture rotation closing some areas for 3-4 weeks before grazing again. And we will treat with Cydectin every 10 days as a drench or give subcutaneous Cydectin to last for at least double that time, as it is absorbed more slowly than giving the medication by mouth. And we will do bi-monthly fecal egg counts until after the first hard frost. A FEC done by a veterinarian will usually cost under $20. A quart of Cydectin or other good wormer costs around $65. If I had been smart, I would have spent around $100, but so far I have racked up over $600 in MSU hospital and vet bills. And lost an innocent young animal which cost me $300. The money spent doesn't bother so much as the knowledge that my ignorance has caused our goats and sheep to become anemic and undoubtedly very uncomfortable. They deserve better husbandry. So learn from my mistake - HAVE THOSE FECAL EGG COUNTS DONE. Do them if you suspect a worm load is building up, and do them after you have wormed to make CERTAIN that the wormer is doing its job. As a post script, shortly after we lost Fawn, the little buck we were going to use for breeding this fall had to Overdoses of thiamine can cause seizures. In a tight situation, another way to get thiamine is to use Overthe-Counter Thiamine tablets sold for humans. I have never done this; but, I know someone that has. This information for the treatment of Polio with Thiamine tablets from Wal-Mart comes from a long-term dairy goat owner--whom I respect very much: "You can also use B-1 tablets from Wal-Mart. They're a great thing to keep on hand for an emergency. Read the label. I think each tablet has 100 mg. of thiamine. I used them recently, but you need to be careful and not overdose as they go directly in the rumen. I'd say they'd work great as a first dose to get directly where you need to replenish the thiamine. If the tablet has 100mg of thiamine, you'd use 1 tablet for 20 lbs body weight, orally of course." Polio is one of the illness that require consistent treatment. If enough thiamine is not given, the goat will linger--often lying on the ground twitching. These animals may also go blind. The kindest thing to do is to calculate the right dosage of thiamine and give it every 6- 8 hours until the animal fully recovers. I usually give it every 6 hours AROUND THE CLOCK until the goat shows considerable improvement. Then, I switch to the 8 hour schedule. Also, giving Probios or plain yogurt can help restore the correct balance of gut organisms. When a goat is down with polio, it should not be fed grain or pelleted feed. The animal should be given plenty of high quality hay, non-toxic tree leaves, etc. Also, the goat needs water. If possible, electrolytes also need to be given. be put down when the vets at MSU found that he had a severely twisted section of bowel that was dying. Adam had a habit of crawling under the fence whenever he thought the grass was greener on the other side. We think that he developed the torsion by struggling to go in and out. A photo of Adam is attached on page 5. We hope that he bred some does before he died. Dr. Ludlam, you already know how tough the Shetland sheep breed is compared to other sheep breeds (and probably all goats)! But, oh that we had listened when you told us about FECs! So anyway, folks, please know that barber pole worms are becoming resistant to many kinds of wormers. And the best way to determine if YOUR wormer is effective is to check the "nannyberries" for egg load. And build a good relationship with your veterinarian. I am indebted to Dr. Sherry Teegardin of Central Michigan Equine Veterinary Services of Sheridan, MI. (989) 304-1395. Though she specializes in horses, she is very knowledgeable regarding small ruminants (sheep and goats) and enjoys working with them. Without her intervention and advice, our losses could have been much greater. Dr. Sherry makes farm visits, and I recommend her highly. Now go check on your pets and give Dr. Teegardin a call if you need help!!! Page 7 Boer Goat News Normal Goat Health Information from page 2 reach their full size until they are about three years of age. (They keep growing for about three years) http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm Thank you to all the members who participated in this month’s Newsletter! I couldn’t have done it with out you! Please send me emails or drop a note in the snail mail to me anytime! Membership Dues: Membership with the MBGA run Jan 1st to December 31st Re-Enrolling members need to have their membership renewed by January 31st in order to continue their member listing on the MBGA website – the Website will be updated the 1st of February Membership benefits *** Member listing on website *** Quarterly Newsletter *** Advertising on website *** Youth scholarships *** Youth wether series *** Opportunities and events to mingle with fellow goat lovers [email protected] Or [email protected] The Editor’s Corner By Tina Esham I find myself being asked how are you and my reply being “busy” lately and it reminds me of a busy dial on a phone when you are calling someone and I’ve decided that I need to change my response because I am busy but I am happily busy. I hope that this article finds you happily busy in you operations of everyday life! Out in the barn we have 18 does due in January, 4 does due in February and 10 does kids and 3 does that will be bred in May for October Kids. And that’s just my barn… Our children are growing up in front of us and I remember the days of having time to wonder what the future will hold and now it is flashing before our eyes faster than I could have ever imagined. “However, FARAD, the government organization that helps us to avoid drug This fall we have had overwhelming requests for goats. I have learned about the Islamic holiday that falls in relation to the full moon and have customers wanting to insure that we will have 6 month to year old goats available for them next fall. Then we had one customer request to have a Please see The Editor’s Corner on page 8 residues when we use drugs in an off-the-label manner, recommended a 120-day withdrawal, which makes use of injectable Cydectin impractical..” Editor’s Corner from page 5 MBGA Newsletter 58 N Concord Rd Albion, MI 49224 goat for them once a month… The demand is greater than our supply so we are happy to be able to provide the quality meat that they are requesting. Phone: 517-795-5386 Fax: 888-432-9191 E-Mail: [email protected] Getting News & Events to you! This coming year for the Michigan Boer Goat Association is going to be full of exciting things and I hope that I see you there at some of them! We have our Holiday membership meeting on December 9th at Aldaco’s Restaurant in Lansing, Shepherds’ Weekend January 6-8th Our First Wether Series show on May 5th and Our MBGA Spring Goat Sale on May 5th I am sure the calendar will fill up between January and May with activities that will be announced on our Web Page… Not to mention all the goats that will be born in that time! We’re on the Web! Visit us at: www.michiganboergoat.org MBGA Newsletter 58 N Concord Rd Albion, MI 49224 Customer Name Street Address Address City, ST ST ZIP Code
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