Chapter 11

"Health Problems"

from Natural Goat Care
by Pat Coleby

The first part of this chapter covers CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis). The complexity of the disease renders a section on its own necessary. It is only through understanding the implications and testing for this disease that it will be brought under control in our goat populations.

CAE — Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis

This is a disease which is immuno-suppressive and is caused by a retrovirus (sometimes called lentivirus) and, in this particular instance, affects goats. Initially the disease was known as "Big Knees" which was one of the obvious signs when arthritis was present — actually many other parts of the body are affected when the knees are swollen, but that was discovered later. However, we soon learned that arthritis was only one part of it; encephalitis, hard udder, irreparable lung damage (with persistent pneumonia), outbreaks of CLA (Caseus Lymphadenitis) that would not clear up, one-sided udders, brain lesions, spinal damage, chronic mastitis and a host of generally unexplainable wasting conditions were all due, directly or indirectly, to CAE. The goat is left without immune defenses against even the most ordinary ailments.

AIDS in humans, Maedi Visna in sheep, Bovine Visna in cattle, Equine Infectious Anemia in horses and so on, every species has its own variety of immune system disease. We can only speculate on the reasons for the sudden upsurge in immune system afflictions. Some schools of thought blame our over enthusiastic use of vaccines, drugs, sprays and artificial fertilizers — our general health has declined seriously and immune systems do not seem to be what they were. All the different autoimmune diseases are remarkably similar, all that differs is the mode of transmission — the net results seem to be the same — a slow, lingering death once the disease becomes active.

There are many different opinions about the frequency and mode of spread in goats (as in other species), lateral or vertical in other words. However, there is absolutely no doubt that the chief mode of infection in goats is via the milk and colostrum. Of course, the blood, as in all kinds of autoimmune diseases, is the greatest carrier; however in properly carried out animal husbandry, infection by blood (via injection needles or tattooing) should not occur.

CAE and Copper

There is a strong link between CAE and lack of copper in the diet. Before anyone knew what it was, the disease had been documented in the United States as a condition where the goat either had not received, or had been unable to assimilate, the correct amount of copper. It seems that a diet deficient in that mineral would predispose an animal to lateral infection.

My goats have always had supplementary copper since before the start of the CAE era (or what we considered to be the start). This was due to Dr. Alan Clark, B.V.Sc. who tested copper levels in my herd so we could establish the dietary amounts needed. Seeing the copper levels are correct would be a small price to pay in the control of this illness. In 1990, in the United States, St. Johnswort, a plant high in copper, was first used to help combat AIDS. Also in the United States, the very rapid spread of AIDS had been linked to inadequate copper in the food chain — perhaps due to the advent of plastic plumbing — caught the FDA on the hop. They had always assumed that most people got more than enough copper in their diets and found that when they tested AIDS sufferers in particular, they had only one twentieth of what they should have had (Acres U.S.A). Johnes disease, a simple bacterial condition also needs a copper-deficient host.

I realized that my management of CAE was working and about as bloodless as it could be, but still a nightmare. Others were not so lucky. A certain breeder who was obeying all the rules about separate herds, sheds, etc., rang me to say that yet again her goatlings had come up positive. I asked how much copper she was feeding: "None, everyone told me not to listen to you." I suggested that she take some copper and see if the goats were interested. She took out an enamel pudding dish full of it and 11 goats stood and ate the lot — after that she believed me.

When the copper level tests were done on my herd, I had about one third showing "big knees." Alan Clark and I confidently expected them to show low calcium/magnesium levels as it appeared to be an arthritic condition. To our surprise, they only showed low copper levels, even though I was supplementing with a small amount of the mineral. From these tests, we established the lower level of copper supplementation. I later raised the levels slightly in the diet after reading information from Japan that dark haired people needed six times more copper than those with fair hair (I ran predominantly black British Alpines). Over the ensuing ten years, while fighting to eradicate CAE from a fairly large herd of dairy goats, I had no lateral spread at all. The only transmission of the disease was by milk and/or colostrum. My goats have a minimum of one teaspoon of copper sulfate a head per week, this is run through the feed on a daily basis as suggested in this book.

Because of having to make my living from milking, I could not afford either to run a double farm (difficult if you are single handed) or wholesale slaughter. I had to do the best I could, which was to run a mixed herd. This I did for 10 years coming up to 1989 — and probably before that without knowing it. By the time I quit full-time milking in 1992, the herd had been CAE-free for two years.

I have used positive bucks over negative does and vice versa. I have, from the time that I was able to afford testing the whole herd, tried to feed positives together and negatives likewise. Even that came unstuck when someone gave me a negative which was not truly negative; she spent her youth and adolescence feeding with two negatives. In spite of that I have only had one case of a grown animal becoming infected and it was not from the supposedly negative animal. It was doe who managed to raid the bucket into which I put the first squirt of milk from each doe taken off before I start milking. I was called to the phone and, to my horror, when I returned I found she had slipped the chain and had milk all over her face. Two months later she tested positive having had, prior to that time, negative tests and two negative kids. She and another doe that was accidentally infected at birth were the last two before the herd was clear.

Probably the biggest cause of lateral infection is via milking machines. An article from La Chevre quoted in the British Goat Journal said that it had been discovered that for a few milliseconds, when the clusters are first put on, the pressure in the udder is lower than that in the clusters and the milk is sucked back into the udder. The newest cow clusters in Europe are now being fitted with anti suck-back shields to prevent the spread of disease. In this country Diversey now markets a small valve that does the same task.

So it is absolutely essential that commercial herds know the status of their goats. Negatives must be milked before positives. It is an ongoing program which must be kept up-to-date until the herd is totally free of the disease. Sadly, every country in the world, except apparently South Africa, has CAE. A run down but beautifully set-up commercial concern I saw in Sussex, England in 1988 had reached the stage where 50 percent of the milking herd showed clinical CAE (big knees). Status was totally unknown as was the fact that they had CAE at all. I had the unenviable task of telling them to get the vet in and start testing. The new managers (of two days) knew all was not well, but did not have the slightest idea of the cause. Once they institute a control program, a couple of years should see the situation well on the way to being clarified.

One excellent preparation called VAM (Vitamins, Amino Acids and Minerals), which is an injection available in Australia, enabled me to nurse my positives along so that they could bear their kids. It kept them going and feeling reasonable well when all else failed. In normal goats a two cc intramuscular injection lasts about two months. The CAE goats needed it weekly in some cases, but it was worth it to see them enjoying life.

Testing in the United Kingdom is easy compared with Australia because the test for Maedi Visna in sheep (a disease which is not in Australia yet, thank goodness) can also be used for CAE. The sometimes outrageous prices asked here for CAE testing have been a great setback in bringing the illness under control. Particularly in Victoria where there has been no Department of Agriculture sponsored scheme, as there is in other States.

Catching the kids may be time consuming but, in all cases of straightforward births, it seems to be successful. If the birth has complications and the placenta is broken inside the doe, there is a very real chance that CAE will have been passed to the kid before it is born. I know of two cases where the first one or two kids were "caught" quite successfully, but the last kid was born after much difficulty and it was infected — one was the doe referred to earlier in this section who was supposed to be clear. Kids from such births should be assumed to be positive until they are proven otherwise. Tests must not be done on kids under six months who are fed milk from negative does, and not before twelve months for kids fed sterilized infected milk. The latter must not be tested until at least four to five months after they have stopped having the sterilized milk. The dead virus will cause passive immunity which will show up as a positive in any test for CAE done before that time.

Kids must be kept separate from positive adults or those of unknown status until they are four or five months at least. Kids that suckle their dams must never be run with positives or goats of unknown status — one cannot be quite sure that they may not suck from the wrong doe.

Care should be taken at shows to make sure the judge’s hands are washed between handling each goat’s udder. Leaders must open their goat’s mouths for the judge and, if you are leading up someone else’s goats, make sure you wash before and after doing so.

Tattoo letters and numbers must be disinfected between doing each animal, particularly if they are goats or kids from another farm. Make sure that injection needles are not used on more than one animal at a time — particularly when testing for CAE — regrettably, I once had to tell a vet to use a fresh needle each time when bleeding the goats. These are all possible methods of spread.

In 1991 a further and very disturbing factor emerged, the ELISA test commonly used in detecting CAE picks up a similar signal if the tested goats are sick (with something other than CAE). Only after careful and exhaustive re-running of tests was this fact verified and so saved some perfectly sound goats from death. At last tests on milk are being suggested, the virus was first detected in milk so it is feasible and would perhaps stop any anomalies arising from using the ELISA test.

Catching Kids

Make arrangements for a special kidding area into which all positive does or those of unknown status are removed the moment they show signs of kidding. Have chains with snap hooks at head height on the wall to which the doe can be attached so she cannot reach the kid to lick it. Occasionally kids arrive rather fast. Have clean newspaper ready, catch the kid in it as it is being born and remove it as far away as possible — preferably out of earshot of its mother. Dry and clean the kid with the newspaper, rubbing it quite hard as this helps the circulation, then put the kid away to await its first feed. Some people suggest bathing the kid, I have never done it and all my "snatched" births have been successful.

If the kids are taken away in this way, so that the doe cannot see or hear them, it helps stop her fretting. Some people leave unwanted buck kids on positives, but I think it is unwise to take the risk if they are running with negative does as they might suck the wrong doe. One of the sadder aspects of CAE is that the does cannot ever suckle their kids.

Feeding Caught Kids

I have tried feeding kids cow’s colostrum, but felt that it was really of doubtful value (and it too, can transmit disease) as immunity is not conferred by any animal save the mother of the kid concerned. Heat treating positive colostrum is a tricky business and it only needs one mistake for the infection to be spread all over again.

I learned to make the first drink from either unpasteurized milk from a clean negative (of at least two generations), or pasteurized milk from positive does, which we all had to do at first. To the warm milk I added one teaspoon of cod liver oil and half a teaspoon of liquid seaweed concentrate (I use Vitec Fish and Kelp Stock drench or the product that Maxicrop put up — these do not have any additives and are the safest). The kids passed their first manure very quickly and never looked back on this regimen and at least there was no chance of some odd disease being contracted from another animal’s colostrum.

Heat Treating Milk

This can be done fairly easily by raising the milk to 165 degrees fahrenheit and keeping it there for five seconds. Use a cooking thermometer and suspend it over the pasteurizing pan so it is in the middle. My first whole season of feeding kids from positive does by this method resulted in all negatives. As mentioned above, do not test until the kids are a year old since before that they could show "passive" positive even though they are not infected. Unfortunately, far too many kids were killed until this fact was pointed out by a vet.

Even when the herd has reached negative status, I think it would be very unwise to feed pooled milk to the kids. They should be fed from a select few tested does who are several generations clear. We did, after all, hasten the spread of CAE, which has quite definitely been in Australia for nearly 40 years at least (since 1960 if not before), by feeding pooled milk. In a situation where does always fed their own kids, it could not spread so far or fast.

I remember one quite beautiful black doe that I was given, an excellent milker who showed absolutely no signs of ill health at all, no "big knees" (I would not have known what it was anyway at that time). I always used her milk to feed the kids. When she was nine years old the goats came under great stress from nitrate poisoning and up her knees came. Too late. Most of the kids had been destroyed because we soon learned that any kid whose knees came up — usually at six months or so — became an unthrifty adult, so they were never allowed to live once it happened.

The above story bears out what one of the vets who researched CAE here said to me. He postulated that, in herds where the management was good and there was no stress, he felt that up to 90 percent of the goats could be positives and show no signs until they died and possibly not even then. Many people tell me that they have never seen any signs of the disease so they do not test. But, as soon as those goats are sold to another farm — no matter how good the management — the stress of moving (if they are positive) activates the virus and they start to show big knees, lung troubles, hard udder or whatever.

Never buy a doe unless she is negative, with a vets certificate, unless she comes from a tested herd. A test done while a doe is pregnant is likely to show negative regardless because being in kid often temporarily suppresses the virus in the blood. Does should not be tested until at least two months after they have kidded. When I needed to buy two goats here, as I had lost most of mine in the move, I did not heed the above information. The doe I purchased was from a reputable stud, all advertized as being CAE free. I had to kill her and her two kids and by that time her milk had infected two more.

I have not gone into details of the disease from the clinical point of view to avoid confusing goat keepers with too much information. Only one fact should be borne in mind; for humane reasons, any goat that shows big knees should immediately be shot or otherwise euthanized. The vet who destroyed six of my positives some years ago emphasized this fact, because the post-mortem examinations showed that the first place to be affected by the virus is the brain (neurotic goats nearly always turned out to be positives), the second sign was spinal lesions and the knees were the last to come up. So by the time the animal’s knees showed the effects of the disesase, the goat was already suffering quite badly.

Bucks and CAE

It is obviously important that bucks do not suffer from CAE, therefore they too should be "caught." However, the vets in Western Australia who first isolated the virus and found that it was transmitted in the milk now say that it is not passed on by bucks and positive bucks may be used over healthy negative does. This bears out what I have found, I had to use positives over negatives and vice versa because I could not afford to do anything else. There was never any transmission of CAE at the time of mating in either direction. This is a merciful dispensation of nature, otherwise we would have lost even more valuable genetic material than we have already. Obviously we want our bucks to last well into double figures, which is what used to happen before CAE, so they should be reared CAE free.

First Generation Negatives

In my mind there is no doubt that these animals are not quite as robust as the later generations, especially if both the parents were positives. They have to be looked after extra well, after all, it is a small price to pay to be free of what is financially, emotionally and physically a ghastly illness.

General Goat Health

Below is a check list of diseases and the deficiencies that bring them about; I find that they help stock-keepers to realize that diseases are not entirely caused by germs.

Goat Check List

Deficiency: Calcium and magnesium
Disease: Bone deformities, Bloat (with Potassium), Mastitis/high cell count, Nervous behavior, Respiratory ailments, Peeling horns

Deficiency: Calcium and Magnesium
Disease: Tetanies/milk fever, Warts, All fungal diseases (i.e., ringworm), All worms and fluke, Anaemia Auto-immune disease (spread in absence of copper), Cancer, Failing to cycle, Foot rot and foot scald, Copper Goat pox, Herpes infections, Johnes disease, Scabby mouth, orf (Herpes), Steely fleece ("dermo")

Deficiency: Vitamins A and D
Disease: Failing to hold to service, Pink eye (blight, conjunctivitis)

Deficiency: cod liver oil
Disease: Knuckle-over (contracted tendons), Metritis, Uterine infections

Deficiency: Sulfur
Disease: Lice, Poor digestion/selenium assimilation

Deficiency: Potassium
Disease: Dystokia

Deficiency: Cider vinegar
Disease: Urinary calculi (water belly)

Deficiency: Zinc
Disease: Eczema

Deficiency: Boron
Disease: Arthritis

Unfortunately we cannot be like David Mackenzie and say there should be no health problems since he had the ideal environment for his goats — three miles of coast line and plenty of room. In those circumstances and with the feeding he suggests, illnesses would be at a minimum — even in the United Kingdom few people can aspire to similar surroundings. In Australia we do not have a hope of emulating him. Here our goats have to face a series of soil deficiencies and imbalances and farmers — of milking goats particularly — have to be very good at their job to keep the goats healthy and productive.

Goats in the wild travel vast distances to find the feeds they want and only suckle their own kids, like their sisters of the meat and fiber sorority, for about three months or less. In these circumstances nutritional stresses should not occur. But those who have brought feral goats into farm situations will tell a very different story, with goats dying by the hundreds in some cases.

The more that we know about the effect of nutritional stress causing disease conditions, the more do I feel that hereditary conditions are not quite as frequent as we are led to believe. Several conditions hitherto considered hereditary are now found to be due to nutritional stress at one stage or another.

In some cases the stress is caused by overfeeding; this was much more common about thirty years ago — acetonemia was the most dreaded illness then, but it is hardly ever heard of now. Generally, a lack of the correct minerals in the right amounts is the culprit.

Sick land with calcium, magnesium and/or sulfur deficiencies coupled with a pH so low that the acidity of the soil inhibits the uptake of trace minerals, is also a medium where dung beetles cannot do their task of taking animal manures below the ground. So the result is a double-edged sword, increasing worm burdens suffered by goats who are not receiving the nutrients they need from their grazing. In other words — disaster. In my experience, it takes three years for people to realize the truth of this and then they have to take steps to improve their land.

Goats are by nature browsers, worm larvae and eggs are found in wet pasture not up trees, so goats in their natural state would not encounter many worm problems. The same happened in Africa when giraffes were first confined in game reserves and were expected to eat grass instead of the trees they preferred — I’d rather drench a goat than a giraffe.

Nursing

In any illness good nursing and confidence of the patient in the nurse are generally more than half the battle. This is the great argument in favor of well-handled goats. I have bought in poorly handled animals who still, several years later, shrink from human contact (except at milking time); to these animals, drenching or any treatment is an experience so traumatic that often it seems to do more harm than good.

Treatments

Most of the treatments I suggest have been discussed with or emanate from the veterinary profession in many countries. Papers given at various conferences world-wide have yielded much information. Some are learned from an older (and wiser) generation of farmers. For example, the late Mrs. Maura Mackay of Glenroy (Angora and Saanen) fame should have the thanks of countless dairy farmers (both goat and cattle) for teaching us how to use dolomite as a cure, control and preventative for mastitis.

Many people do not notice an animal that is off color until it is really ill — and quite frequently it is often too late by that stage. The goat that is lying down when all the others are standing eating, or is lying apart from the others — that is the animal that should be checked. My method of shedding ensures that I immediately see any goat that does not dive straight into her food night and morning, or any goat that has a dirty back end — both indicators that all is not well. Teeth grinding, yawning and repeated stretching tells the goat farmer that the animal has a pain somewhere and trouble will soon follow if steps are not taken to rectify matters. It is not fair to a vet to allow the goat to reach a semi-moribund state and then expect a cure. Goats often give up when they feel ill and then it will very likely be too late by the time the vet arrives unless some supportive measures like B12 and vitamin C injections have been used.

I use vitamin C instead of antibiotics for infections, whether bacterial or viral. If it is used in large enough quantities, it works for viruses, unlike antibiotics, and it has no side effects. Antibiotics are used to offset the secondary (generally bacterial) infections which usually occur after a viral infection. Much of the work with vitamin C has been done with friends who are vets and we have been amazed at some of the results when all else has failed.

I have had unfortunate experiences with some antibiotics, but in those early days no one, vets included, knew the right amounts for goats. They were assessed like sheep, as the weights were similar, until several very unlooked for results made us all realize that we had to have a totally different yardstick for goats. All antibiotics have their side effects and I prefer not to use them, although one vet I know of uses vitamins with them and gives good reports of the results. I do not use immunizations — and have found no need to do so — that is my choice. Like David Mackenzie, I see no use for them in properly looked after goats.

It is important to learn how to properly give an injection to a goat. The University of Melbourne taught me years ago never to give a goat an injection in the rump or rear of the back legs. This followed a post-mortem on a goat that died from an antibiotic which had been injected in her rear of the legs. I was told by a butcher that animals have a gland around there, and very few people even know of it. The needle had evidently hit it and the leg was already atrophying and the back leg would have eventually become useless. The vets told me that for intramuscular injections, the muscle in the side of the neck was always absolutely safe and never to give any injection without thoroughly cleaning the site first.

Intravenous injections are often very good if there are two people present, one to hold the animal still and one to inject. But if the goat is in a state of shock, or when the veins collapse, it is no use trying to find one. This frequently happens in the case of snake bite.

The bottom line in any sickness is good nursing, keeping a goat warm and as happy as possible under the circumstances. This can pose problems because sometimes a goat will fret if removed from its companions. A sick bay within sight and sound of the other goats is sometimes a good idea — other times they are better totally segregated — one has to play it by ear. It is no good just giving the animal the appropriate treatment and leaving it to sort itself out, they need care and reassurance.

Abscess

An abscess can be caused by grass seed working out from the back of the mouth or an organism entering a break in the skin. The body tries to expel the foreign matter and an abscess forms in the process. It can be hurried up by hot fomentations, or occasionally extra vitamin C, but it is really best to leave it to come to a head naturally. The vitamin C can be given as an injection of three grams for two days running which speeds up the process by detoxifying the poison.

When the abscess comes to a head and breaks, clean the pus away — burning all material used in the process. Wear rubber gloves if you have broken skin on your hands. Then syringe out the site with a mixture of 10 percent copper sulfate and water, trying to remove the core of the abscess. Allow it to drain and close up of its own accord and be careful it does not become fly blown, Flints oils or septicide ointment are both good preventatives against fly strike and the wound can be filled with either.

If an abscess is allowed to come to a head naturally and cleaned out as described, the healing will be very fast indeed. If however, the abscess is lanced before it is ready, a very nasty mess ensues which often takes several weeks to clear up.

Acetonemia

This used to be the goat disease when I started goat keeping at the beginning of the 1960s. It was almost endemic in studs where goats were fed a great deal of high protein feed without the balancing carbohydrates and dolomite. This was done to encourage high production and many of the goats were over fat and under exercised.

Signs are misery, irregular cudding, lack of appetite, dark, sticky looking droppings and breath smelling of pear drops. Remove the cause and treat first as a cobalt deficiency, giving two cc of B12 by injection three days running and a dessertspoon of dolomite daily for three days. Rethink the feed program and see that the goats are exercised.

Goats that are heavily hand fed become lazy about going out to look for grazing, a bit of mild starvation will usually give them the idea. Goats that regularly receive the correct minerals and whose food does not exceed 14 percent protein should not succumb to acetonemia.

Anemia

This is due to a shortage of hemoglobin, or red blood cells. In any country except Australia this could mean a lack of iron in the fodder. In Australia most soils have adequate to too much iron so it will mean that the anemia will be due to a lack of copper. Without copper, iron cannot be utilized (see section on copper). The other causes could be liver fluke, blood-sucking worms like barbers pole (haemonchus contortus) brown stomach worms (ostertagia) or bleeding from an internal injury.

The most obvious sign of anemia is goats that are lethargic and off their feed. Examine the membranes of the eyes, they should be a good deep pink to red but will possibly be a rather pale pink to white. Checking the membranes of the eye should be a weekly, if not daily, part of good husbandry.

If lack of copper is the cause of the anemia, this can be fairly easily adjusted if the animals are fed copper through their ration as suggested in Chapter 6. But a worm count should also be taken because blood-sucking worms kill goats, especially kids, very quickly indeed. Kids with barber’s pole infestation will be found to have chalk white eye membranes. Act very fast; administer B12 injections (one cc) every four hours, the mildest possible worm drench as a very strong drug could kill at this stage, and for the next three days provide an iron tonic (ironcyclene or similar). Give them seaweed meal ad lib which will go some way to building up the copper, which should be in the feed as already described. Worms and fluke are not interested in hosts whose copper requirements are being met.

Uncharacteristically low butterfats are often due to anemia, they are not always hereditary. A failed milk test is quite often a goat owner’s first clue that something is wrong. I was told years ago always to give the goats a course of vitamin B12 injections coming up to a milk test (where butter fats are recorded). Sometimes I did it, not knowing why and wondered if it made any difference, but obviously the person who had told me found that it did.

Arthritis

Beginning from the late 1970s until now, we have come to equate this condition with CAE. However, goats can and do get arthritis that does not owe its origin to that virus.

Signs are creaking joints (audible a few feet away) in mild cases, heat, stiffness and sometimes swelling in the joints — knee and stifle in particular. Arthritis is caused by nutritional stress due to an imbalance of the minerals in the feed. When it occurs in animals that are already receiving the correct amount of dolomite, it will be due to insufficient vitamins A and D and/or copper and/or boron — all are needed to assimilate calcium and magnesium.

One of the papers presented at the Tours International Conference of Goats also implicated a lack of copper as a predisposing factor (copper bracelets on horses have had good press). The lack of A and D can be due to reasons suggested in the section on those two vitamins (see Chapter 10). Lack of boron necessary for vitamin A and D absorption will be due to a shortfall in the soil. One teaspoon of borax between twenty goats once a week supplies enough boron.

Treat arthritis by removing the grains from the ration initially — give plenty of good quality grass hay, green feed and a little chaff and bran. Give vitamin A and D in some form regularly and include seaweed meal ad lib for the boron and copper. Cider vinegar is also a great help and should be added to the feed, or let the patient help itself. As much borax as will adhere to the tip of a finger can be fed daily. These days, in any case of arthritis, the goat must be tested for CAE and if it is positive no treatment will work.

Arthritis — Infective/Septic

This is caused by an organism that has gained entry through a wound, or possibly the navel cord (which may not have been properly disinfected at birth), or, more rarely, following mating to an infected animal — this can work either way. It usually takes about six weeks for the organism — generally corynebacteria — to show up. It happens very suddenly, with arthritic symptoms and a high temperature. Very occasionally high doses of antibiotics work, but this bacteria is notoriously difficult to treat, especially when it is in a joint where it can cause irremediable damage. Vitamin C therapy started immediately when signs are observed could possibly be successful — give a kid five grams (10 cc) intravenously if possible, if not, inject in the muscle and repeat every 12 hours. Give half a teaspoon of cod liver oil every two days, preferably by mouth. Good nursing procedures and giving afflicted adults twice the above dosage may work. Make sure the patients have unlimited access to seaweed meal.

Infective arthritis, whether from the navel or otherwise, is an unfortunate condition because it lies dormant for quite a long period while the causative organism is already doing damage. I bought a kid from interstate which was seven weeks old before a navel abscess showed up closely followed by infectious arthritis. We did not know about vitamin C in those days and the available drugs had little if any effect. It is also probable that it would have been too late for vitamin C to work. Its navel cord had not been disinfected and it was born in an old sheep yard, a frequent source of infection.

I learned about the venereal variety when a doe, who I afterwards learned had aborted previously and was in poor health, was brought to a good young buck for service. The first I knew was several weeks later when the buck suddenly became crippled with arthritis in all four legs. Everything was tried, and eventually he was put down and a post-mortem was performed. The cause was then discovered, corynebacteria and a swab of the last four does he had covered revealed the culprit, who appeared perfectly well. She did not hold to the service and was probably incapable of conceiving.

Do not let a doe come to your buck if there is any history of abortion or similar trouble. Insist on a clean swab (a swab can only be done when she is in season) before she comes back.

Avitaminosis

This condition literally means that the goat has run out of essential minerals and therefore vitamins rather suddenly. Unusual lethargy, unwillingness to move, eat or drink are the first signs of this ailment. Examine the membranes of the mouth, according to the severity of the condition they will either be streaked with scarlet lines or be a bright pillarbox red all over. Give the affected goat a dessertspoon of dolomite, the same of vitamin C, and two ml of VAM in the muscle — also give seaweed meal straight into the mouth and leave it for the animal to take as much as it wants. Usually this is enough, but in a severe case the treatment may be repeated eight hours later. I first met this affliction in a doe belonging to a friend who had bought the minerals for it but had not fed them. I suggested that she weigh the minerals, put them out for the goat and see what happened — the goat in question ate a pound without stopping and recovered almost instantaneously.

Bent Leg (Kids)

This is caused by a bad calcium/magnesium to phosphate imbalance which is almost invariably produced by overfeeding with milk. In one case where I was consulted a kid was being given 12 pints of milk a day — far too much. The bones (and the kid) grow very fast when this happens, too fast for the bone to form as it should — hard and flinty. The imbalance makes bones soft and porous, so the weight of the body causes the legs, usually front, to bend.

To treat it reduce, preferably stop, the milk intake, (see Chapter 8 on the reasons against overfeeding kids with milk) to about a pint a day at most. Give a teaspoon of cider vinegar daily and some form of cod liver oil, (A and D injection or by mouth). Grain must not be fed, only a little oaten chaff, bran and good grass hay. Dolomite must be mixed in the feed, a teaspoon a day, and the same for yellow sulfur — no more. Seaweed meal should be obtainable ad lib, and a gram of copper a day in the feed (dissolved in the cider vinegar). If caught in time, the legs usually straighten by the time the kid is full grown.

Bent Leg in the Newborn (Contracted Tendons)

The kids are born with their front legs bent under them so they stand on their toes — this can affect either one leg or both legs. The impression is that the flexor tendons are pulled up too tight, which is exactly what has happened. In extreme cases the leg or legs assume an "S" bend. I used to think this was just one of those things that would right itself — it usually did — eventually. Some authorities list it as being hereditary, but it is not. Drought or overhead main grid power lines can both interfere with the correct synthesis of vitamins A and D.

My last untested (for CAE) doe to kid produced two does with badly contracted tendons. I gave them the homemade colostrum mentioned in the section on CAE. Within a few hours, the kid’s legs had straightened completely instead of taking the usual week. The next doe to kid was from the same place as the first one; both had ongoing vitamin A deficiencies, possibly due to the fact they were reared under power lines. Again the kid’s front legs were deformed and the A and D worked just as fast. In this case the mother was able to feed her own kids, so I gave each one half a teaspoon of cod liver oil straight in the mouth.

Recently a friend called me with a six-week-old kid that had a contracted tendon in one leg only. It was so bad that the leg was twisted right around. I felt that in one leg there could be a deformity, but suggested that she try the A and D. To her amazement (and mine) the kid came good in a few hours.

Goat farmers should make a note of does who produce kids with this complaint and give them a cod liver oil booster about three weeks before kidding. This should prevent contracted tendons from occurring. The does could be given either A, D and E injections, or oral cod liver oil.

Bent Leg in Adults

This is usually caused by a sudden increase in phosphate-rich feed resulting in a possible withdrawal of calcium and magnesium from the bones. The goat pictured here was given extra alfalfa hay coming up to kidding because it was a particularly hard winter. The diet should have been altered by giving extra oaten chaff, bran and little barley with as much good quality grass hay as desired. I also recommend the following additions to routine supplements:

• Give 1 tablespoon of dolomite with each feed for a week, then cut it back to the regular dessertspoon
• 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil 1 pinch of borax in the feed twice a week
• 1 cup of cider vinegar with each feed
• Seaweed meal ad lib

Once the leg starts to harden up, go back to the regular ration but avoid sudden increases in rich feed.

Beta Mannisidosis

This is an hereditary cell storage disease, similar to Alpha Mannisidosis in Angus cattle. The cells cease to function properly and store material that should be expelled until finally the system, loaded with toxins, breaks down. The brain cells appear to be the worst affected. Up until the present time in Australia this problem has mainly been found in Nubians and a few Saanens. The signs are usually fairly conclusive and it shows up in kids as spasticity. There appears to be no known cure and affected animals usually live no more than a few weeks.

Owen Dawson visited one property where Nubian bucks had been used over ferals for meat production and there was a very high proportion of spastic kids. Thus it would seem that it possibly is not necessary for both individuals to carry the disease — perhaps it can be transmitted by one animal. Certainly in one Nubian stud that I knew well — from a herd where the status of all the animals was known — the transmission was very uneven, often two positives did not produce a spastic kid, then, or in later generations.

Beta Mannisidosis appears to be another of those inconclusive conditions. It is thought to be hereditary and to need two carriers. But considered opinion in many cases links this condition to management. In studs where goats are well looked after it has rarely been a problem; lack of viability due to inbreeding may have triggered it off originally.

Blackleg — Clostridium Feseri (Chauvoei, Bacillus Chauvoei and B. Anthracis Symptomatis)

This clostridial disease is caused by a scratch or surface wound, often on old sheep country, that has not been disinfected properly — again because it may have been too small to see. The first lesson the vets I worked with in the United Kingdom hammered home was that a wound must be properly disinfected at once. The vets used peroxide, iodine, disinfectant (Lysol in those days) and said that if all else fails alcohol — gin, whisky or whatever (a 10 percent copper sulfate solution is also very effective). This disinfectant must be syringed into the wound if necessary, and all dirt removed if possible.

Blackleg is rare in goats in Australia and is reported in Hungerford’s Diseases of Livestock to be incurable. As of 1990 only three cases had been reported here, two indirectly due to five-in-one vaccinations. In the first case, a dirty needle was used, and the other followed two days after a routine five-in-one vaccination where every care had been taken. The vet concerned in the latter case said that in the future he would not recommend this type of vaccination for goats, but rather would use only the two-in-one (tetanus and enterotoxemia).

The third case followed a goatling being cut along the side by barbed wire on an old sheep farm. The wound was not cleaned and three days later the first signs of blackleg appeared. The goatling was saved, but it took three weeks because, when the owner first rang, I did not realize there had been a wound. So I imagined it to be a bite and not Blackleg. I advised a small injection of vitamin C, five grams, which kept it alive but meant the cure took two weeks. I now know that the treatment was inadequate and the suggestions below work in hours not days. This goat was the fourth case I knew of and happened on my own farm. I felt the goatling had pierced her leg just above the stifle joint, but there was nothing visible.

In Blackleg the limb, generally a rear one, swells to grotesque proportions and the goat is in great pain, usually lying with the leg sticking straight up in the air due to the swelling. If no action is taken, shortly afterwards the head starts to swell and the goat will die very soon from the enormous pressure of the swollen parts, which rupture and turn black, giving the disease its name.

Do not try injecting into the neck as usual, because Blackleg makes the whole body super sensitive. Inject straight into the affected limb repeatedly (every few hours) with 25 grams of vitamin C, give good supportive nursing and an injection of VAM and B12 in the neck. As soon as the goat is eating again provide ascorbic acid powder in the feed. Continue to inject the affected limb with vitamin C until it goes down (about 24 hours). Find and disinfect the cause if possible.

Bloat

This condition is caused by potassium and magnesium being unavailable — generally in an overly rich pasture where clover is dominant. On a minerally balanced farm, the clover and grass are equal and bloat does not arise, however good the year. Tallow is another cause of bloat in kids which have been fed a milk replacer that contains processed or just plain tallow. Both stop the kids from obtaining the necessary nutrients from the milk and they die of bloat (and starvation). No therapeutic measures work when bloat is caused this way. This is because the tallow coats the inside of the alimentary canal and no nutrients can be absorbed.

In bloat the goat’s abdomen will be much distended, especially on the left side. If the goat is still able to walk, drench a quarter of a pint of cooking oil down the throat, then exercise while massaging the sides. This usually persuades the wind to be passed from one end or the other. As soon as the goat is relieved, give a dessertspoon of dolomite mixed in half a pint of cider vinegar which will help replace the missing magnesium and potassium.

If the animal is down and in distress, call a vet immediately because the pressure in the abdomen will quite soon stop the lungs and heart from working. The vet will release the gas with a trochar (a sharp hollow surgical instrument with a retractable center) allowing the gas to escape. The incision is made four fingers width behind the bottom of the ribs on the left side of the goat as it lies.

If the vet is unobtainable, a sharp, pointed knife will work in an emergency. Disinfect first, insert the knife point until the gas starts to escape, twist it slightly, remove the knife, and close the wound once the distension is relieved.

Again, a drench of seaweed meal with dolomite and cider vinegar (about 10 fluid ounces altogether) should be given as soon as possible to build up the magnesium and potassium in the system.

With bloat, prevention is easier than the cure — or death. Have the paddocks analyzed as soon as possible and top dress with the necessary lime minerals. Do not use chemical fertilizers under any circumstances. If the bloated goats are still feeding on the paddock that caused the trouble, make sure that all the necessary minerals are in the ration. Seaweed meal should be ad lib as usual.

Blood in the Milk

Unless caused by a blow from another (usually horned) goat or animal, this usually occurs in first lactation milkers when the udder is expanding rather fast. It is the result of ruptured blood vessels in the udder. If accompanied by viscous or offensive smelling milk, treat as for mastitis (see mastitis below). Treatment is to give at least a teaspoon (five grams) of vitamin C powder orally and six cc by injection. Repeat the oral dose daily until the milk is clear. Milk with blood in it must, of course, not be included in a contract. To check that the milk is clear, leave it in a glass container for a 24 hours — the blood will be seen as a dark line through the bottom of the glass.

Boils

See Abscess.

Bottle Jaw

This is a hardened swelling under the jaw and is almost invariably caused by worms or liver fluke — occasionally it will also arise in cases of extreme debility. Dealing with the worm problem usually clears it up, consult the section on worms. If this is not the cause, attend to the goats general health. If the goat’s CAE status is unknown, have a blood test taken. If the goat is positive it can only become worse.

Broken Bones

An ordinary bone break where the skin is unbroken is fairly easy to heal in a light animal like a goat. If the fracture is compound (where the bone protrudes), call the vet quickly.

When splinting, pull the limb out carefully so that the ends of the bones meet and try to set it in that position. Plaster of Paris is not really a success on small animals, as it is difficult to keep dry and tends to be too heavy. A leg can easily be splinted — first apply a soft bandage the full length of the affected limb. It is usually better to bandage the whole leg, especially if the injury is above the knee or hock. Then put on the splint, the side cut out of a plastic bottle, a metal "ladder" (obtainable from a vet), split bamboo or other light wood, all work equally well. Then bandage the splint in place and sew the end of the bandage. Do not use safety pins, clips or knots, they can end up inside the goat or be undone (or both). Bandaging is an art, too loose and it comes off, too tight and the limb drops off. Experience teaches you, so check an hour later to see that pressure has not built up because the bandage is too tight.

Years ago I treated a two-month-old kid who was staying on my farm as described above and she was returned, unblemished, to her owner. Standing beside the animal at a show years later, I told the owner to feel carefully down the lower part of the leg; she could just feel a very faint ridge where healing had taken place and asked me what it was.

Goats are excellent patients; they never attempt to put weight on an injured limb until the fracture is healed. It is best to keep them away from long undergrowth while the splint is on, otherwise the leg may become caught up and twisted. Do not keep the patient indoors, it is better off leading a normal life. A healthy goat will be fully healed in ten days or less. At that time remove the splint, but leave the leg strapped up for another week as a support.

In both cases, compound and ordinary fractures, add one 500 iu capsule of vitamin E and three to five grams of oral vitamin C to the diet, plus one teaspoon of cod liver oil a week. An extra teaspoon of dolomite daily should also be given. Those who have comfrey growing should feed three to four leaves a day to a kid and double or more to an adult goat. If you can find comfrey tablets, give two a day for a kid, and four for an adult until healing is complete — goats will often chew the comfrey tabs up — otherwise crush them in the feed.

Brown Stomach Worms

See worms.

Cancer

This illness seems to be on the increase in all animals, probably for many of the same reasons that it is increasing in humans. Goats, like most animals, have a head start over us because they manufacture their own vitamin C and are therefore never without it in the system (see section on vitamin C in Chapter 10). Fluoridated drinking water can be a contributory factor in cancer (see section on magnesium in Chapter 10).

The following treatment has been used successfully on a number of different animals and would be worth trying. For an adult, give five grams of vitamin C, with one cc of vitamin B12 (in the same syringe) daily for two days. Then five grams of vitamin C alone by injection for the next week. Add a dessertspoon of vitamin C daily in the feed as well and continue the oral dose for another month if the cancer has gone down.

In addition, 50,000 units of vitamin A and 1,000 units of vitamin E must be given daily for two or three weeks, then bring the dose down to 10,000 units of vitamin A and the same vitamin E as before for another two weeks (dissolving the capsules is the easiest).

Feed the normal minerals as usual, including the copper (which helps the immune system) and make sure seaweed meal is available on demand. Andre voisin links cancer with lack of copper.

If no improvement at all is noted in ten days, it is probably kinder to put the goat out of its misery. Actual tumors should regress totally in six weeks or less, but a large improvement in general well being, lessening of pain and decrease in the size of the tumor should be seen in about ten days or less. If so, continue with the vitamin A, E and oral C daily until healing is complete.

Tumors rarely disappear altogether and most often a small node is left — keep an eye on it, if it starts to enlarge institute treatment once more. Occasionally if the tumor is on the surface, it will discharge like an abscess after a few weeks. This should be cleaned up as suggested in the section on abscesses. This is preferable to the tumor dissolving inside where it inevitably sets up toxicity — hence the elevated doses of vitamin C to prevent any reaction.

During treatment the goat should be on a grain-free diet with really good plain grass hay and grazing. If the goat contracted the cancer on your farm, analyze and top dress the paddocks with the lime minerals as fast as possible.

Cane Toad Poisoning

Give vitamin C by injection and orally as for snake bite.

Car Sickness

See travel tetany.

Casein in the Milk

This is a fairly unusual complaint. I have only met one case, but I understand some does are prone to it. Obviously something is wrong with the metabolism, but the cause is unknown. I never had another case once I started to feed dolomite and cider vinegar regularly, so it is possibly dietary.

A hard lump forms in the teat, which is almost crystalline in appearance when extracted. Massage it very gently down the teat and try to persuade it through the orifice, causing as little pain and damage as possible. Make sure the teat and hands are spotless, and give a teaspoon of dolomite with the same of vitamin C powder each time to counter the risk of mastitis.

Caseus Lymphadenitis (CLA), Cheesy Gland

This is quite different from a grass seed abscess, although it may take a vet to tell the difference. The latter has been covered at the beginning of this section. CLA is due to an organism — corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis — which gains entry through a wound, often invisible, or even from a grass seed. The abscesses are located on the lymph system and usually start at the back of the jaw. They then follow the lymph system down via the shoulder and underarm to the stifle from whence they will form inside the animal, usually resulting in debility and death. If the goat’s immune system is in good order, one abscess is usually the only result, but should the goat be CAE positive, with no natural immunity, the abscesses will, in my experience, become endemic.

The abscess starts as a flat hardening at the back of the jaw, developing into a boil varying from the size of a dime to that of a tennis ball, depending on the goat’s natural immunity. The treatment is the same as described earlier in the section on abscesses, but extra care must be taken in the handling of the pus from the abscess. Rubber gloves must be worn if there is any likelihood of a skin break in the hands and all material from the cleaning must be burnt. A British Veterinary Society meeting in April 1990 classifies CLA as a zoonoses, in other words, an animal disease that can be contracted by man, often in a form more unpleasant than the original.

I had an experience with an outbreak of this disease many years before CAE became a problem. Every goat in the herd, about 15, produced an abscess of some kind (often very small). From then on, even if a new goat came with an abscess, my herd appeared to have built up a natural immunity that lasted for years. The organism re-sponds to no known antibiotic; exhaustive tests were done at the time of that outbreak by veterinary researchers. They established that it could sometimes be halted if measures were taken before the swelling started — an obvious impossibility.

The only measures I have taken have involved using megadoses of vitamin C when the abscesses are internal. This does not stop them, but it detoxifies the material from the abscess so it does not affect the system — this, of course, only applies to CAE-free animals.

Many years ago a woman rang me about a goat in the last stages of debility. About three boils had burst on the exterior of her doe and then started through the interior lymph system. The vet had diagnosed them as being in the lungs and liver and advised putting her down and I felt the same. The owner believed that while there was life there was hope, so we decided to try vitamin C. The doe was given 10 grams intramuscularly daily for 10 days, with several injections of two cc of B12 and good supportive nursing. I did not hear any more and assumed the doe had succumbed until several months later when I opened a letter and a picture of an absolutely blooming Saanen doe fell out — she had made a full recovery.

In some countries, the United Kingdom included, CLA is a notifiable disease. It most often emanates from sheep, among which it causes havoc because the abscesses cannot be dealt with or seen in the wool. Exporters of goats may have to produce certificates of freedom from the disease.

Several attempts, mostly in South Africa where it has been a scourge to fleece goat breeders, have been made to produce a vaccine. These apparently have not been very successful. It was found that good husbandry, such as avoiding deep litter situations and making sure that the kidding yards were never on the same ground two years running, were found to be far more effective.

Coccidiosis

This is caused by an order of parasitic protozoa. There are several varieties and each is species specific. In other words, each animal has its own particular strain. Goats cannot catch it off birds or cats, but birds can carry it from another of the same species. I personally have doubts on that one since cases of this illness have arisen — a specific instance was in a horse (which is rather rare) in the United Kingdom and no other horses were known in the county with the disease.

Apparently many older goats can carry, and shed, the disease all their lives, showing no signs of actually having it although a worm count might reveal it. For this reason, especially in small goat operations, kids are better segregated from the older goats for grazing. All animals develop an immunity with age.

Signs are ill thrift that does not respond to the usual measures and, in severe cases of coccidiosis, blood will be seen in the droppings. A test of the manure would confirm its presence. The drugs used to treat the condition are severe and prevention is best. Rudducks used to make an oral or injectable mixture of sulfadimidine for treatment that was the least traumatic of those on offer.

I prefer to make sure that all goats, especially kids, have access to mallow (Malva) plants. This herb has the reputation of preventing coccidiosis. Lately I have seen it listed as poisonous — it is no more so than any other herb when eaten in excess. Certainly I never had any more problems once I made sure it was growing round the kid yards.

Also it seems that properly supplemented stock of all kinds that are receiving the right amount of copper do not contract coccidiosis. This has been especially noticeable in the dairy cattle industry where it was a scourge in calves. Owners report that since proper feeding of minerals was started they have had no more cases.

Congenital Defects

See hereditary defects.

Contracted Tendons

See bent leg.

Coughing

A vet friend of mine used to be able to make a goat cough by exerting slight pressure under the neck. It will be noticed that goats often cough while being led if they have not been properly trained and are pulling.

Persistent coughing with no sign of fever can mean lungworm (see worms) and any goat that has had lungworms is often left with scarred lungs and will cough intermittently for the rest of its life. A course of 500 units of vitamin E daily for one or two weeks could help clear it up as this vitamin minimizes scarring.

If the coughing is accompanied by distress and a high temperature, treat as pneumonia — start treatment as quickly as possible. See section on pneumonia.

Respiratory problems traditionally affect goats or any other stock whose calcium/magnesium levels are not correct. Have the paddock analyzed and do the necessary remedial work.

Chilled Animals

Adults

These should be brought into a sheltered area and friction applied. Tie a jute sack around them if possible. Hay must be offered ad lib, food in the rumen is the goats natural way of keeping warm. If the animal is hungry, cold stress can occur. Give a heaped teaspoon of vitamin C orally and repeat two hours later, 10 cc injections can be given if preferred. See pneumonia section for further treatments if necessary.

In spite of warnings to the contrary, a big teaspoon of brandy in some milk — an old fashioned remedy — is still highly effective on occasion. To heat up a chilled large goat, pour methylated spirit along the spine and immediately rug it up and keep the goat warm. This remedy has been used effectively to warm up animals — it depends on the latent heat of evaporation.

Kids

These can become chilled right through and will require a lot of attention if they are to live. Put a finger in its mouth and if it feels cold all way down, bring it inside by a fire (the bottom oven of a slow combustion stove, with the door open, is good). Otherwise keep it wrapped up. Give it a little warm milk with half a teaspoon of brandy in it. I know this method is frowned on these days, but I have saved countless lambs and several kids using it.

I had a kid which fell into the irrigation channel in the winter. I did not find out until feeding time that she was missing. She had possibly been in the water for four hours and she was cold right through. I gave her a teaspoon of brandy in milk, six cc of vitamin C by injection and wrapped her up and placed her by the bottom oven. She was still terribly cold when I went to bed, so I repeated the treatment and took her, well wrapped up, along to bed. I wanted to know how long it would be before she warmed up. It was two a.m. when it happened and she finally relaxed and slept. She suffered no ill effects.

Circling Disease

This can be a result of listeriosis, occasionally corynebacteria or a nasal bot that has got into the wrong place, affecting the brain. All these can make the goat one-sided and the animal then circles incessantly. The gait is stiff and the animal walks with its head stuck forward; post-mortem will confirm which was the cause. If it was a bot, the meat will be quite safe to eat, not otherwise. In any case, the ailment is incurable.

Cow Hocks

These cannot be classed as an ailment. Though for many years they were considered hereditary — and probably were in the United Kingdom originally where deficiencies were not so frequent as here. In Australia all too often goats with perfectly straight back legs produce offspring that become cow hocked with age. I have judged young kids with really good back legs, only to meet them again a year later with their hocks almost touching. A course of cod liver oil, (orally, as the straight liquid, an emulsion, or as an intramuscular A, D and E injection) should be given. Assuming, of course, that the goat is receiving the correct minerals in its feed and has seaweed ad lib available (see Chapter 6). Very young kids whose back legs suddenly go weak can be given two or three cod liver oil capsules (as for humans), which will effectively reverse the condition.

Cow Pox (Goat Pox)

This is a herpes linked illness. Small pustules appear on the udder and sometimes around the tail and mouth. If unchecked it can spread into large sore scabby areas. I have seen a buck who was literally covered with pox and had to be treated with large doses of vitamin C to arrest secondary infections. Like many herpes diseases, goat pox is supposed to run a three weeks course. In my experience, if goats are copper deficient it can become almost endemic.

To treat the exterior, make up a wash of a tablespoon of copper sulfate and the same of vinegar in about a pint of water. This can either be administered from a garden spray bottle or rubbed on with a sponge, the scabs will dry up and start to drop off. However, the disease is more prevalent in colored and black goats whose copper requirements are not being met. A British Alpine goat that I saw at a show, which was slightly afflicted, was given half a teaspoon of copper sulfate in her feed for two nights in a row and the condition cleared up without any exterior treatment. First lactation does who, because they had not been receiving the same amount of copper as the adults due to lighter feeding when goatlings, always seem to be prone to pox. Goat pox is occasionally infectious to humans. Most people who milk by hand will have built up an immunity, especially if they have had chicken pox.

Cystic Ovaries

See hereditary defects.

Dandruff, Scurf

This is caused by a deficiency — or excess — of iodine. In goats that have been on the farm and have either been on the stock lick (if fleece or meat) or ad lib seaweed meal (if milkers) this should not arise. However, should goats arrive from another farm with bad dandruff, check that the previous owner has not been using too much iodine in some form. If seaweed is fed ad lib, goats with an excess would not touch it, and if caused by a deficiency, they will make it up from the ad lib meal.

Dandruff can be a problem in fleece goats as it can affect the quality of the clip, but more seriously, it means any goat that has it is below par — read the section on iodine. In dairy animals dandruff should be taken seriously as a sign of an iodine deficiency, as well as being a nuisance if the goats are shown. Make sure that the stock lick is out for the meat and fiber goats and ad lib seaweed meal for the milk goats.

Deformities

Some of these are hereditary and are listed in that section. If a kid is born with a deformity (not contracted tendons, see that section), it is probably hereditary; but if the condition develops later it is more likely environmental (nutritional). Lack of magnesium can and does lead to postnatal bone abnormalities, but this can occasionally be caused by overfeeding of protein.

One of the more usual and apparently hereditary deformities are twisted and either under or overshot jaws and, of course, abnormal teats.

Some years ago I sold a perfectly normal kid which, as usual with stud animals, I had photographed first. A few years later I heard that it had a developed a parrot mouth by the time it was two-years old. I could not understand what had happened until later on when another goat was brought back at two years of age for mating; so bad was the deformity of the mouth that, until I checked the tattoo, I doubted if it was the same goat. The doe duly kidded and came back to be mated; this time I really thought I was seeing things because the mouth was 100 percent normal. I asked the owner what she had done to accomplish the miracle.

"Oh, I knew you were always rattling on about dolomite, so I started feeding it and the mouth gradually became normal in couple of months."

If the damage is allowed to persist into old age, it may be incurable. The cases I have seen in goats had been cured before the animals reached full maturity — four years for a goat — but I know of a 14-year-old horse whose bones normalized after being fed correctly for a year, so perhaps there is no time limit.

Dermatitis

This is rather like goat pox in appearance. Symptoms are pustules on the udder, which can also spread to other parts of the body as the goat rubs the udder with her mouth, then scratches her face with a foot, etc. Unlike goat pox, dermatitis seems to be fairly contagious. Contaminat- ed teat dip cups, udder cloths and dirty hands can all spread it. A copper wash made up of a tablespoon of copper sulfate, the same of cider vinegar in about a pint of water and used as a spray will help clear it up. An A, D and E supplement should also be given along with half a teaspoon of copper sulfate with a teaspoon of ascorbic acid in the mouth for two consecutive days. The normal dose of copper in the ration should be given along with the above as well. After two days the vitamin C alone may be given to help recovery and avert secondary infections from the lesions.

The condition is staph related and likes a copper deficient host, but is not serious enough to warrant using a vaccine as is often suggested. Goats appear to develop a natural immunity after a while. It is noticeable that in herds with a high incidence of the complaint the dietary copper is nearly always non-existent.

Diarrhea (Scouring)

Intestinal worms and infections, cobalt, copper deficiencies and enterotoxemia are the most usual causes of this complaint. Other reasons can be imbalance in the feed, paddocks too high in nitrate-rich feed such as capeweed (already mentioned), and feed that produces acidity. In small kids overfeeding of milk often causes mild scouring.

For an adult a dessertspoon of dolomite, a quarter of a teaspoon of copper sulfate and the dessertspoon of vitamin C down the throat is always worth trying first, especially if there are no other signs of illness. If the goat is listless, lacking in appetite or has cold ears, suspect a cobalt shortfall and give two ml of VAM and two ml of vitamin B12 intramuscularly. Quite often both or either will clear the scouring up. Scouring is not (as is generally supposed) always caused by worms. Hungerford’s Diseases of Livestock states that unexplained scouring is often due to a copper deficiency and sheep farmers have found that weaner lambs have responded to half a teaspoon of copper and the same of dolomite quite remarkably when all else failed. The same could be tried with young goats, the dolomite should always be given at the same time (a teaspoon of dolomite and a quarter teaspoon of copper sulfate).

If intestinal infection is suspected, treat as for enterotoxemia (see section on that ailment).

Scouring, especially in kids, often kills by dehydration. Make sure they receive enough liquids, two ml of Vitec Stock drench in 100 ml of water would be safe, but no extra milk. In cases of adults with heavy scouring, minerals are lost from the system and need to be replaced. Drenching with 10 ml of the Vitec liquid, a teaspoon of dolomite and cider vinegar made up to one pint with water, will help replace them. This condition should not arise in animals properly supplemented with ad lib seaweed, and/or the stock lick. In very severe cases an electrolyte replacer may also be used.

In any obstinate case of scouring, presuming it is not due to worms, an injection of vitamin C should be given daily until it stops — four grams for an adult, half the dose for a kid. All this is assuming that the goats are on a tested and remineralized paddock.

Edema

This is caused by the body tissues holding excess fluid and generally occurs in the legs and along the sides of the abdomen. It is generally found in grossly overfed animals, especially if the diet is too high in protein and possibly salt. Years ago goat keepers tended to feed far too much salt to their charges. If they are getting seaweed meal ad lib, salt is quite unnecessary. More exercise, less feed and a balanced ration with all the minerals in it should correct the situation quite quickly.

Edema of the Udder

This is rare and has been mentioned in the section on parsley — usually only elderly does are affected. The udder feels full but cannot be milked. It is engorged with fluid and does not necessarily follow just after kidding. It is very uncomfortable. One of the reasons for this happening and it was a contributory factor in this case, was the old practice of not milking a goat before she kidded. This is very cruel and I never could understand why it was promulgated. Does should never be forcibly dried up and, if the milk does come down, milk them as usual. The colostrum does not come down until the kids are born. Some vitamin C orally will do no harm, but the sovereign remedy if obtainable, is parsley — give the doe all she will eat. I found this remedy in Juliette de Bairacli-Levy’s Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable and luckily I had parsley growing in the garden (see section on parsley, Chapter 10).

Encephalitis

This is (I hope) very rare in goats. I have only had one case in 35 years and she was not CAE positive. No one had any suggestions as to how she could have contracted it and none of the other goats were affected.

When all the goats came in for their tea she was missing; I could see her about half a mile up the farm standing quite rigid. Luckily my son was home, so I got him to drive the Kombi, while I armed myself with a bottle of injectable vitamin C and a syringe. We found her with her legs stiff together under her, her back arched and tail and head up rigid. We got her into the van, and I had given her about 50 cc (in the muscle) of vitamin C by the time we got her back to the shed. She soon collapsed and could neither move, bleat, eat nor drink and I suspected meningitis.

As it was rather late, we bedded her down on her side and made her as comfortable and warm as possible. The vet came out first thing next morning. The doe was still the same so we gave her 15 grams of vitamin C in the vein of each front leg. Carol, the vet, told her partner that I really had gone mad expecting to save the animal as she had diagnosed encephalitis.

Within two hours of the 30 gram injection of vitamin C the doe gave a bleat — rather a pained one — and managed to drink a little fluid. I offered her hot and cold water, molasses, and then in desperation straight cider vinegar which she drank avidly. The next morning Carol came out and repeated the first day’s dose of vitamin C and was very much surprised to find her alive at all. By the evening she was picking at green feed and hay, drinking as she wanted and could now lie happily in the normal position instead of spread out flat on her side.

The last thing that night, when I went out to her, she staggered to her feet and on the next day, although a little groggy, she seemed fine. I continued the vitamin C orally, a tablespoon night and morning, with dolomite and seaweed meal all in one dose for two or three mornings. By the fourth day she was objecting strongly to being away from the other animals so I let her resume her place in the herd. There were no recurrences. She was quite a highly bred British Alpine and lived on as though nothing had happened.

Enterotoxemia (Pulpy Kidney)

This is caused by the organism Clostridium Welchii and/or occasionally Clostridium Perfringens D. Both are normal inhabitants of the gut and only when the goat is under nutritional or other stress — usually worms — do these organisms start to proliferate and in so doing give off a deadly toxin.

David Mackenzie in the first (not updated) edition of Goat Husbandry claimed that immunization against entero was not necessary in properly looked after goats. He knew nothing of the often terrible environmental conditions in which goats farmed in Australia are expected to live. But, even so, in goats whose mineral requirements are fully met, changes in habitat or feed — often the cause of an entero attack — make no difference to their health. In fact, many vets have told me in recent years they consider entero to be a much over-rated disease in goats because, on the average, goat farmers see to the mineral requirements of their stock. Unfortunately vaccination, two-in-one for entero and tetanus, often only confers a false sense of security to the goat owner. A vaccinated goat can develop entero (or tetanus) just as easily as an unvaccinated one if the conditions are right for either disease. A goat that is dying from some other cause usually is stricken down by entero in the final stages. Vaccination makes no difference to this process.

Kids and young stock are most prone to entero because usually older goats have developed an immunity. Therein lies a large snag. If an older goat that has developed its own immunity — either naturally from contact or from an earlier vaccination — is given an entero vaccination, it may die from anaphylaxis and this will happen very fast. Do not vaccinate all new arrivals as a matter of course, they are better left alone if up in years and their previous history is not known.

Signs of entero are misery and scouring which, if not attended to, rapidly reach the stage where the animal loses the use of its back legs. In advanced cases the scour will contain sloughed off pieces of intestine. Unlike sheep, where entero kills fairly fast, goats always give the farmer plenty of warning and time to take remedial action.

An excellent initial treatment is quarter of a pint of warm cooking oil; this always seems to be beneficial in any case of bad scouring. Give 10 grams of vitamin C, with one gram of vitamin B12 and two ml VAM in the same syringe, by injection. Then two teaspoons (10 grams) of ascorbic acid powder orally, followed by a large teaspoon of each of the following: dolomite, slippery elm powder and crushed garlic tablets. Repeat all except the oil, B12 and VAM at two hour intervals.

I had a vaccinated Angora buck boarding with me many years ago. When I found him in the last stages of entero, after I’d been out for the day, with bits of his gut in the scour and he was unable to walk, I was wondering how I was going to explain his death to the owner. He was very valuable and destined for the sales four days later. I took the measures listed above and by the time I went to bed he was back on his feet taking an interest in life once more. I continued the vitamin C injections for the next three days, but he was back to normal feeding by next day. He was washed and duly presented at the sales on time.

There is an antitoxin available for enterotoxemia; I have only used it three times when goats under my care were dying from capeweed poisoning. In all three cases, the does which had kidded normally before, produced abnormal kids next time. Coincidence or not, it was enough to make me decide not to use it again. None of the kids from other does who were not given the antitoxin showed any abnormalities.

Flag

This is not to be confused with hard udder, a condition that often arose in goats with CAE virus. Some families of goats, especially high milkers, are more predisposed to flag than others. When a doe is freshly kidded, especially if on a diet high in goitrogenic feed (alfalfa etc.), she could come in with flag. It feels like a hardened ridge running from front to back of the udder where the two quarters meet and spreads out from there.

Cut all legumes and green feed out of the diet, including the paddock grazing if high in clover, and feed good grass hay, chaff and bran. Ten ml of Vitec Stock Drench and four grams of vitamin C powder in the feed would also help. It usually clears up in less than 24 hours. A friend who brought her freshly kidded doe into the Royal Show the afternoon before the milk out for the Q* test found that the doe had flag so badly that she could hardly be milked. We implemented the above measures immediately and I assured her she need not withdraw the doe from the show, only from the milk test. I don’t think she believed me. The doe was shown and was placed in the best udder class the day after the milk test.

For does who have had flag previously, remove the goitrogenic feed at least one or two weeks before kidding. Make sure she receives all her minerals plus ad lib seaweed meal and she will stay free of the ailment. The alfalfa chaff etc., can be reintroduced once she is milking safely. Also see section on hard udder.

Fly Strike

It is rare for milk goats to be fly struck. Very occasionally scouring animals are struck by small bush flies and the maggots, though extremely small, can still do damage. Any goat showing undue irritation in the anal area should be closely examined.

Fleece goats on the other hand, can be struck in the same manner as sheep, particularly following damp humid weather or a wound, although this is not very usual. Now that the Texan and South African Angora’s blood is through quite a high percentage of the national herd it may be another story. Within 48 hours of the first Texan coming out of quarantine in Australia, I was rung about a badly fly-blown buck. These animals have a yolk in the fleece, not unlike Merinos and, if they are not well managed, apparently become blown very easily. However, Merinos on the stock lick described in Chapter 6 were struck but, unlike those not taking the lick, the maggots bailed out straight away and no harm was done. Apparently properly supplemented animals do not taste very good.

Any goat showing irritation or misery should be closely examined. In bad cases the fleece will come right away from the animal as the maggots will have eaten it out from underneath.

Trim round the affected area, scrape away as many maggots as possible and apply either a proprietary fly strike lotion — all rather lethal to the handler as well as the maggots these days — or try Flints Oils, Septicide ointment or a copper sulfate, vinegar and water wash, rubbing it in. It works well and is useful in this application. Unfortunately, due to the greasy nature of the above remedies and the yellow color of Septicide, these may not all be viable options for fleece goats. Care of a fly-struck goat should include watching out for secondary infection on the struck site and keeping it dressed with Flints Oils or Septicide until healing takes place would avoid this. If in any doubt give vitamin C, a teaspoon in the mouth daily, until the beast is healed.

As always, prevention is better than cure and, as recounted above, sheep farmers have found the lick minerals work well as a preventative. This would, of course, apply to goats too. Australian blowflies, unlike their counterparts in other countries, lay live maggots not eggs, so fly strike is a far quicker process here.

Foot and Mouth Disease

This is a notifiable disease in Australia (and many other countries). Call the vet immediately if in doubt; most foot and mouth scares here have turned out to be just that. There have only been two outbreaks here as far as I know — one in Melton in the 1880s, and one in Gippsland this century — and both cleared up very quickly. The disease appears to like colder and wetter conditions than those found in Australia.

It only affects cloven-hooved animals and signs are sudden lameness and dribbling, with small vesicles around the feet, between the toes and in and around the mouth area. It is acutely painful and animals lose condition very fast. Foot and mouth disease is endemic in many countries, including some of our nearer neighbors. In Europe birds are usually blamed for its spread.

Anyone who has lived through a foot and mouth outbreak in a country like the United Kingdom where total eradication is the policy, and seen whole herds of cattle slaughtered to prevent its spread, will realize that the disease is best avoided at all costs.

The organism can live 120 days on clothing, possibly longer, so if travelling take great care to have clothing and footwear disinfected on re-entry. Foot and mouth disease is reputedly endemic in the islands to the north of Australia.

Goats seldom contract the disease, possibly because their mineral intake gives them a degree of immunity. In Europe total eradication is not carried out (as it will be here) so that valuable genetic material can be saved. There are documented cases from Europe of cattle who had free access to seaweed meal failing to catch foot and mouth even after close contact with the disease. It is a highly contagious disease. Dettman and Kalokerinos report that it has been cured with megadoses of vitamin C. Thirty years ago in Holland cows on ad lib seaweed meal did not succumb during an epidemic.

Foot Rot

This ailment has nothing to do with wet weather, although the weather is usually blamed for its onset. The organism lives in the soil, especially in areas low in copper. Goats whose copper and sulfur requirements are correctly supplied will not contract it, even if up to their knees in mud for the entire winter.

Foot rot starts with a breakdown in the keratin, the main components of which are copper and sulfur. Keratin keeps the skin nice and waterproof and in good condition. When it breaks down due to deficiency, the first place affected is between the toes, where a thin red line may be seen at the outset. This soon spreads and the feet become sore and smelly. Signs are lameness and an offensive purulent discharge from between the toes (often building up to proud flesh) and under the foot wall. If left unattended for any period of time, the foot may be almost destroyed. Trim away the rotten material and preferably burn it, scrub the affected area with a copper wash made of two tablespoons of copper sulfate and one of vinegar in a liter of water. Put dry copper sulfate on any actual lesions and cover up for 24 hours, by which time they will have cleared off.

Give any affected goat half a teaspoon of copper sulfate mixed with one teaspoon of dolomite and one of vitamin C powder for two days and then make sure that the copper ration in the feed is correct. If it is not the foot rot will re-occur. A lack of copper (see section on that mineral) causes a great many other ailments. It is very important that the requirements for that mineral are met. This is best done by ad lib seaweed meal, and actual copper sulfate where required.

Foot Scald

This is the precursor of foot rot and is due to the same cause — incorrect copper and sulfur levels in the diet. The claims that it is entirely different from foot rot mostly arise because there was a very Draconian response to foot rot which sometimes involved destruction of the animals concerned. Apparently no one nowadays realizes that it is due to a mineral shortfall. Yet every veterinary manual and instruction book before 1960 had no doubt that it was caused by a shortage of copper.

Founder

Founder does occur in goats as well as horses, though not in quite the same form. The chronic variety, where there is build up of tissue on the body as seen in horses, does not affect goats. But sudden attacks of founder have been known to occur after unscheduled raids on the feed bin or other over indulgence. The treatment is the same as for horses, a tablespoon or possibly two of Epsom Salts by drench works quite quickly.

The signs of founder are usually sudden lameness, hot and occasionally swollen feet. These clear up once the magnesium levels are raised. Of course in goats that are properly supplemented recovery would be very quick once the Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) has been administered. Dolomite and the other minerals should be added to the ordinary feed on a daily basis as suggested in the chapter on feeding.

Occasionally goats on a diet that is overly rich in protein will get what amounts to laminitis (chronic founder) where the feet become calcified and chalky making trimming them quite difficult. In acute cases, the animals tend to walk on their knees and avoid using their feet. Remove the cause immediately and bring the diet back to its correct level (see Chapter 6 on feeding). Continue with the regular amount of minerals and gradually the feet will grow out and normalize. It takes a while to happen and cannot be undone in days.

Hereditary Defects

The more obvious defects like cleft palate, over- or undershot jaws, teat, udder and scrotal deformities are all well documented recessives. This means that they will be "carried" by both parents and possibly only appear rarely. A mating that produces such a mistake should be noted and not repeated. These recessives have been with us a long time and sometimes it is equally long before they become apparent; often one has to go back 10 to 15 years in a pedigree to find the original culprit.

Possibly, if everyone culled any goat bearing such faults or refused to keep kids from them, recessives might be wiped out, but it is problematical — the small gene pools that we have in this country make eradication impracticable. Fleece breeders often find small discolorations occurring "out of the blue," so avoid the mating that produced it. In those cases it might be nearly impossible to find where the fault originated.

In the early 1960s deformed and double-orifice teats were running at almost 80 percent in the British Alpine breed (the usual incidence in any breed as about two to three percent). This huge jump was caused by a buck that was kept from a doe with the fault — which no one had noticed. Rigorous culling, in a breed that could ill afford it, eventually brought back the incidence to an acceptable norm.

Malformed Scrotum

This is a very serious fault, especially in dairy goats, and cannot be tolerated in any future stud buck. Testicles that are uneven will often denote a fairly high percentage of uneven udders in the buck’s female offspring.

Undescended or missing testicles are also a bad fault and their bearer should be culled. Note that in the case of undescended testicles castration is not possible except surgically.

Malformed Udder

From 1975 to 1988 there has been an absolute epidemic of one-sided udders in the dairy industry and possibly some good goats were unjustly penalized. Once the CAE virus was brought under control, one-sided udders ceased to be a problem as suddenly as they had started. Reports from the United Kingdom first alerted Australian goat farmers to the fact that it appeared to be caused by CAE. However, should this occur in a healthy CAE-free doe, it should be treated very seriously and she should not be used for breeding.

A one-sided or very uneven udder in a milking doe has nothing whatever to do with a goatling (unkidded) that develops one side of her udder, or a very uneven one. This should be watched to see it does not become too tight — in which case it should be milked out. When these goatlings become milkers their udders are generally even.

Anyone who has hand milked large numbers of goats will know that most goats show a slight bias to one side or another; however, that cannot be construed as an uneven udder unless it is palpably so both before and after milking.

Spermiostasis and Cystic Ovaries

The latter can be hereditary, in which case it is found in heavily polled families where the males also have a predisposition to spermiostasis. Some authorities claim that any male that is pure for poll will throw spermiostasis in his sons and cystic ovaries in his daughters. I had the daughter of a buck which was pure for poll who did have mild spermiostasis (which allowed him to successfully cover three does). That daughter lived to a ripe old age and never showed the slightest sign of cystic ovaries.

Both conditions cause sterility, either straight away or later on in life, and are therefore uneconomic. A buck with spermiostasis is always polled and may possibly, as in the case above, cover a few does before the pressure from the blocked ducts in the scrotum sets up putrefaction and the animal becomes completely sterile. In Europe between the two World Wars there was a great prejudice against horned milking goats and they could not be registered. All goats were bred for the polled factor and horned kids generally destroyed. Inevitably the goat population, particularly Saanens in Germany, became almost pure for poll and, just as inevitably, the rates of spermiostasis and allied conditions reached 50 percent of the goat population. Then, in an attempt to avert a disaster that had already happened, it was decreed that only horned goats should be kept. Nowadays people are more rational and realize that while polled goats do tend to be the best milkers, they must be bred with horned animals at intervals to avoid infertility problems.

Except in very mild cases spermiostasis may be detected by palpating the scrotum as the hardening along the top of the sperm ducts may be felt. A veterinary surgeon will confirm your diagnosis. In cases of infertility, where the hardening is not apparent but the buck is polled and from polled parents, a post-mortem usually reveals the early stages of the malady.

See diagram of scrotum showing seat of spermiostasis.

Cystic Ovaries

In goats, unlike cows, these cannot be felt by palpation — there is no room. They can only be detected by the behavior of the doe (or on post-mortem). Signs are masculine behavior with the doe apparently partially in season; these animals can become quite aggressive and have been known to cause actual injury to other does. They do not stand to the buck very often and, if the rear end is examined, it will be found to be pillar box red instead of the normal mildly swollen pink. Post-mortem examination will confirm this condition. Cystic ovaries can be present from birth, but they can also develop after several kiddings — in my experience, this only happens to animals on inadequate dietary minerals.

Wry Face and Wry Tale

The former is a disqualification fault and is apparent from birth. If an older animal develops a twisted face, it can be due to disease (such as pneumonia affecting the facial bones) or to malnutrition.

Wry tail is often undetectable when a kid is born; it can be a result of the tail being turned back in utero, which straightens in a few days. Nubians have it (legally) quite often. It is believed be allied to a crooked spine by some authorities. Obviously, unlike a crooked face which may affect an animal eating, it is not so serious, but it is a disqualification fault in the show ring. It possibly would be unwise to keep a buck showing the deformity, but it will not affect the milking ability of a doe.

Intersexes

These are kids that are neither one sex or the other. There are variations and generally, genetically, they are males even if this is not apparent. Occasionally they have both scrotum and vulva, often misplaced. All kids should be closely examined at birth, if in any doubt consult an experienced goat keeper or vet. They do not make good pets. Their disability seems to affect them mentally and make them unpredictable and the misplacement of their organs often makes them dirty.

Ill and Unthrifty Kids

These have already been mentioned in the section on kids. Do not go to great lengths to save kids that are sickly at birth unless there is a really good reason for it, such as the doe being hurt or chased. Nature usually knows what she is about and does not intend them to live.

Impaction

This is another name for constipation. The animal strains but does not pass any feces. When and if it eventually does pass feces, they will be hard and dry. A pint of good vegetable oil for a large goat, less for a kid, will help. This should be followed by a teaspoon of ascorbate (vitamin C powder) as a drench, which also has a mild laxative effect and would restore the health of the gut.

Never use liquid paraffin as it demineralizes the body because this would be especially dangerous for kids.

Immunizations

These cause an almost total depletion of vitamin C in the system, so it would be wise with valuable animals to give a little extra of that vitamin before these procedures. This explains why some animals (horses in particular) become ill after routine vaccinations.

Injury

Call a vet if possible, especially if there is badly torn flesh. All wounds must be thoroughly disinfected straight away. Any good germicide will do and it is important to do a thorough job as the initial disinfecting should be the last. Years ago the vets taught me that disinfectant of any sort inhibits healing and should not be used more than once.

Both tetanus and blackleg are the result of uncleaned (often unnoticed) wounds. Fresh, clean cuts can be disinfected quite easily and then stitched with an upholstery or surgical needle and linen thread, both properly disinfected. The goats I have done showed absolutely no discomfort, and did not appear to feel what I was doing. If they do, try to get a vet to give a local anaesthetic.

If a vet is unobtainable, after disinfection tidy up badly torn wounds as best you can. Put on a packing of comfrey ointment if possible, otherwise aloe vera — Septicide and Savlon are good proprietary lines. If none of these are available, use a dressing thoroughly soaked in Flints Oils and bind up the wound. If the wound is deep and has not bled much, tetanus or blackleg will be a real possibility. The former takes around 10 or more days to come out, the latter three or four. If a vet is available the goat will have been given antitoxin for both, otherwise keep the animal on an elevated oral dose of vitamin C for the 10 day period, a dessertspoon a day (about 10 grams) would prevent either disease and any other condition that might arise.

Once the wound is safely bandaged give four grams of vitamin C by intramuscular injection, as well as some form of supplementary vitamin E — about 2,000 units either by dissolved capsule or injection (intramuscular). Continue with the oral dose as suggested above. If there is any sign of blood poisoning, like heat around the wound or elevated temperature, resume the injections of vitamin C until they disappear.

Johnes Disease

In the past years of CAE, many goat keepers have become accustomed to unthrifty goats. Often farmers did not realize that it could have been Johnes (caused by Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis) in addition to CAE or on its own. Goats with Johnes have variable appetites; occasionally they scour with bubbles in the droppings and eventually they die from starvation, their food apparently doing them no good at all. The condition causes a thickening of the intestine walls, effectively preventing the animal from absorbing any nutrients from its feed so it virtually does die from starvation.

The main mineral needed if Johnes is to be avoided is copper. As long as goats are being properly fed it is neither a risk or a possibility. In spite of oft repeated warnings of the extreme contagiousness of the disease, in really well kept herds where the diet is minerally balanced, the accidental introduction of a case of Johnes seldom has a recurrence. David Mackenzie says the same and, as in France, where the condition has been fairly linked with inadequate diets too low in phosphates, he was probably correct.

It used to be thought that it was contracted at birth only. However, this has had to be reassessed. Some years ago, a breeder set up with top-class goats from Johnes-free studs. His wife did not like goats and when he was away on business, which was quite often, they were not looked after at all. In a comparatively short time Johnes Disease was endemic in that herd, every animal that was sold in the eventual (and inevitable) break up was infected with it.

Knuckly Knees and Pasterns in Newborns

See bent leg and contracted tendons.

Lactation Tetany

See tetany.

Laminitis

See founder.

Leukemia

I have only seen three cases of this disease in goats. Strangely, all were brought to me within a period of two weeks in the late 1960s, each from different districts and studs. We did not know what was wrong, the only signs were large edematous swellings which went from the jaw to chest. I took all three down to the Melbourne Veterinary Clinic, who was my veterinary support at the time, and, after blood tests, leukemia was diagnosed. They wished to put all the goats down, but as I did not own them I could not give permission and took them home again.

Three goats, all with one factor in common. Number one had come from a small farm in Warrandyte next to a rose farm from which the sprays drifted over continuously. Number two came from a farm that had just bought in some alfalfa hay for the milkers and it had been sprayed (incorrectly) the day before it was harvested. Number three was a beautifully kept backyard goat belonging to a very dear friend (I wanted to try and save at least hers) who fed her largely on outside vegetable leaves obtained from the local greengrocer. The major part of the sprays would have been on the leaves. None of this was known to me when the goats paid their first visit to the vet clinic at Werribee.

I kept them at home, fed them normally on a good plain diet and they grazed my organically farmed goat paddocks. Three weeks later all were on the road to recovery and, after four weeks, I took them back to Werribee appearing quite normal. The blood was tested again and they were clear. My suggestion of sprays being the only common factor was not met with much enthusiasm. No other reason was forthcoming and leukaemia was deemed incurable. These days there would have been no skepticism, sadly we are wiser now — sprayed produce must be avoided.

Lice

A lousy goat of any breed shows rather bald ears and spends much time scratching itself on fences or anything else in reach. In dairy goats halting an infestation is not much of a problem, but with fiber goats, especially in full fleece, it is another story.

As always, prevention is much easier than cure and animals receiving the correct amounts of sulfur in their diet will not get lice. See the section on sulfur for the reasons behind the deficiency. For short-haired goats (who usually catch the lice from a boarder), give one-and-one-half teaspoons of sulfur per head per day to all the goats in the shed and keep that level up until the lice have gone. Go they will — where to, I have never discovered.

In very severe cases the animal will be eased by rubbing the sulfur along the back line and underneath around the legs. The animal should clear up in about 24 hours. Pesticides cannot be used on milking goats as it comes through in the milk within 24 hours. The pour-on variety in particular has caused abortion in goats — so beware.

For an infestation in fiber goats, feed the elevated sulfur; it will stop the lice living close to the skin and hopefully they will die. Once the goats have been shorn, care should be taken to keep the sulfur levels up so reinfestation cannot occur.

Sulfur can be included in a lick. For hand-fed milkers it is best included as a maintenance ration in the feed — a rate of a teaspoon per head per day is usually enough — it must not exceed two percent of the feed, which allows fairly high quantities to be fed. On farms where lice are endemic, serious thought should be given to remineralization, spreading Gypsum (calcium sulfate) with the dolomite or whatever.

Liver Fluke (Fasciola hepatica)

Signs of fluke infestation are ill thrift, occasionally with a lump under the jaw, anaemia and variable appetite. If a post-mortem is performed, the fluke, which are small flat- (fluke) shaped objects, will be found in the liver. The fluke has a six week life cycle; therefore, if using drugs to counteract them, they must be given at a six-week interval.

Any farmer who runs cattle on irrigation — one of the best ways of spreading the host snail — will tell you that copper sulfate is the answer. Having farmed goats on an irrigation system where fluke were endemic, I also found this to be the case. The maintenance dose of copper sulfate that my goats habitually received (one teaspoon per head per week) was enough to prevent all infestations.

A small conical snail is the intermediate host and sometimes, if the infestation comes from a dam or very soggy pastures, they can be seen on the edge of the water or on the ground. On a farm in Gippsland, in a very wet winter the goats acquired fluke; I was not feeding enough copper to cover the inherent deficiency in the food and the completely copper deficient pasture.

If there is an infestation, the drugs are very expensive and vets often do not carry them for that reason. When my vet told me this, I said I would raise the copper in the diet as it had prevented fluke on my previous (irrigated) farm. He was quite horrified and said that it would damage the liver. I reasoned that the fluke were doing just that fairly effectively anyway and went ahead. For seven days each goat was given the equivalent of a teaspoon of copper sulfate daily run through the feed. I watched them go from a state of listless anaemia to bright, healthy looking goats once more. The next goat to receive a post-mortem a week or two later had no fluke at all and she had looked the worst. (In the CAE era, performing post-mortems on goats was the price we paid.)

If you suspect a dam or waterway is the cause of infection, examine it carefully and if you find the snails, take some to your veterinarian to check if they are the fluke variety. It is a matter of which way the spirals run on the shell. If they are flukes, throw half a kilogram of copper sulfate into a normal small farm dam, a little more might be needed on a big one. It is difficult to treat a waterway, but farmers on irrigation tell me they put a small, thick canvas bag of copper sulfate at the edge of the incoming stream of water, which has the same effect.

A basic maintenance dose of a teaspoon of copper sulfate per head per week for goats is effective in stopping fluke infestations. Smaller amounts could be tried and the goats regularly tested, but I have found the teaspoon a week to be the best. Fleece and meat goats do not need as much as a teaspoon per head, half should be enough. The copper in the lick in Chapter 6 is plenty.

Lungworm

See worms.

Lung Damage

This can easily be diagnosed by testing the goat’s breathing rate, it should be 20 to 24 per minute. An adult doe that, following pneumonia, had a breathing rate of 120 (per minute) from lung damage was given 1,000 units of vitamin E daily. After 10 days of this therapy, the breathing rate was reduced to 35 to 40, the lowest it would reach, obviously a considerable improvement. This might possibly have been bettered had we known about using vitamin C as well, which also has a healing action — a dessertspoon orally in the feed each day would have been sufficient. This treatment can be tried after severe lungworm damage.

Goats, as they are not an animal that lives by speed like a horse, have a small lung area for their size, so any lung damage is crucial and if it occurs they are left with very little operative space.

Mastitis

There are several types of mastitis, all caused by different organisms, but in a doe that is being properly fed (i.e., receiving her dolomite and minerals in their correct levels regularly) mastitis should not occur. Too high protein in the diet can be a causative factor, this depresses the copper and when that happens the immune system does not function as it should. If the protein in the food is excessive, lower it.

If a doe persistently becomes infected with mastitis, have her tested for CAE. It is, sadly, the usual reason for the inability of the immune system to do its task. She is incurable, except in the short term, if that.

All mastitis appears to be due to an imbalance in the health of the udder, particularly the pH, caused by incorrect calcium/magnesium ratios in the diet. Cows and goats that are regularly supplemented with dolomite in their ration stay free from the disease. Many cow dairymen as well as goat farmers have found this, as did I, from the first time I was told about dolomite in the late sixties. For reasons as yet unknown, low levels of these minerals place the udder at risk for invasive bacteria. Diseases only occur when the food is unbalanced and missing the proper nutrients.

There is no doubt that badly adjusted milking machines can be a causative factor, but the cowmen to whom I have suggested using dolomite used milking machines. They said that mastitis (and acetonemia) became a thing of the past from the time they started to feed it. As stated, feeding a diet too high in protein can also be a causative factor — check the section on feeding.

I ran up against this with English commercial goat keepers. I had forgotten how good the soils were over there and the fodder on offer had double the protein we would get here. Extra copper added to the ration of any goat getting mastitis made the dolomite and vitamin C work, but on their own they did not.

The advantage of using vitamins and minerals to cure mastitis is that the goat does not develop drug resistance — nor is the farmer left with a goat with a wrecked udder, as often happens when drugs are used. When an antibiotic is used on mastitis, a new one has to be found next time. I was told to destroy all my oldest goats with subclinical mastitis as they were incurable, which was when I had to find an alternative because my goats were too valuable.

I learned about adjusting the calcium/magnesium balance originally from Mrs. Maura Mackay who used to run a goat dairy before they changed over to breed the famous Glenroy Angoras. I used dolomite alone to cure many stubborn cases of mastitis in the early days as some of the goats I originally bought had advanced staph mastitis. I was informed by the sellers that lumps in the udder were hereditary. When I first learned to use vitamin C as well as the dolomite, I found that the cure worked considerably faster.

Long standing cases where the udder is a total wreck are usually beyond anyone’s powers, particularly with organisms like Klebsiella, which have usually moved in by that stage.

One doe I bought, who had not been milkable for three years because of staph mastitis, became a useful member of the herd after four weeks of treatment. She was given a dessertspoon of dolomite and vitamin C powder daily, as well as the routine dolomite and other minerals in her feed. I also gave her a course of five grams of vitamin C by injection for the first three days.

The alert farmer may nip mastitis in the bud by being observant at milking time — a doe who kicks and makes an unusual fuss at milking should be carefully checked.

Kinds of Mastitis

Black mastitis, Streptococcus, staphylococcus, myco- plasma agalactia, klebsiella, and possibly CAE as a predisposing factor in some cases, are some of the organisms that can invade an unhealthy udder and cause mastitis.

Black Mastitis

This is the term for a very sudden and severe attack of mastitis. In a matter of an hour or two the whole udder will become contused and, unless immediate action is taken, it will be wrecked and the goat will die. In such a case the doe may be alright at morning milking and be in extremis five or less hours later, often following a wound. The udder is hot, hard and inflamed and the goat is obviously very ill with a high temperature. In severe cases that are not treated immediately, the udder will turn a greenish color and slough off (if the doe lives long enough).

Quick action is essential. Five grams of intravenous vitamin C first, if possible; if not, give intramuscularly with a heaped teaspoon of dolomite and the same of vitamin C orally. My cattle dairy farmers are using six percent pharmaceutical grade hydrogen peroxide for this complaint and one of them told me he cured a cow with black mastitis the same day. A goat would need three ml of hydrogen peroxide straight into the teat orifice, break it down 50 percent with rainwater. If this works as well as it did with the cattle it will be a breakthrough because one has to be very quick to cure this complaint.

Repeat the entire regimen described above in one hour, then every three hours for the first day and again the second day if no improvement is seen. Otherwise continue to give the oral dose night and morning, with five cc of vitamin C by injection daily until the udder starts to look and feel normal. Cease the injections, but continue with the oral dose of vitamin C and dolomite daily until all lumps are gone. This usually takes about ten days. During this time, milk the udder out as gently and as much as possible. The doe will need careful and patient handling.

Clinical Mastitis

This is usually due to a streptococcus infection. The milk becomes viscous, stringy and offensive. Treatment as above will bring about a recovery.

Subclinical Mastitis

This is an insidious complaint usually caused by a staph infection and is difficult to diagnose. The first sign will be that the milk, instead of keeping the usual seven to 10 days, will "go off" by the third or fourth day which clean, properly cooled milk from healthy goats does not do. The test for subclinical mastitis cannot be done with a rapid mastitis check, it has to be plated for at least 36 hours for diagnosis. If the condition is allowed to continue unchecked, round, hard lumps will start forming in the udder and eventually the doe will become ill and the udder useless.

A heaped teaspoon each of dolomite and vitamin C powder night and morning for three days, or as long as it takes for the milk to be tested clear, will effect a cure. The lumps, if long standing, may take a week or two of this treatment to disperse.

Mastitis Caused by Avocado Foliage

It is only in the last few years that farmers have realized that this can happen to both cows and goats. Initially, the avocado reduces the amount of milk quite materially and, if the beasts are not prevented from grazing it, mastitis follows. Do not allow goats (or other lactating animals) to eat avocado trees.

Procedures

In all cases of mastitis, milk out the affected animals as usual, but milk them after the healthy animals and take strict hygienic precautions. The mandatory dose of "dry cow" when a goat goes dry (if she does) is quite unnecessary if the does (fresh milkers as well) are fed their normal amount of minerals regularly as explained in Chapter 6. This, of course, includes cider vinegar fed on a regular basis; it is another great help in complete udder health, 10 to 20 ml a day per goat.

Metritis

This is an inflammation of the uterus and quite often the only sign is slightly lowered health. It can occur at any time, not always just after kidding. Sometimes a slight offensive discharge is seen, but more often it is lowered health that alerts the farmer.

Metritis should not occur in healthy animals. In recent years it seems to have been confined to CAE-positive does. A vet will confirm the presence of the disease. If it occurs out of the breeding season, the vet will possibly say the same thing that I was told when one of my goats first contracted it: "Feed her up well and she will get over it." I did just that and by the breeding season the swab was clear (this has to be done when the doe is in season).

However, a base lack of the necessary vitamins A and D is the chief cause for all diseases of this kind. Extra vitamin A in the form of a teaspoon of cod liver oil orally for three days, with a dessertspoon of vitamin C orally for the same time, will usually make certain the next swab is clear. However if the doe is very ill, five grams of vitamin C by injection should be given daily for three days as well, followed by a dessertspoon of the powder orally for at least a week. Continue with the vitamin A and D for the same time. (If does contract metritis out of the breeding season, it may well be seven months before they can be swabbed). These uterine disturbances often mean that the doe’s diet has been low in vitamin A — due to drought or poor quality feed. A long dry period puts animals who do not get their cod liver oil occasionally at risk.

Any doe that has had metritis whether on the farm or coming for service must have a clear swab (done when she first comes into season) before going to the buck again (see section on infective arthritis).

Metritis can make milk unsafe to drink and it must be heat treated before being fed to a kid (goat) or human.

Milk Fever

This is not really a fever, rather the reverse. The doe will be low in spirits to the point of lethargy following kidding. She will have poor muscle control, difficulty in standing at all, her pupils will be enlarged because the eye muscles have relaxed — all very similar to snake bite.

The sudden drain of calcium and magnesium from the doe’s system following kidding will mean there is not enough to sustain her. Milk fever does not seem to occur in does who have been receiving the correct minerals.

Quick action is necessary or she will die, give calcium borogluconate (with magnesium) or any proprietary milk fever preparation as per directions on the bottle. This is easily obtained at any farm store. The injections can be given in four doses to speed the process. Give injections to each side of the shoulder and each side of the rump. Hungerford states in his works that this injection must include both calcium and magnesium.

Some does are more prone to milk fever than others, usually (but not invariably) the high producers. It would be wise to give them a little extra dolomite coming up to kidding and an A, D and E injection.

Mycoplasmosis

See pleuropneumonia.

Nasal Bots

This bot is very like the larval stage of the bot which affects horses. It is pale chestnut in appearance, with an oval body and a distinct head — roughly one-half-inch long. The fly lays its eggs just inside the goat’s nostrils, the tiny larvae crawl up into the animals head and live in the sinuses, nasal passages and occasionally reach as far as the brain (see circling disease).

The first sign will be much sneezing among the goats. Eventually, when the larvae are full grown, they will be blown out and the pupae hatch and repeat the cycle. Vicks, K7 or similar substance smeared around the edge of the goats’ nostrils can sometimes make the goat sneeze the larvae out before they are ready, or it may discourage the fly from laying the eggs initially. There is not much that can be done, except to hope that the bots do not reach serious proportions as often happens with sheep (see above). There is a suggestion that systemic worm and louse preparations may kill the bots. This would not expel them from the body, which at least does happen when they follow their normal cycle. Fortunately nasal bots are quite rare; there may be an outbreak one year but it is not usually an annual event and lasting damage is unusual in goats.

Ophthalmia, Conjunctivitis, Pinkeye

When this condition (also called Sandy Blight) is present, the eyes water excessively — (which can also be due to a vitamin A shortfall) and become opaque. Eventually, if no action is taken, the whole eye becomes bloodshot and may rupture causing permanent blindness.

This so-called disease appears to be wholly due to a deficiency of vitamin A. Supplementation with that vitamin, accompanied by topical application, brings about a cure even when the eyeball looks beyond redemption. If the pink eye is not treated for a week or so, the sight often will not return for the full three weeks, but if the rupturing stage has been reached the eye may be damaged.

Of course the blinded animals must receive particular care. Give A, D and E injections as per instructions, but better still fill a 10 ml syringe with cod liver oil and squirt two ml into the affected eye and the rest down the throat. This topical application is extremely effective. Another remedy which is of great help in removing the soreness is to obtain a teaspoon of Ferrum Phosphate powder (from crushed biochemic tissue tablets) and gently blow it into the open eye.

A farmer whose farm was halfway to organic conversion had some Texas Longhorn bullocks contract pinkeye when in an unrescued paddock. As they were rather large to treat manually, he transferred them to an organic paddock of green alfalfa and the pinkeye cleared up in a few days. Since the disease is caused by a lack of vitamin A, it should not occur in paddocks that have been remineralized.

The above suggestions have frequently worked after unsuccessful treatments with conventional drugs. Pinkeye is very contagious (I remember being incarcerated for three weeks at school with it), but only to vitamin A deficient goats and it is usually spread by flies.

Pinkeye should not be confused with eye damage. This is quite different, the eye may cloud over as the result of a blow or scratch. Careful examination will often reveal the cause of the damage to be a slight dent or scratch on the eye. However treatment similar to that for pinkeye is a good idea for few days to prevent any further deterioration. Damage usually takes three weeks to heal and the cloud on the eye disappears.

A good wash for eyes can be made from a teaspoon of borax in a half a liter of warm water. Grass seeds can also cause very sore eyes, here the topical treatment with cod liver oil works especially fast.

Ostertagia, Brown Stomach Worm

See worms. Parasites (Internal) See worms, coccidia and liver fluke.

Pinkeye

See ophthalmia.

Pin Worm

See worms.

Pleuropneumonia (Mycoplasmosis)

This disease nearly destroyed the cattle industry in the early days in Australia. Its advent in the goat world was complicated by the onset of CAE and quite often the two were obviously contracted together. CAE could not be diagnosed at that stage, as no one knew what it was. Many a researcher was completely baffled at what looked like a certain case of mycoplasma which yielded no bacteria at all.

The signs are so similar to ordinary pneumonia that they can be indistinguishable. The aftermath is really the only criterion for certain diagnosis without a vet doing tests. In ordinary pneumonia (see next entry), good nursing will bring a goat through and it will not recur. In mycoplasma pneumonia good nursing will again prevail, although the goat may be left with an elevated breathing rate and damaged lungs, but the attacks will keep recurring. The heart is damaged and eventually the goat becomes less thrifty after each attack until it dies.

The condition, like pleuro in cattle, is very contagious. This is a good reason not to house animals too closely in poorly ventilated places; it only takes one sneeze and the organism is carried by the droplets. In kids it often shows up as a chronic runny nose, which again affects others on contact. Kids and all goats should be kept in well ventilated sheds that are dry and fairly draft free.

The only drug that has been at all successful for mycoplasma is erythromycin; the ordinary terramycin which was much used in the past apparently did not work. Large doses of vitamin C with erythromycin make it work even better according to modern medicine.

However prevention is the key and, as mentioned, respiratory diseases and a lack of calcium and magnesium have been documented. The inherent deficiencies in those two minerals probably would provide an explanation for the pleuro outbreaks here in the early days. No animals should be herded into sheds where the spread of disease could happen so easily, always avoid situations where this could happen.

Pneumonia

Again this disease should not occur, and once I had learned that goats needed their dolomite, sulfur, copper, etc., it did not figure again. Back to good management.

In this disease the lungs become progressively more water logged (hence the name) and, if allowed to proceed unchecked, the goat will ultimately die from lack of air. Sudden fever, nasal discharge, rasping and quickened, noisy breathing — the rate much increased (normal rate is about 25 breaths to the minute) — and a high temperature are signs of the disease. If one listens to the chest just above the elbow, it sounds rather like an express train passing through a tunnel.

Good nursing is the key. Keep the patient in a warm and slightly damp atmosphere by making a tent over the top of the goat’s stall — a vaporizer as used for children would help. Give eight grams of vitamin C, one gram of B12 and one gram of VAM by injection, followed by three grams of vitamin C every hour until the crisis is passed. Give warm water with organic unpasteurized cider vinegar added (about a cup to three liters). A few leaves of horehound can be added to the hot water if obtainable. I have found that its age-old reputation for helping lung complaints is quite justified. Once the goat is a little easier, halve the injections and supplement with a teaspoon of oral vitamin C powder (five grams) and the same of dolomite, plus a teaspoon of cod liver oil. Garlic in some form (four to five tablets, a corm or whatever is available) daily would also help.

As soon as the goat will eat offer fresh branches and green feed. Bran and alfalfa chaff is usually the first feed that an ill animal will consider. No grain should be given. If the goat is slow in regaining its appetite repeat the VAM and vitamin B12 injection (combined in the same syringe). Allow the animal out on the best grazing possible, with ample sunlight (and shade), and rug it if the weather is at all cold.

Usually pneumonia leaves lung damage in the form of scarring and a course of Vitamin E as suggested in the section on lung damage would be beneficial.

Poisons

Poisonous plants have been covered in Chapter 6. Other toxic materials are occasionally met on the goat farm.

Arsenic

I have nursed a goat through this form of poisoning. She was vomiting and it is rare for a goat to do that and live. Her breath had a strange smell and she was in a state of total collapse. I used everything I knew, massive intramuscular injections of vitamin C (10 grams), B12 (three ml), B1 (three cc), B15 (three ml), vitamin E (2,000 units orally). A tablespoon of vitamin C and the same of dolomite were also given orally with slippery elm. Both of these have an absorbent action in the case of toxins. All this was given every hour for the first few hours until the extreme signs abated — it took 12 hours of fighting before I realized that she would live. A hollow victory, because further enquiry elicited the fact that arsenic causes chromosome, bone marrow and possible renal damage and, in spite of all efforts, the doe was never very strong again — but one has to try.

Fireweed (Senecio spp.)

This is generally found in the northern parts of New South Wales and invariably grows on very poor, played-out land. A farmer who had top dressed his fireweed-infested farm three years ago in northern New South Wales called to tell me it was all gone the following year — much easier and more effective than pulling it up. He spread the lime, gypsum and dolomite as advised on the soil analysis.

Goats would not normally eat fireweed unless grazing was very scarce, which it usually is if the land is poor enough for it to proliferate. There is no sign of any malaise for about 18 months. The doe I had kidded normally and a few months later she started to go down hill. I was fighting with everything I knew; the vets had no clue as to how to treat her either. Then I went up to Queensland to talk at a goat seminar and Dr. Ross Mackenzie was one of the speakers; he spoke on poison plants (see the excellent book he and Ralph Dowling wrote in the bibliography) and he mentioned the poisonous action of fireweed and its effects on animals. The description so exactly fitted my doe that I had a talk with him saying she had come from northern New South Wales. He told me to post-mortem her when I got home and that I would find the liver had become, small, flat and hard and the edges would have a scalloped appearance. He was right and I kicked myself for having let her suffer.

Nitrate Poisoning

The classic sign of this sort of poisoning is a strange sweet smell on the scour. It is quite unlike the smell of normal manure or of a scouring goat with intestinal disturbances — and only occurs with nitrate poisoning. Motor disturbances, such as convulsing at sudden noises, could easily cause the condition to be mistaken for tetanus in the first instance, as was done by the vet and myself in the first case I had.

As mentioned in Chapter 6, Dr. Selwyn Everist said that vitamin C was the only remedy he could suggest, but it does not always work. An initial injection of five to seven grams followed by a teaspoon of ascorbic acid and dolomite powder, a drench of 10 ml of Vitec liquid seaweed should be given immediately. I found that the poisoning had set up a long-term fatal iodine deficiency. The deaths stopped once I made iodine available in the form of ad lib seaweed meal. On post-mortem the blood appears a black color due to lack of oxygen, have it checked.

Organophosphate Poisoning

This poisoning is the most dreaded by any vet or doctor because there is so little that can be done. According to Dr. Kalokerinos, vitamins C, A, E, and zinc are the best antidotes for humans. This saved some alpacas willfully poisoned in New Zealand some years ago. The latter could be introduced in the form of seaweed meal in small quantities as it contains high zinc. Give a teaspoon a day and let the goat take more if it wants it. For one week provide daily doses of 60,000 units of vitamin A, 20 grams orally (two tablespoons) of vitamin C orally and 10 cc daily by injection, and 2,000 units of vitamin E either orally in dissolved capsules or by injection. This poisoning would be very much a case of "playing it by ear"; it will depend on good nursing and offering any feed that the animal would take — no grain in any form — just bran, alfalfa chaff and green stuff, depending on the rate of recovery.

Phosphorus

This is found in some rat and vermin baits and produces a sweet smell on the breath accompanied by a craving for water. On no account must the goat be allowed to touch any liquid — the phosphorus needs water to activate its lethal effects which burn the intestines away. If it has drunk, shoot it as quickly as possible or it will die in awful agony. Give the goat egg whites (six at a time) mixed with a little glucose every hour by mouth and by injection provide five cc of vitamin C and one cc of B12 every three hours. These must be given until the animal shows signs of relief. This procedure may have to go on around the clock for 24 to 48 hours (it took 36 hours with a dog under the instructions of a vet). The burning sensation in the gut makes the animal stretch as though trying to cool its abdomen. Once it is recovered a drink of milk and water, about two pints all together, may be given and gradually the goat can be reintroduced to bland feed and green stuff.

Prussic Acid

The antidote is a neutralizing substance such as pharmaceutical chalk or fine dolomite. Either should be mixed with water and drenched in — a tablespoon of powder in 200 ml of water, both work equally well and fast. This poison is most usually found in young sugar gum shoots and occasionally in wilted peach tree leaves.

Poison Baits

If the constituent is unknown (but not 1080) proceed as for arsenic poisoning. Once the animal is stable give 10 cc of vitamin C by injection and 1,000 units of vitamin E (consult the bottle) by injection daily. A dessertspoon of sodium ascorbate and bland feed, such as bran and alfalfa chaff, as well as branches and good grass — all will aid in recovery.

Slug Bait (Metaldehyde)

Goats should not usually have access to slug bait. However I had a case where a goat got into the garden and ate an ice cream container of bait. I had chased her out and did not know she had eaten it until after she was cured. That evening she came into milking looking very ill indeed and, having no clue as to the cause, I gave her 10 grams of vitamin C by injection. She looked much better the next day so I gave her half the initial quantity and then noticed that she had a row of bumps down her spine. These came up as large boils so I continued the 10 grams of vitamin C daily until they cleared up and burst. She recovered fully and then I found the empty bait container and realized what had happened. Since then no poisons whatsoever have figured on my farm.

1080

This poison is made up of 23 ppm sodium fluoride (fluoro-acetate). If the antidote, which is glycerol mono-acetate, is not given within 20 minutes of ingesting the bait — shoot the goat. When carrots are used as a baiting medium and birds pick them up and drop them, goats taking in 1080 is real possibility.

The animal will live for three or four hours after taking the bait and die in terrible pain. The antidote cannot work after the initial 20 minutes. Vets do not, as a rule, carry the antidote because it is expensive and apparently does not keep indefinitely. The vet who investigated this for me after we tried in vain to save a neighbor’s dog, said it was also very difficult to obtain. I am told that 1080 does not cause pain, both the vet and I would seriously query this; the dog died in her surgery.

Fluoride — as in reticulated water (sodium fluoride)

This substance has an enzyme-inhibiting action. This is caused by fluoride rendering calcium and magnesium unobtainable in the body. Without magnesium the enzyme system cannot function according to a paper recently printed in the Townsend Letter for Doctors from the United States. Fortunately this does not too often affect goats, although I have read of one herd that was quite unwell until they were taken off fluoride treated reticulated water.

Pregnancy Toxemia

This condition usually arises shortly before kidding. It is due to the kids in utero (usually multiples) taking all the nutrients (mainly minerals) available and eventually leaving the doe insufficient to sustain life. Nature always gives priority to the kids — the mother has to manage as best she can. The initial signs of pregnancy toxemia can go unnoticed unless the goat keeper is alert; a slight unwillingness to get up in the morning or go out is often the first indication. This is followed by extreme lethargy to the point where the doe cannot rise at all. The more deficient she is, the earlier the toxemia starts.

Goats that have been on good remineralized pastures and been properly fed through pregnancy with all their minerals and normal feed should not suffer from this complaint even when there are multiples in utero.

Regrettably there are still some people who think that a pregnant goat, if dry, does not need feeding. This is not true (nor is it true of humans). CAE-positive does, or those of very advanced years, may develop pregnancy toxemia even when properly fed — although my 10-year-old-plus does never did so. Another contributory factor is lack of exercise. It is most important that pregnant does are sent out to find their feed in the paddock with other does; too much hand feeding can make them lazy.

The immediate treatment used to be drenching the patient daily with a quarter of a pint of glycerine, which the goats loathe, and it was not very successful. But one day I received a call from a friend who was trying to nurse two very good CAE-positive does through to kidding. They had both developed pregnancy toxemia and he had no glycerine on hand. Knowing it was basically due to a mineral deficiency, I suggested he try a drench made from seaweed meal, two tablespoons in water for each animal. He called back to say the recovery was the quickest he had ever seen in spite of the fact that one doe had been very low indeed. In later cases I suggested giving a dessertspoon of Vitec stock drench which is much easier to administer than seaweed meal and water. The results are far superior to the old glycerine which kept the pregnancy toxemia cases alive, but did nothing to restore the lacking minerals.

Once a doe has had pregnancy toxemia it would be wise to give her the Vitec on a regular basis until she kids at a rate of five ml every two or three days. It is quite easy to give — use an injection syringe without the needle straight into the mouth. VAM injections would be another option as well in desperate cases.

Prolapse of the Uterus

This is caused by poor muscle tone; it usually occurs in the last week or two of pregnancy and generally with multiple births. Once I had learned to feed my goats their required minerals and get the land in good heart I never saw it again. Once again, prevention is always better than a cure.

The prolapse, which looks like a bag of liquid protruding from the vulva, is really part of the placenta. It is usually visible when the doe is lying down or standing on her hind legs against a fence — usually it goes back in when she is standing up except in very serious cases. When this happens there is a real danger of the placenta rupturing so the amniotic fluid escapes, which means the kids and the doe will possibly die. A dry birth without the fluid required for lubrication can be fatal and artificial lubrication is not always successful.

The best treatment is to buy several containers of the Biochemic Tissue Salt, calcium fluoride (not the same as sodium fluoride), which is obtainable from any good health shop. Give the doe three tablets every hour. The tablets can be crushed or she may like chewing them up as they are quite palatable. In the case where I first suggested this remedy the prolapse had been evident for about a week — it cleared up within 24 hours of the treatment. Continue to give the doe ten tablets a day until the kids are born. Calcium fluoride improves muscle tone and could help ensure a normal birth.

Treatment used to consist of strapping a contraption that looked like a coat hanger across the hips with the handle part inserted into the vagina to hold in the placenta. Every time it was used on my does, it ruptured the membranes in advance and a dry birth with a dead doe and kids was the result.

Another suggestion is to insert a couple of stitches in the vulva to hold it shut. I feel this is unacceptable because of the risk of septicemia, and the possibility of not being there in time to cut the stitches at birthing time could mean a badly torn doe. I know this is almost universally done in the horse breeding industry and it says nothing for the horse breeders that it should be necessary.

The administration of calcium fluoride has been highly successful every time it has been tried and should be the only cure used — it is completely harmless. Again prevention is better than cure.

Reactions to Drugs

People frequently have access to drugs of whose side effects they have little knowledge. Their administration is better left to the veterinary professionals who are trained in their use and understand any untoward results they can produce. All drugs, by their very action, have some side effects. Penicillin, for example, causes many animals to lose their appetites by damaging the villi in the intestines.

I was taught by the vets at the University of Melbourne to use a vitamin B12 injection (two cc) with any drug that was administered because it minimized the side effects of any drug. It makes the goat feel better which is, after all, the object of the exercise.

Originally goats and sheep were assumed to be equal in their requirements for antibiotics. Unfortunately it was discovered, too late in some cases, that goats could often only tolerate a fraction of the normal sheep dose. In one case, tetracycline drugs (administered by veterinary practitioners) in doses that would be reasonable for sheep, caused irreversible anemia, bone marrow damage and renal failure in goats. This was mentioned earlier in the book. Hopefully it could never happen today, but early experiments with the Ivermectin (a vermifuge) group showed again that goats could only tolerate a fraction of the amount given to sheep.

So make sure that only a member of the veterinary profession gives antibiotics. Do not get "something that would help" from a friend and administer it yourself.

Cortisone

This is normally manufactured in the adrenal glands. It needs two vitamins to be active, vitamins C and B5 (found in barley). Extra doses of vitamin C will help activate the synthesis. Sudden stress of any kind, nutritional or environmental, can deplete cortisone very fast which is why reaching for the vitamin C in an emergency often has such striking results.

However, in humans, the administration of artificial cortisone can stop the natural synthesis for up to two years and there is no reason to suppose that something similar does not occur in the animal world (it should not, because animals make their own vitamin C and humans cannot do this). But it is wiser to stick to the vitamin C for your goats.

Hormones

Hormones are used in synchronization of estrus, ovum transplant, embryo transfer and so forth. All appear to have the same side effects, which are counterproductive to the result intended. They deplete the body of, or interfere with, the synthesis of vitamins A and D and the assimilation of calcium and magnesium.

I have had many inquiries from farmers who have had their goats on an artificial breeding program and have found that when they wanted to revert to normal breeding nothing happened. Goats usually fail to conceive because of a shortage of vitamins A and D. Either administering cod liver oil orally or injecting vitamins A, D and E will start the breeding program up again. They need a teaspoon (five mls) of cod liver oil per week.

I bought in a batch of milkers who had been used for ovum transplants and they had also had their estrus cycles synchronized for easier handling. It took a whole year of ongoing supplementation with vitamins A and D before those does caught up with their own manufacture of the vitamin from their feed. During that time, my own does did not require any supplementary vitamins A and D. I farmed in Gippsland, the farm was organic, the correct amounts of vitamins (and minerals) were naturally available from the paddock.

So, if the farm strategy includes using any of the above procedures, and often it is the only way to save or acquire valuable genetic material, make ongoing vitamin A and D supplementation part of the program. The earlier dosing with cod liver oil (a teaspoon per head per week as a routine dose is plenty) is started, the less lasting the side effects of hormones since oil-based vitamins are stored in the liver.

Note: When using intra-vaginal sponges, there is a withdrawal period and the milk should not be used.

BTZ — Butazoladin or "Bute"

This would be unlikely to be used for goats as it is generally administered to mask pain. I learned about it from the senior teaching vet at the University of Melbourne in the 1970s who tried it on a buck that had (unknown to us at the time) septic arthritis. He told me that it was a dangerous drug, with the nasty side effect of causing internal and often fatal hemorrhages. We tried it on the crippled animal as a last resort. The result was pitiable, the emaciated animal suddenly found a burst of febrile energy and careened around the paddocks to the point of exhaustion. It was very hastily put out of its misery, after which we found out the real cause of its malady. However, as I write this there has been at least one attempt to ban the use of this drug because it was found in export beef, as reported in a printout from the Shepparton Veterinary Clinic.

Nowadays a great many vets can use homeopathic arnica (see herbal section) which is a totally safe and very effective painkiller. It is a good idea to have a supply of 200c pilule or drops on hand at all times. These can be obtained at health shops or from vets willing to use homeopathic methods.

Retained Afterbirth

This is a rare complaint and should not trouble the goat keeper whose animals are in good order. A lack of selenium and potassium due to chemically fertilized pasture would be the main cause. Cider vinegar, the right minerals in the feed and organically grown pasture are the best preventatives. See the section on sulfur and its role in selenium assimilation.

Do not assume that because you have not seen the afterbirth that it has not been passed because the doe generally eats it — and it is not so very serious if it is retained. However, if you suspect that the afterbirth has been retained, give the doe a dessertspoon of vitamin C daily for a week to ten days which will prevent septicemia and the afterbirth should be reabsorbed safely. Should the doe show signs of discomfort, put her back on the vitamin C, which can be given by injection, but the oral route is less painful.

A doe that I had just acquired, and whose kidding date was uncertain, produced two kids simultaneously in the small hours. I found her the next morning with two dead kids hanging out. I removed them carefully; the cervix was closing rapidly so I realized there would be no afterbirth. I gave her 10 cc of vitamin C by injection for the next two days and then two more days of oral C. She seemed quite well, but ten days later she was definitely off color. There was no smell or discharge, but I felt it was the afterbirth, so put her on a course of vitamin C for a week. There was no more trouble and she kidded next time quite normally.

Scabby Mouth (called Orf in Europe)

This is similar in appearance to the disease known as Orf in the United Kingdom where it is considered a notifiable incurable ailment. It is a herpes-linked organism that likes a copper-deficient host and is very contagious for goats at risk through copper deficiency.

The goat will hang back at feeding time, obviously in pain from scabs building up around the mouth. If allowed to develop unchecked, the scabs will cover the face up to the eyes so no hair is visible and will run a term of three weeks.

This is quite unnecessary; make up a mixture in a small bucket as follows: one dessertspoon of copper sulfate, the same of vinegar and fill the bucket with water. Dip the goats face in it so the scabby area is thoroughly wet. The scabs will dry up and drop off after two or three applications, sometimes sooner. The diet should be amended to see that all the goats copper levels are correct, this illness will not strike if they are properly fed.

Scald

See foot rot.

Scouring

See diarrhea.

Scurf

See dandruff.

Skin Cancer

Fortunately this is not as common as it used to be. Breeders of white goats realized that they had to breed for tan skins in a hot country like Australia — in the countries of origin, where the sun was not so fierce, the goats had pink or white skins. The tan skin means the goats do not contract skin cancer, while the pale and pink skinned individuals are at great risk, especially on the udder, nose and around the eyes. Pale-skinned Saanens will crop up from time to time, as the original imports from both England and later New Zealand often had pink or white skins.

Skin cancer starts as a roughening of the skin, turning into scabby lumps which are definitely painful in bad cases, especially at milking time. The milk itself appears to remain unaffected, but the discomfort caused by the cancer would mean ultimately the goat would have to be put down.

The use of vitamin H, PABA, (see section on vitamins), 250 mg crushed in the food daily, could help when the sun is at its strongest in the summer months. In severe cases double that quantity could be used. Vitamins A and D should also be given in the form of a dessertspoon of cod liver oil weekly with a dessertspoon of vitamin C daily — both these vitamins are helpful against cancers.

Any doe with a pale skin, whom the sun affects, should always be mated with the darkest skinned buck possible, even if it means going out of her breed. A Saanen crossed with a British Alpine generally produces a dark-skinned kid, almost black in some cases.

Snakebite

Snakebite either kills instantaneously by immediate nervous paralysis or, more usually, by slow loss of muscle control which allows time to deal with the problem.

The eye muscle is the first to relax; the pupil appears to be spread right across the eye. People often call me and say that their animal is ill and the eye "looks all funny and black."

In the section on milk fever I mentioned that the signs were almost identical. Loss of motor control is the next step, followed by death in bad cases, or a long illness if the bite was low in venom.

Give 15 cc of vitamin C by injection intramuscularly in the side of the neck and repeat in two hours if necessary, although often the first dose is enough. There is no use in looking for a vein to do an intravenous injection because when an animal is in a state of shock, as in snakebite, the veins collapse and cannot be found. Failing injectable vitamin C, give a heaped teaspoon by mouth every half hour until the goat looks better. The first time I cured a goat of snakebite was before vitamin C injections became obtainable. The goat was bitten on the mouth. (I did not find this out until two days later). Somehow some of the venom must have landed in his eyes because they had clouded over, so I gave him vitamins A and D as well as the heaped teaspoon of vitamin C. He was staggering a little, but was quite alright half an hour later. I repeated the dose once more. The puncture marks, when they did show up, were on the top lip and it appeared slightly swollen, so I squeezed out some clear colored fluid.

Keep the patient quiet and comfortable until it is back on its feet and eating well. The great advantage of using vitamin C — pioneered by American Dr. Klenner in the 1930s and much used by a Californian dog vet (Dr. Bellfield, DVM) — is that the type of snake is totally immaterial, which is not the case if antivenin is to be used. So often one never sees the snake anyway and vitamin C is also cheaper and more easily available. In my experience (vets tell me I am unlucky), anaphylactic shock to a lesser or greater degree can follow the use of antivenin and it is almost worse than the bite. Another disadvantage of antivenin is that if it has to be used twice in a short time, a reaction is inevitable and could kill.

If the location of the bite can be found — do not waste time looking for it until after the vitamin C treatment has been implemented — rub some sodium ascorbate powder well into it as this effectively stops the pain which can be considerable. (I rate a red-backed spider bite as the most painful bite I have experienced, the pain went away within three minutes of rubbing the vitamin C well in). However, often it is not possible, as in the case above, to see the bite marks until the hair falls way from around them.

Goats bitten on the udder are a different story, nothing seems to help the udder. The bite generally does not affect the rest of the animal, but in the one case I had it totally wrecked the udder. Try large doses of vitamin C with extra dolomite, it might work or, as in blackleg, putting the vitamin C straight into the udder might work. I saved the udder on another doe that had been bitten by using hydrogen peroxide as for black mastitis.

Prevention is always easier than cure — put bells on the collars of the goats. Anyone handy at brazing can make them from copper or brass pipe. Snakes are reputedly deaf, but they can definitely sense the vibrations from bells. I never had another goat bitten once I fitted them and tiger snakes were endemic on that farm.

The vitamin C dosage should be 2 mls to a gram, nothing less. There have been cases of snakebite where the animals died from too low a dose of vitamin C.

Spermiostasis

See hereditary defects.

Split and Peeling Horns

I had two inquiries about this in 1990, it was the first time I had heard of it. It appears that it is due to a calcium/magnesium deficiency and, in both cases, once the goats (fiber) were given supplementary dolomite the trouble ceased.

Sunburn

This has already been covered in the section on skin cancer, be especially careful not to buy a pale-skinned white goat.

Tapeworm

See worms.

Tetanus

This illness is due to Clostridium Tetany, which thrives in deep (usually) airless wounds that have not bled profusely and/or not been thoroughly disinfected. Unfortunately quite often the wound that causes tetanus is not even seen. Gunshot pellets are likely to start it up as are any bullets. Tetanus takes about ten days to incubate, occasionally longer.

Signs are stiffening and lack of coordination, the classic locked jaw (the old name for the disease) and if the chin of the victim is tapped sharply the eyes will roll up. Fever accompanied by high temperature follows and any sudden noise causes the patient to convulse — bad in a goat and devastating in a horse. It is an intensely painful illness and it is better not to allow it to take hold.

Fortunately vitamin C works very quickly to detoxify the clostridia before tetanus reaches the bad stage and should be used immediately at a rate of at least 20 grams by injection with a follow up every hour until the patient relaxes. The longer the disease is allowed to develop, the more pain for the goat and the longer it takes to cure. Both the cases I have treated relaxed within ten minutes of the vitamin C injection, although I gave three more the next day to be certain.

Tetanus immunizations may stop the disease from developing, but they do not stop it from occurring if conditions are right for it. They merely give the farmer a sense of false security — which means that all wounds are not automatically disinfected. The organism is generally found in any soil where animals have been kept (like blackleg on sheep farms, another clostridial condition). Adult animals generally develop a natural immunity and it is more often the younger animals that succumb (except in the case of gunshot).

There is some mention that the tetanus vaccination is not as good as it once was, possibly the strain has mutated, but it is still one of the vaccinations which might help if one only has a few goats. Should an unimmunized goat sustain a wound that could possibly lead to tetanus, it would be a good idea to take it to the vet for a tetanus antitoxin injection. It must not have the toxoid, which is the immunization, until at least six weeks after the wound. If you cannot get the vet, put the goat on a maintenance dose of vitamin C at a rate of 10 cc by intramuscular injection the first day and one heaped teaspoon daily for at least 10 to 12 days after the wound, even if it has healed. This should prevent any infection arising.

Tetany — Grass, Lactation, Travel

All tetanies are the result of a magnesium (and possibly calcium) deficiency. Owners of a few goats, who look after them well, are unlikely to have trouble with the first two types. Large goat farms who make sure their goats are regularly supplemented with dolomite and the other minerals are also unlikely to have it.

Lactation Tetany

This is similar to milk fever but occurs further into the lactation. It is caused by a lack of magnesium in the pastures and/or feed, either inherently or because of the artificial fertilizers currently used to grow the feed. On conventional, non-organic farms, a sudden spring growth seems to make the imbalance worse. The victim, which is a lactating doe, suffers from a lack of magnesium which causes a collapse with symptoms similar to milk fever. Once the goat is down, it will struggle until it dies. The goat should be treated with magnesium and calcium; the injection is obtainable from any fodder store. Prevention, in the form of correct mineral supplementation, is, as always, easier for the farmer (and less painful for the goat).

Grass Tetany

This is similar to lactation tetany but happens any time there is a sudden flush of magnesium deficient grass — often after the autumn break. Work done by Dr. George Miller when he worked in the Gippsland Department of Agriculture at Warragul found that new grass contained nothing of value for the first six weeks of growth. Grass in paddocks that have been top dressed with dolomite does not cause this condition.

I once saw ten cows dead in a circle where they slept after eating the first flush of self-seeded barley. This had grown after a long drought followed by five inches of rain in a paddock that had been regularly "supered." It was also the first time I heard a vet actually mention superphosphate poisoning as such.

The remedy is the same as for lactation tetany — if the animals are found in time. Make sure the offending paddock is analyzed and remineralized.

Travel Tetany

This is when goats either die or become very ill with the stress of travelling. Stress uses up available magnesium very fast. If the animals are not comfortable travelling and their magnesium levels are low, disaster can ensue — dead goats arriving at shows. A teaspoon of vitamin C, and some vitamin B6 as for travel sickness the night before will help them to withstand the stress of a journey — regular supplementation with dolomite should take care of the rest.

If the animal is found before it dies, it will be shaking and in distress. Crush four magnesium orotate tablets and get them into its mouth somehow. If you cannot get them into the goat’s mouth, insert them into the rectum. The magnesium is absorbed through the membranes of the mouth or intestine. I have used this with a badly affected horse, it took four-and-one-half minutes for the horse to recover. Dr. Kristin Marriott, B.V. Sc. told me she had used it successfully with cows.

Tick Bite

After the bite, the goat becomes lethargic and eventually goes into a coma. If carefully examined, a tick(s) will be found — a dab of tea tree oil applied to the tick works wonders — the tick dies and lets go. Give the goat five grams of vitamin C by injection, it is not too late even if it is in a coma. If only oral C is obtainable, give three teaspoons in liquid slowly down the throat. Take great care if the animal is comatose that the liquid does not go down the windpipe.

There is apparently an antivenin, but it is not effective once the animal is in a coma. Friends with a tick bitten dog, already comatose, were told by the vet it was too late. Only then did they remember the oral vitamin C I told them about. They dribbled it down the dog’s throat and it recovered very quickly.

Animals in tick areas eventually build up an immunity. It might be worth raising the goats’ sulfur intake to an extra full teaspoon and a half daily so they would be less likely to be attacked (see section on sulfur).

Tick infested pastures are always on sour land that needs remineralizing and looking after. Have the land tested if infestations are a problem.

Toxoplasmosis

This disease is carried by cats. It is virtually impossible to control their movements and there is really no way of completely avoiding the occasional outbreak. Toxoplasmosis causes abortion or stillbirth. First kidders are most often affected as older goats will usually have built up an immunity to attack. There are other reasons for abortions and stillbirths and the fetus or dead kid should always be taken to a vet to find out the cause of death — I am always relieved when it is toxoplasmosis because then I know that the particular goat will become immune.

The biggest risk with the disease is that it is a zoonose that can be very easily contracted by a human handling the dead kid or fetus carelessly. It can cause pregnant humans to abort — correct hygiene should always be observed when handling sick or dead animals of any kind. If pregnant take extra precautions.

Tuberculosis

This disease is rare in goats. It used to be claimed that they were immune to it, however there is no evidence one way or the other, so care should be exercised. They should not be allowed to have contact with infected cattle — there are still a few about — it is not worth taking the risk.

Signs are similar to other wasting diseases. In cattle it is accompanied by runny noses and coughing. If tuberculosis is suspected, have a vet do tests immediately and on no account use the milk.

Tuberculosis is another of those diseases that strike deficient animals. Goats whose mineral needs are fully met and have ad lib seaweed meal should not contract it anyway.

Udder, Disease of

See flag, hard udder, mastitis and edema.

Urinary Calculi (Water Belly)

This is painful, but not too serious in a female as the ureter is shorter and wider; but in a male it is painful and often fatal as the ureter is long and narrow. The stones form in the kidneys from unassimilated minerals which are passing down the ureter — or trying to. Sometimes a small stone is passed — a very painful proceeding — but otherwise take the affected animal, generally a buck, straight to the vet. Giving a drench of cider vinegar may help, it will certainly prevent a recurrence. Two teaspoons of vitamin C can also be given daily for two or three days and it may help dissolve the stones and flush the bits out.

This is definitely one complaint where prevention is better than cure. A buck, even on highly mineralized bore water, will not be troubled with calculi — as little as a teaspoon of cider vinegar per day in the feed is all that is needed. I kept up to seven bucks for many years with only a mineral bore for water. They all received cider vinegar and there were no problems with calculi.

Warts

The virus that causes warts likes a host deficient in magnesium and vitamin C. However, goats, like most animals, synthesize their own vitamin C so only extra magnesium will be needed. Properly fed goats on the right minerals will not contract warts. There is enough magnesium in dolomite to make the warts drop off in a few days. Animals on regular dolomite do not develop warts. If they have them coming off magnesium-deficient land, the warts soon dry up and drop off once the dolomite is run through the feed. Epsom salts can also be used externally as a wash if desired, but it is not really necessary.

Worms

Drenches

In Australian Goat Husbandry, written in 1978, I wrote that good husbandry and not drenches was the long term answer to worms. Twenty years later it is truer than ever; drench resistance — which means that the worms mutate to cope with each drench as it is invented — is a fact of life.

When I was doing a talk for the local Department of Agriculture, the convener said as he introduced me: "Well, I hope you have an answer to worms, they are becoming resistant to drenches faster than they can make the new ones." Quite so. Before that, when talking to a Department of Agriculture vet who was monitoring the bloods sent up for CAE testing, he asked me what I was up to now — a fairly common question in the profession. I told him I had forsaken chemical drenches and was using copper and that it was working: "Thank God for that because soon we will need something that will work and go on working." Again, quite so.

Natural Resistance

As in other species, there are hereditary lines of goats with resistance to worms. I was fortunate to have one such line. They needed one third the amount of drenches that the others did — before I learned to improve my management and keep the worm problem at bay. Careful record keeping will show up the characteristic. However we cannot pin our faith in a number which is probably .00001 of the total population.

Seasonal Upsurges in Parasitic Worms

Strict adherence to the practice and principles of organic farming are really the only long-term defense. Nature did not intend animals to be wiped out by worms (nor did she intend Australia to be inhabited by our domestic stock). David Mackenzie’s statement that worms are needed to preserve a balance in the gut at times of extra high protein in the spring pasture was sound in the United Kingdom, Europe and maybe New Zealand — unfortunately not here. In Australia, due to our inherently poor soil, the herbage does not become too rich. Farmers who do not realize that at kidding time (spring) there is a natural upsurge of worms in the gut, will find themselves with dead goats unless the supplements are being fed. Since I learned to see that all goats got their copper regularly in the ration, I have not had to give what we called the "kidding drench." The copper in the system stops a blow-out in the worm population.

Restoring Soil Health to Encourage Soil Fauna

If the soil has been analyzed and remineralized and the pH is in reasonable balance — between 5.0 and 6.5 — earth worms, dung beetles and the soil mycorrhiza will, between them, take down and process the dung just as fast as they can obtain it. Parasitic worms can do no harm underground, they need damp pasture so that the larvae can crawl up the grass and be ingested. A word of warning here; according to Acres U.S.A., tests running for two years from 1988 in the United States reported that manure from animals treated with the Ivermectin group of drugs was not processed by soil fauna.

Good Husbandry

Good husbandry is the other weapon of the farmer. A goat given a choice will not go out and graze damp grass — they are browsers by nature and worms do not live in trees. On damp days goats must have hay ad lib so they are not forced by hunger to graze dewy worm-infested herbage. In the higher rainfall areas, they should have hay on demand at all times. Overstocking is another potent cause of worm problems.

Worms in Winter and Summer

In areas of Europe and the United States where there is a winter freeze up, and in the drier belts of Australia and the United States, there is virtually a closed season for worms. They cannot operate in freezing or extremely dry conditions. But in the more temperate parts of the world usually chosen for goat dairying (partly due to the proximity of markets) this does not apply — worms thrive all the year round.

Goats are clever animals. Watch them when they go out to graze. If they have a choice and plenty of room, they will first graze the areas that the sun has been on longest, ensuring that the grass they graze is dry and relatively clear of worm larvae and eggs.

Alternating Paddocks and Giving Goats a Choice

Another weapon against worms is to run stock that do not share the same type of worms. With goats, horses are the only animal that is suitable. If the horses are well mannered and handled there should be no problem, but on no account allow the goats to be chased. Buck paddocks should be alternated and spelled regularly and be big enough to put a horse in when the bucks come out, so that the horse can graze them to the ground. Then a few buckets of dolomite can be spread and the runs left until the fresh new growth comes away. I found this a very successful strategy for years and the bucks were hardly ever wormed. Do not run goats with sheep or cattle if it is avoidable. As a preference, allow a year to elapse before running goats on sheep country. If the land has been tested and remineralized, followed by aeration, this time can be cut considerably.

I have always let the goats have the run of the farm — I have "goat bars" on the gates. This is a bar about three feet long with a hole at each end with a split link and strong snap clip in it. This bar is fastened at one end to the gate and at the other end to the fence, keeping the gate open, but horses are prevented from pushing through. Similarly the fences are usually made with one high "sight" (white) wire, with two or three plain strands underneath, confining the horses but allowing the goats to pass where they will.

Signs of Worm Infestation

Signs of wormy goats are runny eyes, picky appetite, lowered milk yield, scouring, anemia with some types of worms and occasionally bottle jaw (illustrated in the section on liver fluke). Any or all of these signs can mean worm infestation.

Copper and Worms

Hungerford, in his Diseases of Livestock, avers that unexplained scouring is nearly always caused by a copper deficiency. After two years of experimenting with copper levels in stock, I would enlarge on that and say that any animal receiving its correct amount of copper will not be troubled by worms (The Albrecht Papers confirm this.)

It seems that no one really knows what are the correct copper requirements of a goat. Following the publication of an article I sent to the United Kingdom about colored goats and copper needs, some vets decided to work out what these were. Initially they started by trying to fix a fatal level for the mineral. They administered what they considered to be a lethal dose to a white goat (which does not need so much copper as a colored one) and then waited for it to die. At the time of the letter telling me of the experiment (a few weeks after the experiment), the goat had never looked better and flatly refused even to be ill.

Old-fashioned Drenches

The two drenches most commonly in use before proprietary drenches became the norm were copper sulfate with either nicotine sulfate or lead arsenate — both the latter are poisonous and, luckily, unobtainable now — so not surprisingly this mixture killed a few animals. I did know a few people who kept their goats healthy by giving them a plug of good quality pipe tobacco occasionally.

Apparently, not very many people used straight copper sulfate although, in early 1960 I asked the landlords for a worm dose for an old reprobate who passed as a goat (which they had given me), they sent down a tablespoon of copper sulfate. I drenched her with it — not knowing any better or worse. After the copper sulfate the goat looked better and that was that.

Using Copper Sulfate as a Vermifuge

Dr. William A. Albrecht, a highly qualified and much respected soil scientist who studied in the United States, but lectured all over the world (including Australia), did much research with minerals and plants and animals. His work on copper is of particular interest. He found that the Bordeaux mixture we used so successfully on our orchard trees (made up of lime and copper sulfate) did not actually kill the fungus by contact as was supposed. The tree absorbed the copper, and fungus will not stay on a plant with adequate copper in its tissues. Similarly, he found that when animals which had been given copper sulfate recovered from worms, the copper did not actually kill the worms, rather the copper was absorbed by the animal and no worms of any kind would stay in or suck blood from an animal that has plenty of copper in its tissues. I and others had experimented along these lines for 10 years with horses, cattle, sheep and goats, with 100 percent success.

Initially I tried a maintenance dose with the goats which I kept up for nine months, but it was so high that it seemed unrealistic. At that rate (a small teaspoon of copper sulfate per head per day), each goat was receiving the equivalent of nearly a two pounds of copper sulfate per year, so I cut the amount to half. After that I did occasionally have to give extra copper. During that nine months, the goats were mated and kidded without having to be wormed as usual. Additionally, the first kidders did not get the almost mandatory dose of cowpox, there were no foot problems in spite of the fact that it was an abnormally wet winter, and they never looked better. Ninety-five percent of them were British Alpines, the other five percent were either Saanens or all blacks, but they all received the same dose of copper sulfate per head daily, run through their feed. The farm was also low in copper.

Permanent Supplementation

The lick described in Chapter 6 has levels of copper that seem to work very well with paddock animals. For hand-fed goats I run the copper sulfate through the feed at a rate of a full teaspoon per head per week. Dark-colored goats may need more than this and the rate can be increased; those who run the all blacks should make a note. If the copper is incorporated in the water that soaks the barley (as well as the cider vinegar and any other minerals such as cobalt or boron (borax) that are needed), it is mixed in with the dry feed and also dampens it; so the copper intake is as near natural as can be managed.

Drenching

If a drench is needed — and I do not advocate it because I find it is unnecessary even at kidding time if the normal supplementation of copper has been ongoing — I use a teaspoon of dolomite, half a teaspoon of copper sulfate and a teaspoon of vitamin C powder. Put this dry straight into the mouth from a film container.

Veterinary Reactions

See the comments in Drenching section. Several other vets (but not all) with whom I have discussed these worm strategies are interested in the possibilities; they realize only too well we are somewhere near the end of the line with chemical drenches. It is not necessary to withhold milking after drenching with copper. With proprietary drenches, one goat through the milking line by mistake and the whole day’s milk has to be thrown out — it’s happened to me.

A British Veterinary Codex lent to me for notes by Dr. Greg Morrison (a retired veterinary surgeon) did list copper as a vermifuge and gave amounts slightly below what we use now. But, as mentioned, the copper was mixed with either lead arsenate or nicotine sulfate — no wonder the drench got a bad name.

Natural Wormers

Copper has already been discussed at length throughout this book; but there are other herbs and plants that also have a inhibiting action on worms. Honeysuckle and wormwood, both of which goats may help themselves to preferably through a fence, are two such plants; garlic is not an option where milkers are concerned, nor is it 100 percent successful. Chenopodium oil (oil of American wormwood) was used in Europe for many years by sheep and cattle farmers and may still be a standby. I tried to import some years ago, but the chemist who was doing the importation was turned down as soon as he stated why we wanted it.

I feel that the last part of this chapter is not necessary, given that the above suggestions mean healthy goats naturally. I include this section only for reference and stress that chemical drenches are not the best way to deal with the problem.

Chemical Drenches

In 1990 I wrote that there were roughly 20 drenches on the market; eight years later many of those have been superseded and many more "cocktails" invented. The chemicals, of which there are about 15, remain roughly the same.

A rough rule of thumb for using drenches is not to alternate although this was very fashionable some years ago. Vet friends agree that it led to massive, persistant and sometimes insoluble drench resistance problems. Use a drench, be it "white" or "gold," for at least a year, or more if the results are satisfactory, before changing. The final resort, when the goats are dry, is the Ivermectin group under the strict supervision of a vet. It is very powerful and kills everything in the system (including the goat if the wrong amount is used) — both beneficial and otherwise — and the milk from that lactation cannot be used again according to industry printouts when these drenches first came out.

Personally, I used the "white" group — the earliest drench that became available — with satisfactory results for 20 years. But I never "strategically" drenched, animals were only drenched when they showed unmistakable signs of infestation. Then the formula was apparently changed and it started to make the goats rather ill, taking three or four days before they came back on their milk again. This was when I started to shop around and finally had to work it out for myself.

Strategic Drenching

Like alternating drenches, this practice has ensured that any drench used will become useless fairly soon. To drench an animal because it is a certain time of year, without taking a worm count, borders on lunacy and yet countless people have done it for years, never thinking what trouble they were laying up for themselves.

It is not good to drench pregnant goats and any goats who have the copper supplied on a permanent basis do not need worming anyway. The moment the doe kids, the act of parturition in some way (hormonal) triggers off a massive upsurge in the worm population. Since using copper I have not had to do a kidding drench at all.

Doing Worm Counts

If the cost is not too prohibitive, having a worm count done on the goats at fairly regular intervals is a good idea. If the goats were found to be wormy and still looked unthrifty, the farmer would have to look to the mineral levels and the copper sulfate in the feed could be raised to two grams daily for a while — which could be a lot cheaper and probably safer than drenching. Purchasing a small microscope and learning how to use it is another option. I know several fiber and meat breeders who have done their own counts quite successfully for years.

Types of Worms

An ICI printout of 1978 listed 11 types of worms commonly found in goats. Many of them do not seem to raise problems in my experience, so I have listed below the most usual ones that cause trouble.

Barber’s Pole Worm (Haemonchus Contortus)

Under a microscope this worm looks like the old-fashioned barber’s pole — white with blood bands (its host’s) running around it. Until the late 1960s no one seems to have been aware of this worm in the southern states, but it has been a dangerous scourge ever since. It is a blood sucking worm which can debilitate a quite healthy looking adult goat with shocking speed and kill kids even faster. Action must be taken at once if it is suspected. It is not a problem in goats who are receiving the correct minerals in their feed or licks.

The worm only becomes a problem with the warm weather and sometimes due to hormonal activity at kidding. In cold weather it encapsulates itself in the gut, doing no harm (nor is it apparently affected by drenches at this stage). Again this does not happen in copper fed goats. I used to have bets with myself on the first really warm day of spring as to how many telephone calls there would be saying that the caller’s goat had suddenly collapsed. I always told them to drench it — and quickly.

Signs of barber’s pole infestation are always anemia — examine the membranes under the eye — and the extreme suddenness of the attack. Other signs of worm infestation such as scouring and runny eyes will show up, but acute and sudden anemia is the chief one. I was brought a kid very late one night that was frothing at the mouth and very ill. It was dark and I feared poison of some sort. I managed to keep it alive half the night, but that was all. The next day I took the body into the local Department of Agriculture. Later on that day, the sister was brought around in the same state, but as it was light, I had a quick look at her eyelids, realized what the problem was and we saved her. Barber’s pole worm — a rapid and insidious killer — the report from the Department confirmed next day.

In the first instance, give a worm drench and a quick acting iron tonic (Ironcyclene is good), and at least two cc of vitamin B12 and VAM by injection; give the B12 every hour if necessary. Injected vitamin C will also be found to be helpful, four to five cc for a kid, double for an older goat (intramuscularly). Once the color of the eyelids starts to return to normal, ensure that the patient receives copper sulfate and has access to its ad lib seaweed meal.

Another insidious characteristic of barber’s pole worm is that, unlike most other worms, it has a life cycle of 10 to 14 days so if there is a parasite problem involving more than one type of worm, it will be necessary to give the backup drench on the 10th, 14th and 21st days to be absolutely safe.

Brown Stomach Worm (Ostertagia sp.)

Another bloodsucker, but this one embeds itself in the walls of the stomach to do its task, as well as being found in the gut — it can be active all the year round.

This is not so sudden or dangerous as barber’s pole, but action should be taken with goats that appear below par and anemic (check that it is not a copper deficiency, see sections on that mineral and iron). A characteristic of treating this worm is that sometimes when drenching for it, the goat will appear to recover and then relapse again the following day. Apparently the drench can only deal with the worms out in the gut; when they are killed, the ones in the stomach wall detach themselves and start to work. So the signs, generally scouring, will persist and the drench must be given two days running. A buck I leased from Western Australia in the 1970s needed four days of drenching before he was alright — he must have had a very heavy infestation. Ostertagia has a three-week life cycle.

Lungworm (Muelaris cappilaris, Dirofilaria immitis)

Persistent coughing and below par animals are the usual sign of a lungworm infestation. Some areas are more prone to it than others. One of the "golden" drenches is usually indicated for lungworm; it will kill the mature and young worms. But check before using that it is specific for both kinds of lungworm. There was much trouble some years ago because some drenches were only formulated for Meularis, not for Dirofilaria and drenching often did no good at all.

The danger of lungworm infestation is that, if there are a lot of worms in the lungs, the drench suddenly killing them gives the goat a lung full of dead worms and these in effect cause mechanical pneumonia. The goat dies from suffocation — it has happened a number of times. If a very heavy infestation is suspected give a drench that is not specific for lungworm first, some of the "white" drenches are usually suitable, so that the worms in the intestines are killed. Apparently this gives the ones in the lungs a chance to move on and there is not as great a chance of damage when the correct lungworm drench is used.

Any goat that has been infected with lungworm often has a slight chronic cough for life due to lung scarring. Goats are short on lung area, so try to avoid a lungworm epidemic if possible. Lungworm are not so usual in dry areas, but in some of the wetter places they can be a problem. They have a three week life cycle.

Pin or Thread Worms (Nematodes)

These resemble human threadworms with rather similar signs. They are quite often present without the farmer realizing that anything is amiss. If you see a goat doing a lot of tail wagging when she is patently not in season, have a good look — often the worms can be seen crawling round the anus and setting up an irritation.

Piperazine drenches are highly effective against these worms and I never found any of the others on the market had any effect. Piperazine is not specifically mentioned for goats, but appears to be completely safe. The same powder that is used for poultry can be used quite successfully. Pinworms usually come in with a load of hay, particularly pea hay that has been harvested off old sheep pastures. The eggs are scraped up off the ground with the hay after harvest. They are not a problem in goats who receive their copper.

Roundworms (Strongyle)

This is the most common type of worm and these days it does not rate much publicity. It has a three-week life cycle and occasionally, with careful watching, it can be seen in the droppings. Practically any drench will work against them.

Tapeworm (Monezia expansa)

Goat tapeworm is reputedly species specific and is not the same as those carried by dogs. I was told this was so, but I have heard of transmission that suggested a crossing of species on more that one occasion.

Very pot-bellied kids are quite often infected with tapeworm and careful examination of the feces will sometimes detect the typical white segments of the worm.

It is fairly rare and, if suspected (repeated drenching for other species of worm seems to make no difference), have the vet test a sample of manure and he will advise on a drenching program. For years there was only one drench for these worms (Mansonil). Kids and young goats are generally affected, adult goats appear to develop an immunity to tapeworm, which lives in the soil on many farms. The intermediate stage is a soil mite — avoid contaminating pasture if possible as it causes unthrifty kids. Tapeworms dislike copper even more than other species of worm.

Hydatid

These are the exception to the species specific label and can be contracted by goats in the same way that sheep (or any other animal, human included) catches them. Dogs and humans can pick them up from rabbit livers or meat. An area subject to hydatid, and anywhere that sheep have been farmed, is at risk. Make sure the goats are treated for hydatid if necessary. Consult your vet.

Summing up

Having rechecked this section and revived memories of many struggles with all the types of worms mentioned, I realize how trouble free and uncomplicated life has been since we learned to use copper sulfate. Animals are healthier without the poison drenches and I am certainly a lot more relaxed.

Wry Face, Wry Tail

See hereditary defects.

Pat Coleby's Natural Cures for Top-10 Goat Ailments

Chapter 10, "Vitamins & the Use of Herbal, Homeopathic & Natural Remedies"

Chapter 11, "Health Problems"

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