CHAPTER MENU

Dairy Goat Herd Health Management and Preventive

Medicine, 888

General Comments about Dairy Goat Herd Health, 888

Management of Newborn Kids to Weaning, 889

Management of Kids from Weaning to Breeding, 891

Management of Bred Doelings and Dry Does, 892

Management of Milking Does, 892

Management of Bucks, 894

Hair Goat Herd Health Management and Preventive

Medicine, 895

General Comments about Herd Health Management in Fiber- Producing Goats, 896

Meat Goat Herd Health Management and Preventive Medicine, 899

Maintaining Quality Goat Skins, 901

Herd Health Management forOrganically

Raised Goats, 901

Herd Health Management forTransgenic Goats, 905 The Importance of Establishing and Maintaining a Closed Herd and Specific Pathogen - Free Status, 905

Specific Disease Implications forTransgenic Herds and Product Quality and Safety, 906

The Use of Vaccines in Transgenic Goat Herds, 906

The Use of Veterinary Medications in Transgenic Goat Herds, 907

References, 907

In any livestock production system, certain diseases and production constraints can be anticipated on the basis of accumulated experience.

The disease conditions and production constraints expected in any given livestock production system are a function primarily of the species of livestock kept, their intended use, and the management system in which they are kept. However, a range of geographic, climatic, cul­tural, and economic factors modify herd health and pre­ventive medicine programs at the local level.

For example, free-ranging East African goats main­tained for meat, milk, and hides in mixed herds with cat­tle and sheep by Maasai pastoralists in the savannahs of Kenya present quite a different set of circumstances from Saanen dairy goats maintained exclusively for milk pro­duction in total barn confinement in west central France. Yet, appropriate herd health management and preventive medicine programs can be designed and implemented for each situation. Appropriate means that the technology and methods employed are available, understandable, and implementable, that they are acceptable to the pro - ducer and the consumer, that they address a specifically identified disease or production problem that could potentially occur in the herd, and finally that they pro - duce a favorable cost/benefit ratio in terms of improved health or increased productivity relative to the labor and materials expended.

Because of their remarkable adaptability and utility, goats are maintained over a more diverse range of habitats and production systems than any other domestic livestock species. As a result, herd health recommendations for goats vary considerably and all possible situations cannot be cov­ered here in this text. In general, intensified management not only allows, but also demands, more interventions than does extensive management. As a result, there is a larger body of documented veterinary experience relating to herd health management of goats maintained inten­sively. In addition, veterinary services are more often avail­able or used where goats are raised intensively rather than extensively. This also contributes to a greater knowledge of appropriate herd health programs in intensive manage­ment situations. Finally, specialization for the production of distinct commodities for established industries, such as milk for commercial cheese production or mohair for tex­tile mills, helps to define and clarify meaningful health and production targets within well-defined economic con­straints. Not surprisingly, the largest body of available information about goat herd health relates to intensively managed dairy goats and Angora goats maintained under semi-extensive conditions.

Goat Medicine, Third Edition. Mary C. Smith and David M. Sherman. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The coverage of herd health and preventive medicine programs in this text focuses mainly on dairy goats and fiber-producing goats. There are also more general com­ments on health and production issues related to goats kept for meat, goats kept for skins, transgenic goats, and goats raised under organic farming systems.