Meat Goat Herd Health Management and Preventive Medicine

The use of goats for meat presents a paradox. On a world­wide basis, production of meat is the single most common usage of goats. However, goat meat production is the least developed aspect of goat husbandry in terms of an organ­ized industry.

In contrast to the dairy breeds, comparatively little work has been done to breed goats specifically for meat production. Globally, the majority of goats used for meat are multipurpose, indigenous breeds in which little for­mal selection has been practiced. Historically, in North America, goats offered for slaughter were most commonly cull goats from dairy herds or fiber-producing flocks. In Australia and New Zealand, feral goats are harvested for meat.

There are two notable exceptions regarding selective breeding for meat production. In South Africa, a meat­type goat, the Boer goat, has been developed (Mahan 2000). This animal has rates of feed conversion and weight gain and carcass characteristics approaching those of sheep. Advances with the Boer goat underscore the potential for improvement of meat production in other breeds. Indigenous breeds of African goats have been reported to have daily weight gains around 90 g/day, while average Boer goat gains range from 170 to 200 g/day, with highly selected Boer goats on improved diets gaining as much as 290 g/day.

The high prolificacy of goats compared to cattle and even sheep makes them attractive ruminants for exploitation in meat production systems. Three kiddings every two years is a reasonable goal under some climatic and management conditions and increases opportunities for selective breeding to improve meat goat characteristics. Future advances and improvements in meat goat husbandry and production will depend a great deal on accurate market research to determine the desired characteristics of goat meat in varied markets. Production practices will be dic­tated to a large extent by such issues as the preferred age and weight of carcasses, preferences of taste and tender­ness, preferences for live goats over slaughtered goats, pref­erence for castrated over intact males, religious constraints on slaughter procedures, and potential of export markets compared to local markets. The positive impact of immi­gration in the United States on demand for goat meat and the product preferences of different cultural and ethnic groups is a case in point (Sande et al. 2005).

The basic principles for herd health management of meat goats are similar to those for dairy goats described above. As the size and well-being of the kid crop drive the profitability of a goat meat enterprise, the emphasis of herd health programs should be on reproductive management practices that produce high pregnancy rates and a high per­centage of live births, and on kid-rearing techniques that reduce the risks of neonatal mortality and increase survival through weaning.

Recommendations for effective reproductive manage­ment of meat goats (Pugh 2013) include breeding sound­ness examinations for selected breeding bucks at least 1-2 months prior to the breeding season and culling of sus­pect bucks; pregnancy checks on all bred does 45-60 days after breeding, with non-pregnant does culled from the herd; regular body condition scoring, with a desired score of 2.5-3 on a scale of 1-5 to avoid obesity, which contrib­utes to pregnancy toxemia and dystocias; regular exercise for pregnant does; and vaccination against known causes of abortion in the herd if present, one month before the start of the breeding season.

Excessive death losses in kids can negate both the advan­tage of prolificacy inherent in goats and efforts in good reproductive management. To minimize losses in the neo­natal period, the principles of dairy kid management apply, with particular emphasis on good sanitation in kidding areas, sufficient warmth, and adequate colostrum con­sumption. In kids that survive the neonatal period, diseases that inhibit rapid, efficient growth should be carefully con­trolled. The conditions most likely to disrupt normal growth are pneumonia, coccidiosis, and gastrointestinal helminthiasis. If finishing programs evolve and young goats are pushed on concentrate feeds, the risk of bloat, lactic acidosis, and enterotoxemia will increase. Goats should always be vaccinated against enterotoxemia, as dis­cussed in Chapter 10.

Conditions that could cause markdowns or condemna­tions at slaughter also need to be controlled. These include caseous lymphadenitis leading to lymph node and visceral abscesses, cestode infestations such as Taenia ovis or Taenia multiceps that produce cysts in muscle and viscera, and liver flukes that damage livers. Regarding injections, as long as therapeutic efficacy and immunogenicity are not compromised, drugs and vaccines should be given subcuta­neously rather than intramuscularly to minimize damage to muscle tissue.

A basic herd health calendar for meat goats in the United States is presented in Table 20.3. There are opportunities

Table 20.3 Herd health management and preventive medicine calendar for meat goats in North America.

January Evaluate pasture and forage conditions^a

Monitor body conditions of does; supplement if necessary

Prepare for kidding

February Sort pregnant from open does

Begin feeding pregnant does

Evaluate does and bucks; sell unsound or inferior animals

Treat for internal and external parasites

March Begin kidding; check teats for milk flow; identify kids

Separate singles from twins; if possible, pen individual does with their kids

Feed does to maintain milk production

April Finish kidding

Continue to supplement lactating does

Vaccinate early kids

May Consider weaning small, stunted kids Discontinue supplement feeding to does Monitor internal parasites through fecal samples Vaccinate late kids

June Begin looking for replacement bucks with good conformation, structural correctness, muscling, and a high weight per day of age

July Continue selecting replacement bucks

August Treat for internal and external parasites

Select replacement does and bucks

Wean kids; supplement replacement does and bucks with a high-protein (21%), high-energy feed Evaluate does and bucks; sell unsound and inferior animals

Criteria for culling:

Barren female: missed two seasons in a row

Bad teats or udders: too big or too small (mastitis) Bad mouths: smooth or broken mouth or over- or undershot jaw

^a In regions where fall/winter grazing is practiced.

for veterinarians to participate in herd health management for meat goat production. Since the 1990s, there has been a dramatic and robust increase in meat goat production in the United States, especially in the south. Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi, and Kentucky have been particularly active in this area. Factors contributing to the expansion of the meat goat industry in the southern United States have been reviewed (Osti et al. 2016). While Spanish, Angora, and dairy breed goats are being used for meat pro­duction, there has also been significant growth in the pop­ularity and number of Boer and, to a lesser extent, Kiko goats. Both of these breeds were initially imported but are now bred in the United States. In addition, so-called myo­tonic or fainting goats, i.e., goats with myotonia congenita, are heavily muscled in the hindquarters and have become desirable as a meat goat breed, particularly in Tennessee. Myotonia congenita is discussed in Chapter 4.

Because of the persistent warm climate and the heavy reliance on pasture grazing in meat goat production sys­tems in the southern United States, gastrointestinal para­sitism, particularly hemonchosis, has emerged as a significant constraint on health and production and threat­ens the vitality of the meat goat industry there. Strategies and interventions for control of gastrointestinal parasites are discussed in detail in Chapter 10 and elsewhere (Pugh 2013).

Langston University in Oklahoma offers a web-based training and certification program for meat goat producers. It is available online at http://www.luresext.edu/7q= Online%20Certification. The program provides a very informative overview of all aspects of meat goat produc­tion and marketing, including herd health management and diseases of meat goats, a module on meat goat herd health (Dawson et al. 2000), and another that provides an overview of the important diseases of meat goats (Olcott and Dawson 2000).