Should I get her checked

[Hobby Farm]

I recently bought two goats. One of them came from a breeder who lives only a few miles from me. She has a very healthy heard. She assures me that the goat I purchased from her is not carrying and diseases that she knows of, and I'm pretty sure I can trust her.

The other came from an individual 130 miles away from me. She had an add on Craig'slist, that's how I found out about it. Her farm was pretty clean. She says she hasn't had any illness other than some pink eye in her herd. I'm not sure if I should trust her. She has just gotten into dairy goats (she has around 25 Boers), and her dairy goats looked very thin. The area above their legs was very sucken in.

My question: Would it be worth the money to have a vet come out and examine her, test her for disease, ect... She is supposedly breed, but I'm not 100% sure she is. If I have her checked out by the vet, what should I have her checked for? To my advantage, the vet raises goats, so she should be very knowledgeable. BTW, she is an Oberhasli if that makes any difference.

What do you think?

 

[ksalvagno]

I would definitely have both goats checked out. If you are going to have the vet out for one, you may as well have both checked. If they are old enough, I would have them tested for CAE, CL and Johnes. I would also have a fecal done and make sure they also check for coccidia. Never hurts to get the vet out and get your goats in their books. If they are fine, then you have a base to start with if they do get sick.

 

[Hobby Farm]

Thanks for the advise, ksalvagno. I have the vet scheduled to come out later this week. Do you know if a vet is able to determine if a doe is pregnant? I forgot to ask when I called them.

 

[Roll farms]

There are tests that can be ran to determine if she's preggo, some it just depends on if he has the equipment or not, and how much you're willing to spend.

I agree, I'd get both checked out...

It could just be something simple like she kidded / was milked until recently and hasn't yet put her weight back on. I have a couple does who always look starved to death when they're in milk, because they are such heavy producers everything they take in goes in the milk bucket.

Once I dry them off they go back to being chubs.

I'll cross my fingers for you that they're fine.

 

[ksalvagno]

I don't know if they palpate goats at all. Then there is ultrasound. Also a progesterone test. I'm new to goats and haven't had any give birth yet so I'm not sure what all they do for goats.

 

[Hobby Farm]

Vet was over Saturday morning. He was able to do an ultrasound on the Obe, and he was able to determine she is carrying at least one kid! He said both of them seem to be healthy. We didn't test for any diseases. He suggested it be better to wait. Neither one are showing any symptons of anything. He said for all three diseases (CL, CAE, and Johnes) that it is possible for them to test negative and still be possitive. He suggested if we notice any symptoms, then is a good time to test.

The Obe is due in December! Can't wait!

 

[ksalvagno]

Congratulations on your goat being pregnant. It will be very exciting to have the kids. You will have to post pictures when she gives birth.

 

[kimmyh]

I would not wait on CAE testing, CAE can be passed to the kid(s) in one nursing. If the doe is positive you can pull the kids, and they never have to have that horrible disease. If she is carrying Johne's you could be ruining your whole place and sentencing your other goats too a death sentence. CL could be done from the same vial of blood taken for CAE testing. So you are looking at one blood draw, and a sample of poop, not too invasive in my opinion.