mydakota
Ridin' The Range
Last year I brought a very nice Boer buck in on a breeding lease. He was beautiful and gave me 5 gorgeous kids last spring. This year I wanted to use him again and was told that he had gone to another farm after he had left mine and had been there for quite a few months. When he was picked up, he had some obvious health issues that required some treatment, chief among them a heavy parasite load. He was kept in quarrantine for a few weeks, and dewormed aggressively. When he went home with his owners, it was with instructions that fecals be done every 10 days and deworming kept up on. This did not happen. This year, when I called and wanted to use him again, his owners said I could, but that he was still a little thin and they wanted a few weeks yet to get some more weight on him. I understood and agreed to wait. 8 weeks later, when he was delivered to me, he was a shadow of the buck that had been here before. I was assured he was just still recovering from his ordeal the previous year. I knew they had had him tested for CAE and CL and both of those had come back negative, but he had been off the charts for parasite load. When I put him in with 2 of my does, one of them headbutted him, and knocked him completely down and he didn't even try to get up. I took that doe out and just left him with my one doe. I kept him here in good faith (and stupidity I suppose) and tried to feed him up. He had free choice feed, minerals, and was given Nutradrench and Red Cell and ProBios in an attempt to help him recover. After several days, I did remove my remaining doe, but she was exposed to him for that time. After repeated communications with the owner about his health, it was decided that he needed more vet care than she could provide, so she gave him to me with the understanding that if he recovered he was mine. Once I had ownership, I had the vet out. He is positive for Cocci, and was positive for Barber Pole. The barber poles are gone now, and we are treating for the Cocci. He was severely anemic, and has required a blood transfusion. He is currently on the meds he needs and time will tell if he will recover. My questions is, what should I be doing for my doe that was exposed to him for several days? She seems very healthy, and is experiencing no symptoms. She has not been returned to the general herd since her exposure. I am just concerned that I need to be doing something with her. I have only had goats for a couple of years, and mine have always been very healthy. I was naive I suppose, to even let him stay once I saw his condition. I just knew there was backstory that accounted for it, and instead decided to try to help him. I hope not to the serious detriment of my own doe. He is a very nice buck when healthy, and well bred. I would like to save him if possible, and am working toward that end with my vet. I just want to know about the risks here to my other herd members.
