Biosecurity

Bio-Security - is a fancy term used in Europe, by farmers who take certain precautions against disease, such as quarantining of purchased livestock. It does NOT mean that there is no posibility of disease from practicing farms.

Heaven Sent

Healthy stock the natural way, is one of our main goals. Avoiding contact with infectious agents, and testing whenever possible helps us toward that goal.

Practices that help us avoid trouble, and minimize the spread of disease:

• Prevent off farm feces from feet, from entering premises.
• New change of clothes before returning to our animals.
• Quarantine for a minimum of one month.
• Deworm
• Run through a footbath or dip feet in iodine or bleach solution.
• Dip or treat with systemic parasite control (Ivomec pour on) at least twice, 2 weeks apart.
• Watch for any symptoms such as sore mouth, fever, runny nose, etc.
• Ensure a healthy diet.
• Any animals we have purchased or taken to a show get this treatment.

Testing

We began testing our herd for CAE in 1990 when we learned that about 90% of the goat herds in the U.S. had this preventable crippling disease. Many goat owners since then have taken steps to eradicate CAE from their herds. Along with most Veterinarians, we recommend all new arrivals be properly tested, quarantined, and culled if necessary. We also screen for CL, a disease that causes Lymph node Abcesses internally and externally, and Johnes, a wasting disease. No testing is 100%, so it is always a good idea to make a visual assessment of the whole herd before purchasing a new animal. CAE, CL and Johnes tests are negative. Results are available from WADDL upon request.

Aline Bright
Animal Health Technician