Chat
11-24-2015, 12:09 PM
Message from Dr Besser:
I wonder if I could give you a ring some time so I can learn more about how you have managed your goats (resulting in their negative PCR test results for Mycloplasma ovipneumoniae) – as I said at that meeting, (in Pendlton, OR) I need to learn more about pack goats and how they are managed differently from other goats.
Thanks, Tom
Thomas E Besser, DVM PhD
Professor of Microbiology
Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology
Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine Phone: 509-335-6075
Response from me
Our packgoat online community did a poll regarding how many packgoats most of us keep. The majority of us keep 3 or 4. My husband and I have 3 goats. We live on the edge of town with very few other goats or sheep. I have never had my goats at the county fair or any other large public gatherings. When at our annual gathering of packgoats called the North American Packgoat Rendezvous I keep my weathers isolated behind a portable electric fence and camp on a far edge of the gathering. This is the largest exposure to other goats my animals have. This gathering is for 3 days. During this gathering we hike with other packgoats but what typically happens on the trail is each goat stays with their own human pack.
Our baby packgoats are bottle fed at home by us. Typically they are removed from their herd of origin at 1 month of age, a couple of breeder sell them at 3 months old. It is rare to have a packgoat fed by its mother at all, most are removed at birth and bond early to humans.
My goats live a low stress life, predator free, ample clean water that is heated in the winter, clean hay with a variety of supplements, regular exercise, a dry insulated but not heated barn, and of course some toys to play with. Hay is supplemented with black oil sunflower seeds, flax seed, kelp meal and loose minerals made for goats. During some of our exercise hikes there is different browse for them to eat. They have an annual check with a mobile large animal vet. At this visit they get CD&T vaccinations and an oral worm medication.
Dr Besser Response:
Thanks much for your email. Very interesting information, and it seems likely that many or most pack goat ‘herds’ may also, like yours, turn out to be Movi negative, which would mean they pose a significantly lower risk for transmitting this pneumonia pathogen to bighorn sheep even if contact occurs.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Tom
I wonder if I could give you a ring some time so I can learn more about how you have managed your goats (resulting in their negative PCR test results for Mycloplasma ovipneumoniae) – as I said at that meeting, (in Pendlton, OR) I need to learn more about pack goats and how they are managed differently from other goats.
Thanks, Tom
Thomas E Besser, DVM PhD
Professor of Microbiology
Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology
Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine Phone: 509-335-6075
Response from me
Our packgoat online community did a poll regarding how many packgoats most of us keep. The majority of us keep 3 or 4. My husband and I have 3 goats. We live on the edge of town with very few other goats or sheep. I have never had my goats at the county fair or any other large public gatherings. When at our annual gathering of packgoats called the North American Packgoat Rendezvous I keep my weathers isolated behind a portable electric fence and camp on a far edge of the gathering. This is the largest exposure to other goats my animals have. This gathering is for 3 days. During this gathering we hike with other packgoats but what typically happens on the trail is each goat stays with their own human pack.
Our baby packgoats are bottle fed at home by us. Typically they are removed from their herd of origin at 1 month of age, a couple of breeder sell them at 3 months old. It is rare to have a packgoat fed by its mother at all, most are removed at birth and bond early to humans.
My goats live a low stress life, predator free, ample clean water that is heated in the winter, clean hay with a variety of supplements, regular exercise, a dry insulated but not heated barn, and of course some toys to play with. Hay is supplemented with black oil sunflower seeds, flax seed, kelp meal and loose minerals made for goats. During some of our exercise hikes there is different browse for them to eat. They have an annual check with a mobile large animal vet. At this visit they get CD&T vaccinations and an oral worm medication.
Dr Besser Response:
Thanks much for your email. Very interesting information, and it seems likely that many or most pack goat ‘herds’ may also, like yours, turn out to be Movi negative, which would mean they pose a significantly lower risk for transmitting this pneumonia pathogen to bighorn sheep even if contact occurs.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Tom