The Healthy Herd

http://www.goatwisdom.com/Video/HoofTrim2.html

Butterfat is increased by increasing the number, and protecting the conditions which are beneficial to cellulose digesting, acetate producing,bacteria in the rumen.

Don’t over feed supplement.
Supplement should not exceed 50% of the diet. In their effort to make more milk, producers will often overfeed supplement. This reduces butterfat, especially when the supplement to forage ratio approaches2:1. Concentrates are too quickly digested and with the correspondent drop in the need for saliva production, you get a drop in rumen pH, which is harmful to the microbes that produce butterfat.

Feed roughage before you feed grain in the morning.
Again, having hay in the rumen first will slow down digestion, ensure adequate saliva production and keep the rumen pH at a favorable level for acetate-producing microbes.

Take the total amount of supplement the goats need to eat during a day, and feed it in several small meals instead of giving it in only two larger meals at milking time..
Again, this optimizes the conditions beneficial to microbes. It takes time to feed more often, so producers will have to decide how badly they want higher butterfat.

Provide good ventilation, plentiful water and multiple smaller meals when it is hot outside. Goats eat less when it is hot, so you will often see a drop in butterfat in the summer due to a drop in intake of feed.. Anything you can do to help them eat more will increase butterfat. Increased intake increases the heat of digestion in the rumen, and that in turn increases acetate production and raises the level of butterfat.

Feed good quality forage. If you have only poor quality forage, add buffer to the diet.
Low-roughage fiber intake lowers butterfat. Supplement the diet with buffer at a rate of 4% of the amount of supplement fed per day to increase butterfat production when feeding poor quality forages. (Note:many goats do not like buffer in their feed, and will completely refuse to eat the ration with it in there, but will take it readily when it is offered free-choice in the barn or lot.

Feed larger quantities of dried brewer’s grain.
Research show that distillers grains contain yeast by-products that stimulate rumen cellulose digestion, which results in acetate formation, thereby increasing butterfat.

Breed for high butterfat as well as high milk production.
When selecting breeding stock, if you select for high milk production alone, don’t pay attention to butterfat levels, you will gradually see decreased butterfat from one generation to the next..

(Smith, 485)

Link: Variations in Milk Fat Composition: Why do my milk processorand DHIA tests not always agree? http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/newsletter/pub__4960713.htm

What is Toxoplasmosis?

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-resources/cattle-breeds/angus/Livestock-producers-may-see-lowered-fertility-in-herds-this-fall-167351815.html

Note the heat effect on male animals. 71 days for bulls, 56 for rams and potentially bucks. He says that it is not expected to affect long-term fertility, just X-days from extreme heat.

From Dr.David Fernandez, U of AR

Livestock producers may see lowered fertility in herds this fall

Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Updated: August 28, 2012

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – As if drought damage to pastures and high hay and feed prices aren’t enough, livestock producers may see reduced fertility in their breeding herds this fall, says Dr. David Fernandez, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Cooperative Extension Program livestock specialist.

“The exceptionally high heat could impair the ability of bulls, bucks, rams and boars to produce viable sperm,” he says. Cows, does, ewes and sows may produce less viable eggs or experience higher levels of early spontaneous abortions.

Here’s why. Most male mammals’ testes are located in the scrotum outside their bodies. This allows the male to maintain his testes at a temperature several degrees below his body temperature which is essential for sperm production. When temperatures exceed 103 F for several days, the testes cannot be cooled adequately, and sperm production can be impaired, says Dr. Fernandez.

The damage to sperm production can be long term. Sperm production in the ram requires an average of 47 days plus another nine days for the sperm to migrate to the storage area. That’s 56 days. Similar time frames are believed to exist for bucks. For bulls, it is more than 70 days. The damage is not readily apparent, he says. In some cases, the number of sperm and their motility may be reduced.

“Much of the damage appears to be done to the DNA of the sperm,” he says. This means that a sire may appear to be normally fertile after a breeding soundness exam, but pregnancy rates of dams may be low, with many repeat breeders.

Compounding the problem are the effects of high heat on female reproduction. When temperatures are high, eggs may be less fertile and may not survive to form a viable embryo after fertilization. Fortunately, the effect of high temperatures on females tends to be limited to the estrus cycle in which it occurs.

“Unfortunately, no cost effective on-farm method exists to determine whether the problem is with the male or female,” says Dr. Fernandez, who advises that the best thing to do is to provide plenty of cool water and shade to help keep livestock cool. Also, monitor the herd’s nutrition as they may not eat enough feed when days are extremely hot.

Finally, producers should plan ahead so they are prepared if their herd’s breeding season begins and ends later than usual. And, investigate alternative marketing strategies and parasite management schemes for next spring and summer, he says.

In this neck of the woods the very first sign of spring is not crocuses, but daffodils. I am pleased to report that this past week I was able to pick daffodils on the south facing bank of a nearby road. So, spring is in the air!
With the advent of spring, we usually have a bunch of new arrivals on our farms, and while it is exciting and usually a joy filled time, we occasionally need to be right on top of things to preserve the lives of some of these little blessings that show up.
Because sheep and goats regularly have multiple births, all those legs can get a little tangled up, and we sometimes need to help the dam get those kids sorted out and delivered. If you have been involved with sheep or goats for any length of time, some of the info in this newsletter will seem like old hat to you. While that may be the case, from time to time going over someone else’s prepper list for birthing supplies may remind you of something you have forgotten about, or give you an additional item to include in your own preparations.
Kids and lambs often have their lives hanging in the balance in the first hours after their birth. It is always best to have what you may need in advance than to find you have forgotten something and cannot get it until the weekend is over or risk having to call a vet out at 3am to supply something you could have had on hand if you had only thought of it during the week. Because there are so many little things to think about that might mean the difference between life and death, this newsletter is devoted to Birther Preps of the critter kind.
We hope you enjoy the information and do feel free to send in your tips and tricks for this time of the year. We can always benefit from other ideas!
Thank you!!!
All of Us at Hamby Dairy Supply

Basic Birthing Kit

For Sheep and Goats

• Flashlight & batteries – For those night time deliveries.
• Latex gloves – In case you have to assist.
• OB Lube – In case you have to “go in” to assist.
• 7% iodine – To treat the umbilical cord to prevent navel ill.
• Small spray bottle or film container – for dipping or spraying the umbilical cord with iodine.
• Dental floss – To tie the umbilical cord, if necessary.
• Blunt nosed scissors – For cutting the umbilical cord if it is too long.
• Long Shoe String- to make a loop to pull leg into position

      *Corn Oil and Turkey Baster- to help lubricate for a   

         large kid to come through you can flood the vagina

         with corn oil.

     *Vitamin E oil- 2cc of vitamin e will often help a kid nurse 

• Alcohol – to sterilize tools
• Baby nasal aspirator – To remove fluids from newborn’s mouth & nose, if necessary.
• 3 old but clean towels & 2 washcloths – To dry kids to prevent chill & dry hands.
• Bottle & Pritchard Nipple – In case you need to bottle feed, I have had the best luck getting newborns to use the Pritchard Nipple over others.
• Lamb / kid puller – In case of a kid that is positioned wrong. (Usually just your hand is enough to help a doe that needs help but it is a good idea to have one).
• Weak lamb syringe & feeding tube – To feed kids too weak to nurse.
• Small scale – to get a birth weight on the kids.
• Feed bag or garbage bag – For afterbirth.
• Soap & warm water – for washing up in case you need to assist.
• Small notebook & Pen – to record birth weights, etc.
• Digital thermometer – To check the temperature of chilled kids.
• Quiet hair dryer – to warm a mildly chilled kid.
• Phone # of 2 goat knowledgeable keepers/veterinarians – in case of an emergency.

by Sue Beck

With our days getting longer and our pastures getting greener, many of us are looking forward to being able to put our goats out on grass. But with the fresh new leaves of spring come one of the biggest threats to our herds’ health – parasites.

During the winter, the parasite eggs in your pastures go dormant, and pose very little risk of infecting our goats, making it the ideal time to get parasite problems under control. Now is the time when you should be testing fecal samples and treating accordingly, or using a broad spectrum dewormer to eradicate the parasites currently in your goats. If you can begin the summer with a clean herd, you will end it with a clean pasture.

In a recent presentation, Dr. Donald Bliss, founder and owner of MidAmerica Ag Research, recommended the following procedure to eradicate parasites in your herd:

Mid-late winter

1. Use Safeguard at the rate of 7.5 mg/kg spread over 3 days, then give Cydectin cattle pour-on dewormer orally (1 cc/ 20 pounds) on day 4.

2. Check random fecal samples 7-10 days after deworming.

3. Retreat if necessary, using wormer specific to the worms your goats still have.

4. Continue this process until your samples are free of parasites.

Early spring (as soon as the grass starts to grow):

1. Treat your herd with Safeguard at the rate of 7.5 mg/kg spread over 3 days.

2. Wait three weeks and retreat with Safeguard again.

3. Wait three weeks and treat with Cydectin as above (1 cc/ 20 pounds).

Timing is critical in this process. Parasite larva load is extremely high in the spring as dormant eggs begin to hatch, but by June, almost all these eggs have hatched and emerged. By treating aggressively at the beginning of the grazing season, you eradicate almost all existing larva from your pasture. If your goats are not dropping new eggs, the rate at which they become reinfested with parasites should decrease dramatically, and continue to decrease each year until they are virtually nonexistent in your herd. Just remember – if you can get your goats worm-free in winter and your pastures worm-free in spring, the rest of your year will be trouble free, too!