In order to keep your herd from contamination or infections from new arrivals, each goat farm must be equipped with a quarantine area, a separate area isolated from other animals. This area must have enough of a buffer zone to be separated from the area where the rest of the animals are kept. Quarantine pens (more than one pen is desirable, if possible) should be outdoors preferably, with appropriate shelter, working and feeding facilities. New arrivals to the farm will be unloaded at the first pen, vaccinated s.c. with Clostridium perfringens type C & D-Tetani Bacterin-Toxoid, de-wormed with proper medication (depending on fecal egg counts and type of worm) and dusted along the loin area and neck using Co-Ral 1% dust or other available compounds. After 24 to 48 hours the animals should be moved to the next quarantine pen or paddock, where they will be observed for several weeks (at least for 30 days according to the MGQA Program) for any signs of abnormality or disease before joining any group on your farm except the closed herd (those animals that are produced on your farm or are your seeding stock). Animals also can be castrated (banding preferred by the MGQA Program) at this time, if desired, followed by a s.c. injection (needle size 18 to 20 gauge) of Liquamycin LA-200 at a rate of 2 mL/goat to prevent the occurrence of infection. However, if animals are going to be sold as meat animals in a few months and kept separately, castration may stunt the growth of the young kids. In our studies (Solaiman et al., 2006), castrated animals on average gained half as much as those that were not castrated, depending on the age and diet. 

When animals, especially goats are shipped, they are in a new environment, or have changed from an old to a new diet; they are known to get stressed. Stress causes them to have a lower immune system, making them prone to coccidiosis and diarrhea. As a preventive measure, new arrivals should get medicated feed containing rumensin, monensin or other approved coccidiostats, if possible. It is important to provide plenty of fresh water and good quality hay, but avoid grain overfeeding that may cause enterotoxaemia in young kids or adults. 

Back to Housing and Fencing