Goat Biosecurity Testing

Biosecurity testing is something we take very seriously on our farm. In this post I will share with you the supplies you need to test your herd, how to draw the blood and the diseases I test for and would recommend anyone with goats also test for.

To get started you will need to decide whether you will do the blood draws and send off the samples yourself or if you will have your veterinarian do them.  Some labs will allow you to send in your own samples, others will require they be sent in by a veterinarian. There are pros and cons to both. Pulling the blood and sending the labs off yourself will potentially save you a little money. On the down side, you will be limited to the labs you can use, you will need to learn to draw blood and you will need to acquire your supplies.

I have included a short video in this post of me drawing blood from several of our goats for testing. Please excuse the video movement and such, my 5yr old was the only videographer I could afford, I pay him in chocolate chip cookies 😅.

Supplies:

The following is a list of supplies you will need if you want to draw the blood yourself for testing:

• Clean needle & syringe for each goat.
• 3ml syringe with a 22g needle
• Red rubber or Tiger top blood tubes
• AKA: Serum Separator Tubes
• Alcohol
• Either in a spray bottle or cotton balls soaked in alcohol
• Laboratory Paperwork
• Goat Registration Papers
• Shipping container
• Check with your lab to be sure there are no special instructions
• Bubble wrap the tubes so they don't get broken in transit
• Place tubes in sealable bag in case they do get busted your lab work won't be ruined

Drawing the Blood:

The first step is to have someone properly secure your goat. Have them hold them steady and raise their head up, you don't want them to stretch them too high though or it becomes difficult to feel the vessels. You will spray or wipe the area over the jugular with alcohol. I like to use a spray bottle over an alcohol soaked cotton ball; less things for the other goats to try to pick up and eat or carry off.  Then you will need to place pressure on the vessels to hold them off, like a tourniquet does when you give blood. You will do this at the thoracic inlet, on each side of the trachea. I included a photo in the very beginning of the video to show you how and where to apply your pressure. As soon as you apply pressure, if your doing it correctly and the head is not stretched too high you should see both of the jugular vessels pop on each side of the trachea. Depending on if you are right or left handed one side will be easier than the other. I prefer the right side as I am right handed. You will then use a new needle and syringe, for each goat, to draw the blood. Once you have drawn the blood you need to place it in a red top or serum separator tube labeled for that respective goat.

Testing:

I usually send off for the following tests:

Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis (CAE) Virus

Caseous Lymphadenitis

Johne's disease

Brucellosis

However at the time of this posting the Johne's test is not available, the test itself is on some kind of back order. Also, if you want to test for Brucellosis you will have to have your veterinarian pull and send off your tests.

I will write a follow up post to go over the different diseases I test for and why.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me an email or find me on Facebook and send me a message. If you enjoy my blog posts please let me know. If there is anything you would like me to make a post on please let me know

Looking Forward to 2017!

Our 2016 Kidding season is complete and we are so happy with the quality of kids we produced this year. We are so excited for 2017! We have retained 6 doe kids and we are looking forward to seeing them grow and mature.

Our 8 mature does are on milk test and we are looking forward to them earning their milk stars. 

We are adding another buck, Parrish Farms Royal Flush *B*S, to help continue to improve our herd.  He will be coming from Parrish Farms, out of ARMCH/GCH Pelican Acres LPD Fern *D*M AR VEEE FS90 LA 2016 (Pictured Below) and Rosasharn CB Prince Caspian *B. (Photos courtesy of Parrish Farms)

We have added another KuneKune gilt to our little piggy herd. She is out of the rare Tutanekai lines and we are excited to see what she will bring to our pig herd. We will have our first litters of KuneKune this year. We will also be processing our first KuneKune this year as well!

We hope that you will follow us on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram!

To see more photos of our goats and pigs and to check out the

pedigrees of our animals go visit our website! 

Essential Oils & Dairy Goats

I have found Essential Oils to be invaluable in the health and husbandry of our animals, in particularly our dairy goats.

I have used Essential Oils for the following ailments with our goats with great success. I want to strongly stress the importance of using therapeutic grade oils on your animals. The oils we use are Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade. I will list a few of the things we have treated with our oils and which oils we have used. If you want to learn more follow us on Facebook!

Fear/Anxiety                        Lavender, Peace
Mastitis                                Peppermint
Low Milk Production          Fennel
Infections Oregano             OnGuard
Hoof Care/Hoof Rot           OnGuard
Skin Parasites                     Melaleuca
Sore/Tender Udders/Teats  Lavender
Teat Wash/Dip                   Purify
Intestinal Parasites             Clove(not in pregnant/nursing animals), Oregano, Thyme,
                                           Lemon Grass, Wild Orange & Digestzen

If your interested in using your own Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils send me a message and I can tell you more or Buy Oils Here.

DHI Testing Supplies Have Arrived!

Our supplies to get started on DHI test came from Dairy One today!

The following pictures show what was included in our shipment.

The sample dipper, sample tubes, freezer packs and shipping container.

Dip Sampling must be done in a manner

that assures a representative sample from the

entire milk volume collected.

When milking twice a day you fill

half of the sample tube with the

first milking and the second half with the

second milking of the day.

If only milking once a day,

a full sample will be taken

from the single milking.

Be careful not to fill the sample tube to the very top.

There should be a little space (1/2 inch) from the top.

Samples should be kept at room temperature

and out of direct sunlight.

Samples should be shipped so that they arrive to the lab

no later than six (6) days after the test is performed.

The color of the sample tubes is random and in no way

does it matter which color tube you use.

When you ship your milk back

be sure to label the top of the sample tube

with the corresponding

sample # for that Doe.

You only send back sample tubes that contain milk,

keep your empty sample tubes for later use.

Dairy One Certification Exam

When we decide to go on milk test we had so many

questions, one of which was where do we send the milk?

Well you send the milk to an outside lab,

from recommendations from a few friends we decided to go

with Dairy One for our milk test lab.

So I got in touch with Dairy One,

they were very helpful and sent me the

Dairy Goat Technician Handbook

along with the Certification Exam and Instructions.

Let me just say that I feel like I am a

fairy intelligent person but

this test and handbook are so confusing.

I have reached out to others on milk test

and they have relayed to me that it's not

just me, its the handbook and the test.

Most people on milk test are milking cows

and so some of the information is geared more towards cows

so you have to get over that aspect of the test.

The other thing about the test that is frustrating is

that it seems the test was written by someone

that has been doing milk test for years so they

know the answers and the answers probably seem like common sense.

But if you  have never done milk test before, let alone seen how

things are done, the test and handbook can seem like

they are written in a completely

different language.

There are questions on the test that

the answers can not be found in the handbook.

My best advice is to reach out to someone that is on

milk test and have them help you if you find yourself

utterly confused.

The test consists of 17 questions,

mostly fill in the blank with a few true/false.

Then there is also a part where you

practice filling out the barn sheets and charts.

You are given a list of does and what is going on with

each doe and your supposed to chart each does milk weights

and any conditions affecting their record.

Another complaint I have about the test

is the size of the font on the charts.

It's really difficult to read the CARs and Status Codes

on the pages that were sent with the test.

When you send in your exam you have to send in payment

for the test which runs $20 if sent in prior to March 16th or

$25 if sent in after March 15th.

This is the prices and dates for 2016.

You have to re-test every year and

certifications expire in April each year

regardless of when you tested the year before.

For pricing with Dairy One look here. 

Or contact:

Kayla Turcsik: 1-800-344-2697 Ext: 2120

Email: kayla.turcsik@dairyone.com

Or

Kevin Henry: 1-800-344-2697 Ext: 2159

Email: kevin.henry@dairyone.com



Target and Snap Dragon Confirmed Bred!

We did ultrasound pregnancy checks on Target and Snap Dragon and
they have both been confirmed pregnant, each with at least twins!


Both of these girls are due beginning in August.
Target is bred to Riser.
Snap Dragon is bred to Fletcher.


There are open reservations for kids on both of these does.
Check out our website to see the pedigrees on both sire and dam.
www.archersacres.com

LITTLE TOTS ESTATE ON TARGET

SOME DAY CAME MTZ SNAP DRAGON

Our Milker has come, almost!

We ordered our milking system from Simple Pulse and part of our shipment came today!

We chose Simple Pulse for the price, the great reviews and the ease of use and cleaning.

You can find more information about Simple Pulse here.

We went with the system that would allow us to milk two goats at once

you can see the exact system we purchased here.

Only part of our complete milking system has come in so far,

it actually shipped to us directly from Amazon

so I suppose you could order all of the items on your

own and create your own custom milker.

We choose to order ours from Simple Pulse because

honestly we don't know what exactly we need

as we are just getting started with using a milk machine!

You can find the Vacuum Pump we got with our

Simple Pulse milker on Amazon here.

So here is what came in our shipment:

Front of the Box

Side of the Box

Close Up of the Specifications of the Pump

Pump, oil, power cord and instructions

Pump Oil



Buck Kid Available

Buck Kid Available:

 Gold & White, Blue Eyes

DOB: 5/25/2016

SOME DAY CAME LK FLETCHER D1743384
SOME DAY CAME GR CAHUITA D1710917

...

ADGA Registration available.

Kid will be disbudded, tattooed, up to date on vaccines and de-worming.
Whole Herd Tested Negative Spring 2015, CAE, CL & Johne's.

Intact Price: $350 Wether Price: $75

  Can go as bottle baby or at 8wks/after weaning.

Dam is a first freshener, udder pics are at 10 days fresh, 12 hour fill.

http://www.archersacres.com/nigerian-dwarves-for-sale.html
http://www.archersacres.com/our-does.html
http://www.archersacres.com/our-bucks.html

Starting Milk Test- It's So Overwhelming!!!

I am taking the next step in proving my herds worth and

starting on Milk Test DHIR.

If you haven't looked into doing DHIR let me tell you

it is so overwhelming!

ADGA does have a checklist on their website but

I am planning to write up a really complete step by step

instruction blog post once I figure it all out myself!

So far what I have is the following,

(and not in exact order either):

• Choose a testing lab, we are going with Dairy One, based on a recommendation from a friend.
• Decide which testing program you want to do
• The test plans are in the ADGA guidebook starting on page 56 in the 2016 guidebook. The guidebook is on the ADGA website under publications.
• We are going with OS 40 AR, it seems to be the easiest for most newbies and is better than OS 40 ST because if for some reason you don't make 240 days/8 tests, you can always switch to ST... But you cannot switch from ST to AR.
• Get in touch with said lab and get a handbook
• Take the test to become a certified tester
• Find someone else willing to become a certified tester so they can do your verification testing
• Buy a Scale, don't make the mistake we made and just buy any ol' scale, make sure you get one that says "Legal for Trade", otherwise it can't be certified, at least not here in Georgia.
• Have said scale certified, we found a someone here.
• Get your herd enrolled with ADGA DHIR program

So, that's what I have so far.

I plan to make a more complete list with detailed steps,

but I honestly don't understand what I'm doing enough

at this point to give you more than this!

If your already on milk test please let me know if I have missed anything!

If your going on milk test or thinking about it let me know

and we can learn together!

One place that has been really helpful is a Facebook group I found, DHIA Goats.



Some Day Came GR Cahuita

 

 

 

 

CH La Ca Dos RM Prop Me Up Photo Courtesy of Some Day Came Ranch

CH The Ella's Babe Photo Courtesy of Some Day Came Ranch

CH The Ella's Babe Photo Courtesy of Some Day Came Ranch

CH The Ella's Babe Photo Courtesy of Some Day Came Ranch
 



Desertnanny BR Catch Me

GrCH
and Best of Breed Senior Doe
Doublegate PAL Carrie Me
              

GrCH
and Best of Breed Senior Doe
Doublegate PAL Carrie Me
             

 



Some Day Came GR Cahuita Some Day Came CM Baby Grand Desertnanny BR Catch Me *B DF FARMS HD BARNEY RUBBLE DESERTNANNY ICY BLUETAILFLY CH The Ella\'s Babe BETTER BLUES KC DUDLEY DORIGHT GOTTA B KID N SUGARIS GOLD CH La Ca Dos RM Prop Me Up AGS Twin Creeks Fax Renaissanceman *S *B 1xGCH 1x Best of Breed TWIN CREEKS WB SHADOWFAX TWIN CREEKS MIDSUMERNITEDREAM Doublegate Pal Carrie Me PIDDLIN ACRES DANCER'S LIBIDO NEW HORIZONS FORTUNE COOKIE

Pedigree generated by PedigreeQuery.com

Anatomy : Capra hircus

I hope this will be of some help to yall.

I love anatomy books and

I have this really great one on large animals.

I wanted to share some of it with yall.

Spurgeon's Color Atlas

of

Large Animal Anatomy

The Essentials

Anatomy of the Goat