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! 

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



Milk Test Scale & Certification

When you start on the milk test journey you will find

very soon that you must have a scale to weigh your milk on.

We made the mistake early on in thinking

that any ol' scale would do.

Unfortunately not.

The first scale we bought off of Amazon was a hanging scale

but when our scale certifier came out to certify the scale

for us he said he couldn't because it didn't meet NTEP requirements for certification.

So he pointed out several scales that would meet the requirements and we

finally settled on this scale by Torrey.

The most important thing to look for when

purchasing your scale is that it is a

Legal for Trade Scale.

TORREY LPC40L


Once you settle on the scale you want and get it in,
you need to have it certified.
If you are in Georgia you can reach out to the
Georgia Department of Agriculture


We originally spoke with
Jason Hitchcock Tele: 404-656-3605
Fax: 404-656-9648
Email: Jason.Hitchcock@agr.georgia.gov


He then put us in touch with
Mike Tanner
Michael.Tanner@agr.georgia.gov


You will need to have your scale certified annually.


You must also have your scale certified prior to sending in your
testing materials to start the milk testing process.
You will provide proof of certification with your test.

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