Potter Park Zoo euthanizes goats for Johnes

Full text found here: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120726/NEWS01/307260055/Potter-Park-Zoo-euthanizes-goats-after-devastating-disease?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE&gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

LANSING — An infectious disease that afflicts hooved animals prompted the Potter Park Zoo to euthanize its goat herd in May, the zoo confirmed Thursday.

The pygmy goats contracted Johne’s Disease, which causes a gradual thickening of the lining of the intestine and eventually leads to death, the zoo said. The animals were put down to keep them from suffering and to prevent the disease from spreading to other zoo animals, it said.


“Once we discovered they were infected, we basically had to put them to sleep so they would not suffer,” said Tara Harrison, the zoo’s veterinarian and curator. “We caught it early enough that none of the other animals in the zoo were infected.”


The six goats were in the petting zoo exhibit and have since been replaced by seven baby goats that came from a farm free of Johne’s disease, Harrison said.


Johne’s Disease, or mycobaterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), is hard to detect and afflicts cattle, deer, sheep, goats and other ruminants, according to information on a Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine Web page.


Animals typically contract the disease at a young age, but don’t show symptoms for several years.
MAP is common in goats and cattle and is present in 60 to 70 percent of the state’s goat herds, Harrison said. It can take up to three months to determine whether an animal is infected using the most reliable test for the disease, she said.


Harrison said the zoo had been managing the problem over the past year, testing each animal individually and euthanizing them when they tested positive. Toward the end, all of the remaining goats tested positive and were put down, she said.


“We don’t like to euthanize animals, but it was the most humane thing to do,” the vet said. “It was the best thing to do for the goats and the best thing to do for all of the animals here at the zoo.”
The zoo took extraordinary measures to prevent the disease from spreading to other animals, scorching the earth to kill bacteria, replacing the top three inches of soil and disinfecting the barn with bleach, she said.


Also, staff who care for the goats do not care for any of the other hooved animal species, she said.
The zoo’s other hooved residents include the critically endangered black rhino, Bactrian camel, eastern bongo and scimitar-horned oryx, along with llamas, donkeys and yaks.


The new goats are a pygmy breed and a cross of the pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf breeds, Harrison said.


“We fully intend to keep them here for their entire lives,” she said.

Goat Night Summary

Here is a summary of what I presented at Goat Night:

Mineral Supplementation - Use a loose mineral blend designed specifically for goats for the best results. Goats need lots of minerals to stay healthy. Look for a loose mineral that has less than 20% salt, over 1500 ppm of copper, added selenium, and a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1. I prefer Sweetlix Meatmaker 16:8 for my goats. It works for all types of goats, not just meat goats. Maximize your goat's mineral consumption by not having baking soda, mineral blocks or salt licks available at the same time as their loose minerals.Mineral blocks and non-goat specific minerals or "all stock" minerals will not have enough of the essential minerals that goats need.

Feeding - Goats need more than just goat grain to stay healthy. All grains (corn, oats, wheat, barley, etc) and grassy hay and grassy pasture contain high amounts of phosphorus. It is important to counteract the phosphorus in a goat's diet with calcium at at 2:1 ratio. You can do this by feeding at least 3 parts alfalfa pellets to every one part grain for all goats (lactating, pregnant, males, females, wethers, pets, meat, etc). Too much phosphorus containing grain and hay and not enough calcium rich alfalfa can cause urinary calculi in male goats and hypocalcemia in female goats. Look for a grain blend that has no urea, low amounts of corn, and low amounts of molasses. Black oil sunflower seeds can be added to a goat's diet for conditioning.

Fiber/forage/hay/pasture must be fed in addition to any grain and loose minerals. The breakdown of fiber in the goat's stomach keeps the good bacteria working and producing B vitamins. If the bacteria are compromised by too much grain and not enough fiber they will die and stop synthesizing B vitamins. Goats will get "Goat Polio" which is blindness and paralysis caused by a lack of the B vitamin Thiamine. Immediate supplementation with thiamine is essential to reverse the effects of goat polio. The good bacteria also produce heat for the goat so constant access to fiber is very important in winter.

Fresh, clean water is a must for all goats. Goats don't like stale water.

Parasite Control - All goats have internal and external parasites. There are many different kinds of them. The internal parasites include stomach/gastrointestinal worms, lungworms, liver flukes, meningeal worm (brainworm), and coccidia. These parasites may need different kinds of dewormers and antibiotics to kill them. Check your goats for internal parasites by assessing their body condition, looking at the color of the lower eyelid membranes, and fecal samples. Only deworm or treat goats for parasites after you determine what type of parasites they have using these assessments.

External parasites can be a problem. Check goats for lice and mites. Ticks, fleas, blackflies, mosquitoes, deer flies, and biting flies can bother goats.

Hooves - Trim your goat's hooves often. Check them every 4 - 6 weeks to see if they need to be trimmed.

Horns - If you don't want goats to have horns you must disbud them at under 2 weeks old. This is the best method to use.

Common Diseases - There are 4 main diseases that goats can have. You can test for these by sending a blood sample to WADDL (Washington University Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory).You do not need a veterinarian to do this for you. You can take the samples yourself and send them. All 4 tests can be done on the same sample of 2-3mL of blood.


CAE is Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis. It is found in 70-80% of all goats in the world. 10% of these goats will exhibit clinical symptoms. The other 90% may never show symptoms but can pass the virus to other goats. The virus is only found in goats. It does not effect humans. Symptoms of the virus include paralytic encephalitis in kids, arthritis in adult goats, and hard udders at freshening. The only way to know for sure if a goat has CAE is to do a blood test. There is no vaccine, cure, or treatment for this. CAE spreads from infected moms to their uninfected kids through the milk. CAE can be prevented from infecting new goats by pulling the babies from their moms at birth, and feeding baby goats heat treated colostrum and then pasteurized goat milk. The virus is killed by heat treatment and pasteurization. Negative animals must never consume raw milk from positive goats. I recommend testing your entire herd for CAE. Retest all negative animals annually until you feel confident that your herd is CAE-free. CAE positive animals can live long lives and be healthy. It is important to address their other health concerns, such as mineral supplementation, feeding, and parasites, to keep them healthy as long as possible. Be sure to use CAE prevention if you want to sell goats as breeding stock from CAE positive parents.



CL is Caseous Lymphadenditis. It is a bacterial disease that infects goats, occasionally sheep, and rarely humans. The bacteria causes large internal and external abscesses around the lymph nodes as well as other parts of the body. There is no treatment or cure for the disease once the goats have the bacteria in them. There is a vaccine that is used in sheep but may not be effective in goats. You can test for CL with a blood test or by testing the pus from an abscess. The abscesses can burst and spread the bacteria all around your herd and property. If a goat is positive for CL I recommend euthanizing them immediately.



Johnes or paratuberculosis is bacterial disease that effects all ruminants. It can spread for goats to sheep to cows and vice versa. The disease causes a thickening on the intestinal wall to the point that the animal will starve to death even though they are eating well. It is highly contagious and lives in the soil for a long time. There is no treatment, cure or vaccine for this. Testing can be done by blood or fecal sample. I recommend euthanizing positive animals immediately and moving all negative animals to new, uninfected property.



Brucellosis is very rare in the US and not found in NY at this time. It causes late term abortions and infertility in goats. People tend to test for this because it can be done by using the same blood sample that is used for testing CAE, CL, and Johnes.

Goat Night and the next meeting

"Goat Night" at Ward Lumber last night was a great success! A special thanks goes out to Ward Lumber for sponsoring the event. They provided free pizza and soda, as well as four bags of Poulin goat feed for door prizes. The pizza was very good and even featured local goat cheese from Mad River Creamery, courtesy of Asgaard Farms. Don't forget that Ward Lumber in Jay has a great line-up of goat products available, from Poulin grains, to Premier goat fencing, to Sweetlix goat minerals. They can order anything you need for your goats if they don't already have it in stock. They also offer free deliver of feed and supplies every other week, direct to your farm. Just send them your order, leave a check in the barn, and they will drop off the stuff you need.

I presented a wide range of topics last night to help out the new and not-so-new goat owner. Goats are unique animals and special considerations must be made in the care and feeding of them. Goats can't be managed the same as cows, horses, or sheep. I presented what I felt were the major important points that every goat owner needs to know that makes goat care different from other species. I talked about proper mineral supplementation using loose, goat specific minerals. I spoke about feeding an alfalfa to grain ratio of 3:1 in order to provide a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1. I touched on the importance of constant access to fiber/forage/fresh pasture and access to clean, fresh water for a goat's health. I spent some major time talking about the different types of internal and external parasites and how to identify goats that are infested. Hoof and horn care were mentioned. And I spent the remainder of the presentation talking about the importance and reasoning behind testing your goats annually (or at least occasionally) for CAE, CL, Johnes, and Brucellosis using a blood sample.

The audience seemed to enjoy the presentation. There were a lot of great questions and comments throughout the night. I really hope I helped people understand their goats a little better!

The next ADK Goat Club meeting will be in September. The theme will be "breeding". I am hoping to get a list together of people who need a buck for breeding this fall and people who have bucks available to do the job. Even if you don't plan on breeding this year, please come to the meeting. It is always a good time to interact with your fellow goat owners. If you are interested in hosting the next Goat Club meeting, please let me (Rose) know.

Thanks!!

Goat Night! Register Today!

There's 28 people registered already for the first ever "Goat Night" at Ward Lumber in Jay, NY. The event is July 10, 2012 at 6:30pm. There will be free pizza and soda, and I will be giving a presentation on "Tips on Goat Keeping". The presentation will include information on mineral supplementation, feeding, parasite management, hooves, horns and common diseases of the goat. These are all things that new and old goat owners can benefit from knowing. I will be bringing along some of my goats to visit with everyone during the presentation. It should be a great night!

Please register for Goat Night at www.wardlumber.com.

SLVDGA Meeting June 30

The St. Lawrence Valley Dairy Goat Association will have a meeting on June 30, 2012. The SLVDGA is a small club centered around Canton/Potsdam. The club is open to all goat owners and enthusiasts. It's a great group! Please contact the SLVDGA President for more information - moonvalleymeadows(at)hotmail.com

Sweetlix Now Available at Ward Lumber

Ward Lumber in Jay, NY now has Sweetlix Meatmaker 16:8 loose minerals for goats in stock! It is normally a special order item and can take a while to get in. They are selling it for about $23 for a 25 lbs. bag. One bag will last a couple of goats for a month or more. Sweetlix Meatmaker is one of the best mineral blends on the market for all types of goats (not just meat goats).

Go pick up some loose minerals today!

Don't forget -- Ward Lumber in Jay will deliver feed and other animal supplies to your farm free of charge every two weeks. To get on the delivery list, go to www.wardlumber.com.

Rotational Grazing

From the Premier 1 Fence company monthly newsletter:

Pasture Management
Is It Worth The Effort?

by Byron Leu
Beef Production Specialist
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach



Recent trends in the agricultural sector have led to a number of challenges for livestock producers in the Midwest. Grain prices and land values have both significantly increased over the past several years. These historically high prices have created a number of issues especially for beef cow-calf and sheep producers. The higher land prices are pressuring producers to incur higher grazing costs and pasture rental payments. In some instances, this cost has increased 20% to 50% for the grazing period. Also, high grain prices are creating land-use competition-with many producers considering planting grain crops on traditional forage ground to take advantage of the current high grain prices. These considerations are forcing livestock producers to explore methods to improve pasture production per acre in order to maintain their livestock enterprises-not only to control grazing costs per unit but also to produce adequate forage production in a cost-effective system.

Obviously there are numerous approaches that can be incorporated into an operation that address these production and economic challenges. Due to limited space, we can't explore them all-but let's look at several basic options:

Evaluate your forage base

• Will your current pasture species provide adequate production and quality levels to meet your animal's performance and nutritional needs throughout the grazing period? What are the weaknesses?
• Are legumes a part of your traditional grass-based pastures? Studies have shown that legumes can contribute to improved animal performance and also provide nitrogen for grass growth. Trials reflect that pasture stands of 2/3 grass and 1/3 red clover have shown similar production levels as N-fertilized grass. Also, researchers have shown that incorporating legumes into unimproved grass pastures increase pasture production over 30%. End result-increased animal performance, improved pasture productivity, and potentially lower fertilization expenses.

Develop a workable system

• What system is best for you? The main point to this question is that if you are attempting to improve productivity and utilization rates, then it is recommended to consider some sort of rotational system. If you compare a rotational system with 4 to 5 paddocks to a continuous grazing program, you can expect a production increase of 15%. Double the number of paddocks (i.e., 8 to 10), and you can pick up another 15%. Without question, some level of rotational grazing can have a positive impact on your bottom line and strengthen the competitiveness of your grazing operation.

Phase out continuous grazing

• Why? University tests have shown that animal gain per acre increased an average of over 40% in rotational systems when compared to continuous grazing. Plus, a University of Georgia study indicated a 36% increase in stocking rate and calf gain per acre when comparing rotational grazing to continuous grazing-with no difference in conception rates or individual calf weaning weights. Add in the potential of improved plant persistence, forage productivity, and manure distribution. So why not consider abandoning the continuous approach?

Balance your system to match your resources

• This is key to the success of any grazing system. Utilize and incorporate the information and resources that you have available. This includes management approaches such as adjusting paddock size/location, frost seeding/interseeding, new watering strategies, incorporating a different grazing system approach, early weaning, trying new forage varieties-the options are extensive. Plus, don't forget the basics-manage both the production side as well as the expense side of the equation.

The intended outcomes of the incorporation of these options include an increase in pasture productivity, an improvement in forage utilization, a reduction in per unit grazing costs, and an extension of the grazing period. Is it worth the effort? This author is confident that these efforts will assist livestock producers who combat escalating land and feed costs-and at the same time meet or exceed animal performance needs and expectations. Good luck!