Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Diseases PART 1

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, health, diseases, lameness, sudden death

By Dr Marjorie Orr

Lameness - overview

• Practically every goat farmer has to deal with lame goats at some time or other.
• It’s a common problem, particularly on wet land and when the horn on the feet becomes overgrown.
• The most common causes of lameness are foot scald, foot rot, foot abscess and arthritis.
• In young kids, joint ill can cause lameness.
  

Foot scald

• Foot scald (interdigital dermatitis) is a bacterial infection that is very painful.
  
• Foot scald tends to develop suddenly when conditions underfoot are wet and there are a lot of animals in a small area.
• It commonly occurs the morning after a shower in mild weather and when the grass is long.
• It is a very painful condition and it causes affected goats to go down on their knees to take the weight off their feet.
• You might see several goats on their knees the morning after a shower in mild weather and when the grass is long.
• The skin between the toes is either red and swollen, or blanched and white.
• Affected feet aren’t smelly like foot rot.
• With mild infections, goats can recover spontaneously if they are moved to drier pasture.
• Standing affected goats in a foot bath containing 10% zinc sulphate as described below is an effective treatment.
  

Footrot

• Footrot is caused by another type of bacterium, and the infection is between the horn and the sensitive growing tissue that lies beneath it.
• The horn tends to separate from the underlying tissue with the gap becoming filled by dirt and smelly exudate.
• Footrot is particularly likely when the horn is overgrown.
• Overgrown horn tends to curl under the foot, trapping mud and predisposing to infection.
  
• In goats with long-standing footrot, the infection can track into the foot, causing painful abscesses and sometimes arthritis causing swelling above the foot.
  
• To treat foot rot, first cut back any overgrown horn as described below.
• Put the goats through a footbath containing 10% zinc sulphate as described below.
• Stand the goats in the footbath for at least 5 minutes and preferably 10 minutes.
• Repeat the footbaths at regular intervals to keep infection at bay.
  

Foot abscesses

• Foot abscesses develop when foot rot is untreated or when any infection tracks deep into the foot and causes pus to form in or around a joint.
• There may be an obvious swelling and/or the affected toe may be hot and very painful.
• The abscesses are caused by bacterial infection, and they make animals very lame indeed.
• Get veterinary help right away because affected animals need treatment.
• Your vet may pare the foot to try to release the pus, but generally this is not possible, and a long course of antibiotic treatment is the only treatment option.
  

Preventing foot problems

• The outer weight-bearing part of each toe is made of thick strong horn. The inner non-weight-bearing parts of the sole are made of thinner horn.
• Normally the outer horn grows slowly, like our finger and toenails, and it is usually worn down at the rate it grows at by natural wear.
  
• If conditions underfoot are soft, the horn grows faster than the rate of wear.
• The horn on the two toes can get so long it curls under the foot or it may grow forward until the toes cross.
• This is a recipe for foot problems and excess horn should be trimmed.
• To help prevent foot infections put the goats through a foot bath regularly.
  

Trimming feet

• Don’t trim off so much horn that you draw blood. Trim off only excess dead horn, using a clean sharp pair of clippers.
• If you draw blood when you trim feet, you may well cause painful infections to develop.
• Foot trimming equipment needs to be kept sharp and very clean, with regular disinfection.
  

Foot baths

• To prevent foot infections and to treat early cases, put the goats through a foot bath.
• 10% zinc sulphate is best for the foot-bath.
• 10% copper sulphate or 4% formalin have been used in the past but they are more hazardous for operators, animals and the environment.
• Stand the goats in the foot-bath for at least 5 minutes, then on a hard surface like concrete for a while for the feet to dry before returning to the paddock.
  

Lameness with swollen joint(s)

• There are many causes of arthritis, including injuries that can leave the injured joint permanently enlarged.
• However a lot of arthritis is caused by bacterial infections.
• Bacteria get to the foot joints in the blood or by tracking from nearby infections.
  
• In very young goats the infection can spread in the blood from the navel at birth (joint ill).
• In older goats the infection can spread from nearby foot rot.
  

Joint ill

• In very young (unweaned) goat kids, bacterial infections can cause lameness with swollen joints (a condition called “joint ill”).
  
• Joint ill can affect one or more joints in the legs.
• The affected joints become swollen, hot and very sore.
  
• The bacteria that cause the disease enter the body through the cord soon after birth, so the problem occurs most often in kids born in unhygienic conditions and it develops within days of birth.
• To prevent joint ill keep the birthing areas clean and dip navels in dilute iodine immediately after birth.
• If swollen joints develop, consult a vet immediately as treatment requires antibiotics by injection and only early cases respond well to treatment.
  

Dealing with on-going lameness problems
If there is a persistent problem with lameness in goats on your farm, you should consult a vet so that together you can devise a programme of foot trimming, foot bathing and culling to combat it.

Sudden death – overview
There are many potential causes of sudden death. Here are some of the diseases that can kill goats quickly.

Pneumonia

• Pneumonia in goats is fairly common as a cause of death. Goats may be found dead with blood-stained froth at the nostrils, or they may first seem short of breath and slow to keep up with the mob when driven.
• Pneumonia is often triggered by transportation or a spell of wet cold weather after shearing.
• It doesn’t seem to be very infectious because usually only one or two goats are affected at one time.
  

White muscle disease

• White muscle disease is caused by a deficiency of selenium and or vitamin E and it is the most common trace element problem in goats.
• A common form of the disease involves the heart muscle and this can cause breathing difficulties and sometimes sudden death.
• Affected goats usually range in age from newborn to 3 months old.
• Selenium and vitamin E deficiencies can also cause lesions in skeletal muscles, and kids then have difficulty suckling and walking.
• In growing goats, selenium/vitamin E deficiency causes unthriftiness.
• White muscle disease in goats can occur even in areas where selenium responsiveness is not seen in sheep and cattle.
  

Selenium poisoning

• Deaths occasionally occur because selenium supplementation has been too generous!
  
• Only two or three times the recommended dose can kill a goat.
  
• This happens most often when supplements are provided in several ways (in prills on pasture, in selenised drench and in salt licks).
  

Pulpy kidney disease

• Pulpy kidney disease or enterotoxaemia is not common in goats. It’s probably over-diagnosed, but it does occur.
• As with sheep, the signs are usually sudden death often in recently weaned goats, but goats of any age can be affected.
• It may follow the feeding of green lush pasture or goats gorging on concentrate feed.
  
• As with sheep, goats can be given a vaccination course as kids, then does can be given an annual pre-kidding booster.
  

As well as these diseases there are paddock accidents that can kill goats quickly. Horns can get caught in fences, even electric fences, feet and legs can get caught up in gates and yards, and any goat taking on a larger buck head to head risks fatal spinal cord injury or a broken neck. More good reasons for regular monitoring and good facilities.

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Diseases PART 2 (skin & brain)

Agriculture, animal husbandry, animal health, diseases, goats, Angora, Mohair, skin, brain

By Dr Marjorie Orr


Skin lesions – overview
The signs of skin disease are usually fairly obvious, with itchiness, or hair loss, or scurfiiness or sores, or reddening or some other change in the appearance of the skin. Sometimes though the long hair of Angora goats can hide developing disease, giving you a nasty surprise at shearing time! As with all diseases it pays to be vigilant to spot the early signs of disease, and this means hands-on inspection, not just eye appraisal.

Here are some of the most common types of skin problem in Angora goats.

Lice

• There are several types of external parasite (ectoparasite) that can cause skin itchiness and hair loss in Angoras, but by far the most common of these are lice (Damalinia species and Linognathus species).
• Lousy goats have a scurfy skin and they are constantly itchy so they rub up against posts and fences and have a scruffy appearance.
  
• To confirm that your goats have lice, part the fleece in various places and look for ‘moving dandruff’ as the lice scuttle out of sight.
• There are several effective louse powders and pour-on treatments available.
  

Flystrike

• Goats are not as susceptible to flystrike as sheep, but they can certainly be ‘struck’, and goats that are not healthy for any reason seem most at risk.
• Flystrike tends to occur under dirty wet fleece particularly along the back or around the tail.
• It’s most common in late summer and autumn in humid mild conditions.
• You’ll need to be very observant to spot the early signs of eggs on the wool or skin or small sores containing maggots.
• Affected goats are restless, they seek shade, twitch their tail, swing round to try to nibble affected areas and stamp their feet.
• The maggots can be removed with meths (a horrible job) and the sore can be treated with flystrike powder available from your veterinarian or rural supplier.
• Insect repellent on the surrounding wool will help keep the blowflies away.
• In severe cases, euthanasia may be the only humane option.
  

To prevent flystrike

• remove the attraction of dirty smelly fleece by keeping your goats dagged and clean. o Treat any cuts and sores and keep an eye on them until they’ve healed.
• Flytraps can help attract blowflies away from stock. If enough flytraps are used early in the season, they help prevent flystrike.
  
• Apply long-acting pour-on or spray-on insecticide treatments but note that following treatment there is a withholding time before the fleece can be sold.
  

Dermatophilosis

• Dermatophilosis, sometimes called mycotic dermatitis, can produce quite extensive skin lesions in Angoras, with scurfiness and hair loss along the back, particularly after prolonged wet weather.
• In kids kept in damp dirty conditions it is a common cause of scurfy scabby skin over the muzzle and it can look similar to scabby mouth. It can affect the lower legs too.
• Providing a dry clean environment and good feeding and shelter usually results in spontaneous recovery, otherwise antibiotic treatment from your vet will be effective.
  

Scabby mouth

• Scabby mouth (also called orf or contagious ecthyma) is a viral infection that is most common on lambs, but it can affect kids too.
• It causes crusty sores, usually around the lips and muzzle.
• Lesions usually heal spontaneously, but antibiotic cream and in severe cases antibiotic treatment from your vet will hasten recovery.
• Grazing thistles often makes it worse,
• It's a disease that can be transferred to humans.
  

Brain disease – overview
Fortunately brain disease isn’t common, but when it does occur it’s very serious.

Listeriosis or circling disease
Circling is the main sign of this disease in sheep but in goats the most common signs are:

• Dullness
• Head held high and to one side
• Ear drooping
• Paralysis of the jaw
• Drooping of the eyelids
• The disease is most common in adult goats in winter because it’s associated with feeding hay or silage of poor quality.
  
• The obvious prevention is to ensure only good quality hay and silage are offered.
• Treatment means antibiotic injections from your vet, but this is often unsuccessful.
  

Polioencephalomalacia

Polioencephalomalacia or PE is associated with a sudden change in feeding and it occurs in goats from 2 months to 3 years old. Sudden grain feeding can upset the balance of microbes in the rumen.

The result is a thiamine deficiency that damages part of the brain and the signs of this are:

• Aimless wandering
• Blindness
• Teeth grinding
• Straining the head up and back
• Muscle rigidity
  

Consult your vet immediately if you see the signs because treatment requires thiamine by injection and it may not be effective unless given very early.

Meningitis

• Meningitis means inflammation of the membranes over the brain, and this can result in fever, dullness, convulsions and sometimes death.
• It is often caused by infection spreading from some other site in the body.
  
• Veterinary treatment with antibiotics can help in early cases but it’s not usually successful.
  

Disbudding can be a cause of meningitis if it’s done badly. Fortunately very few Angora goat kids are disbudded, but there have been reports too of over-zealous disbudding of kids causing trauma and heat damage to the brain, leading to meningitis and death.

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Diseases PART3 (ill-thrift & general)

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, diseases, ill-thrift & miscellaneous, minerals

By Dr Marjori Orr


Ill-thrift
If your goats are not doing well, there are many possible causes. The obvious ones are under-feeding and worms, but if you rule these out, what’s left? Here are some of the possibilities - selenium deficiency, iodine deficiency and Johne’s disease.

Mineral deficiencies
Goats are just as susceptible to selenium deficiency as sheep, but probably more susceptible to iodine deficiency and less susceptible to cobalt deficiency.

Selenium deficiency

• If does are deficient in selenium and/or vitamin E, their kids may be born with heart muscle damage that can cause stillbirths or weak kids or sudden death in newborn kids.
• As they get older, kids with selenium deficiency don’t grow well and they may be stiff and reluctant to move because of skeletal muscle damage.
• This is white muscle disease.
  
• If the soil on your farm is deficient in selenium, it can be added to fertiliser and top-dressed onto pasture.
• It can also be added to anthelmintic drenches or a long-acting selenium injection can be given.
  

Iodine deficiency

• In iodine deficient inland areas, goitre can occur in newborn kids whose mothers’ diets have not been supplemented with iodine while pregnant.
• Goitre is a swelling of the thyroid glands at the top of the neck just below the throat.
• Iodine deficiency can be induced in goats or in their foetuses by feeding brassicas and clovers. These contain chemicals (goitrogens) that reduce thyroid hormones.
• In older kids iodine deficiency takes another form – myxoedema.
  
• This is an odd condition in which the kids’ growth is stunted, their skin is thickened and they look “podgy”.
• To prevent the disease, does can be dosed with potassium iodide at intervals of 3 to 6 months or they can be given a long-acting iodine injection.
• In lower-risk areas, providing iodised salt licks may be sufficient.
  

Johne’s disease

• Johne’s disease is an infectious incurable disease of ruminants including goats.
• It causes diarrhoea and weight loss in young goats from 1 to 3 years of age.
• Over a period of weeks or months and in spite of any treatments you give, the disease progresses and the goats die. It’s incurable.
  
• Fortunately there is a vaccine that can be given to very young kids to help prevent the disease.
  
• If you suspect Johne’s disease in your goats, get a vet to check it out and discuss vaccination and management changes to help prevent further cases.
  

Miscellaneous diseases

Ruminal acidosis

• Like other ruminants goats need time to adapt to energy-rich feed.
• If they suddenly gorge on grain or concentrates they are in big trouble!
• The microbes in their rumen will not be able to cope and the result is a build up of acid in the rumen, severe indigestion and possibly even death.
• Mild cases can respond to dosing with milk of magnesia (15ml) repeated every few hours.
• Goats need to be introduced to grain slowly over a period of a few weeks.
  

Hypothermia

• After shearing, Angora goats are virtually naked until the coat regrows sufficiently to provide some insulation, and this can take weeks.
• In the meantime they are very susceptible to cold stress in wet windy weather particularly if they are not well fed.
  
• A rumen full of food particularly roughage produces heat as it is digested and this helps keep the animal warm.
  
• Signs of hypothermia are dullness, back arched, head down, back to the wind, then eventually recumbency and death.
  

Water belly

• This condition, characterised by a soft spongy swelling along the belly (ventral oedema), has been recognised in New Zealand in Angora goats of South African and Texan origin and also in their crossbred offspring.
  
• It occurs mainly in young goats just after shearing, when as many as 15% of the flock can be affected.
  
• Affected goats are usually bright and alert and most recover spontaneously within a few days.
• In some cases there is no apparent predisposing cause although cold stress seems to be a factor.
  

Bottle jaw

• “Bottle jaw” is a fluid swelling under the jaw between the mandibles. Sometimes it extends to the brisket.
  
• This is usually the result of a disturbance of fluid distribution in the body because of low concentrations of the protein albumin in the blood.
  
• The causes include protein loss caused by intestinal worms or Johne’s disease.
  

Tetanus

• Tetanus occurs occasionally in goats.
• The clostridial bacteria that cause it can enter the body through a site of injury, e.g. caused by ear-tagging, castration, disbudding or a penetrating wound.
• Clostridial vaccination is effective in preventing tetanus.
  

Urinary calculi

• In wethers, especially if they were castrated young, gravelly stones can form in the urine and they can cause painful and sometimes fatal blocks in the urine flow through the penis.
  
• Feeding grain and concentrates for any length of time seems to be an important predisposing factor.
  
• If the blockage is at the very tip of the penis in the small worm-like appendage that goats have there, the problem is sometimes fixed by cutting this off using sterile instruments.
  
• Failing this, veterinary help is needed.
  

Poisons on the farm
Accidental poisoning of livestock is not common, but it still occurs regularly.
The signs are many and various, but the most common signs of poisoning are:

• Diarrhoea
• Vomiting
• Unusual excitement - or unusual dullness
• Body tremors
• Pain (teeth-grinding, reluctance to move, arched back)
• Convulsions
  

If you suspect that your goats have been poisoned, contact your veterinarian for advice without delay.

Common garden plant poisons:

• Rhododendron
• Yew
• Laburnum
• Delphinium
• Blue lupin (a fungal toxin in lupins can cause lupinosis)
• Iceland poppy
• Cestrum
• Oleander
• St John’s wort
• Avocardo
  

Native trees and shrubs

• Tutu
• Ngaio

Pasture weeds

• Ragwort (goats are more resistant to ragwort poisoning than cattle or horses but their liver can be damaged if they eat enough of it).
• Foxglove
• Goat’s rue
  

Chemical poisons

• Accidental overdosing with selenium can cause poisoning.
• Superphosphate poisoning can occur when livestock are put onto top-dressed pasture before the fertiliser has been washed into the soil.
• 1080 poisoning can cause deaths in livestock that are allowed onto poisoned land, and deaths have occurred after accidental drops of poisoned bait onto pasture.
• Lead poisoning can occur from licking lead acid batteries or old sump oil.
• Organophosphates (overdosing with insecticide or anthelmintic).
  

To prevent poisoning

• Don’t throw garden prunings into the paddock and remember that some garden plants are more palatable when wilted.
• Fence off rubbish dumps and check native scrub for tutu and ngaio before allowing livestock access to it.
  

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Injections

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, health, giving injections, practical advice
By Dr Clive Dalton & Dr Marjorie Orr


Injections

General hygiene

• When giving injections always get veterinary advice to make sure the products are appropriate and you know the correct procedure. A loaded syringe can be a dangerous weapon for both you and any helpers. If anyone does get injected, then seek immediate medical help and take the product with you to the doctor.
• Keep your tetanus vaccinations up to date too.
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter for storage and use of the product.
  
• Make sure you take care to dispose of old syringes, needles and packaging in a safe place. Needles are especially dangerous and should really go into a special “sharps” rubbish container.
• Various pathogenic bacteria are present on the surface of the skin and these may produce infection if injected with the medication.
  
• Therefore; when time allows or for valuable animals, or if the environment is very dirty, take every care to clean and disinfect the skin before injecting.
  
• If the injection is made on the side of the neck and the site is covered by wool, close clipping of the skin is ideal, but careful separation of the fleece and scrubbing the skin with a disinfectant may be possible.
• There are lots of disinfection preparations on the market which are satisfactory. Tincture of iodine is satisfactory and is better than methylated spirits which though commonly used, is not effective as a disinfectant.
  
• A fresh swab of disinfectant should be used for each animal.
  
• Single syringes are mainly disposable these days but if a multiple-injection gun is used it must be disinfected when practical.
• The gun, including all parts coming in contact with the drug or the product to be injected, should be placed in a large container such as a pressure cooker or saucepan and thoroughly boiled with the lid on.
  
• Bringing to the boil will kill all normal bacteria and boiling for 15 minutes will ensure the destruction of most bacterial spores.
  
• After boiling, the saucepan or container should be tipped sideways with the lid on so that the water drains out (like pouring off potatoes).
  
• With all the water out, the syringe and the plunger may be picked up by external parts only and carefully fitted together without touching any part which will contact the material injected. Wash and dry your hands before picking up and assembling the injection equipment.
• Equipment that cannot be boiled cannot be adequately disinfected. The best you can do is to soak it in a solution of disinfectant. Pour this off and then flush with cold boiled water. The latter should have been boiled in a lidded container and allowed to cool with the lid on.
• If they are not washed through thoroughly with water, injecting guns and syringes may contain some of the disinfectant, and this may inactivate the vaccine, or cause irritation and damage of the tissues when injected.
• To remove vaccine or other medication from the bottle in a clean manner, swab the neck and stopper of the bottle with a solution of suitable disinfectant. If sealed with a rubber or plastic seal, the material may be withdrawn using a syringe and two needles (one needle to allow air in as the vaccine is sucked out).
• On large farms, the above comments may be hopelessly impractical. For example, if you have to vaccinate 500 ewes with 5-in-one vaccine, you will not have time to disinfect the skin of each sheep. You may simply proceed down the race injecting each sheep in a clean part of the neck, taking care to keep your hands clean (and washing them if they become dirty), and taking care to keep the needle clean (and replacing it if it becomes dirty).
• Generally, use the smallest needle that is suitable, i.e. the needle with the narrowest bore, such as a 19-gauge needle. In tough-skinned animals a stouter needle may be necessary, e.g. a 16-gauge.
  

Subcutaneous injection (under the skin)

• This is the easiest and quickest form of injection, and it is used for many vaccines and drugs that are non-irritant and are readily absorbed.
  
• With stock held in a race to give a subcutaneous injection, pull up a handful of skin to make a “tent” and slide the needle into the base of the tent under the skin and press the plunger.
  
• Check when doing this to make sure the jet from the syringe is not coming out the other side of the tent because you’ve pushed the needle too far through.
• With irritant materials as some vaccines can be, a reaction may result producing a lump. This may blemish the carcase when the animal is killed and dressed. In such cases, make the injection at the top and to one side of the neck. Any lump that occurs here can be trimmed off when the carcase is dressed.
  

Intramuscular injection (into the muscle)

• Many drugs have to be injected deep into the muscles to give more rapid absorption and may lead to less irritation.
  
• Where possible the intramuscular injection should be given deep into the muscles of the neck rather than into the big muscle mass of a hind quarter.
  
• The reason is that the rear end is where the top-priced meat is on the carcass, and is the last place you want to cause an abscess in the carcase to be found when the sheep is killed or worse still – not found until it reaches the consumer!
• When injecting into the neck the sheep can see you coming and often moves, whereas injecting in the rump there is less chance of it being aware of what is going on till afterwards. If the sheep feels pain with the initial jab or when the product is being forced down the syringe, watch for the sheep moving and the needle coming out.
• It is important that the injection is not put into subcutaneous fat and actually hits muscle. That’s why it needs to go in deep.
• Just before pressing the syringe plunger; withdraw it a little and if has inadvertently gone into a blood vessel, blood will show in the barrel of the syringe. If this happens the needle must be moved to a new site so that the injection is intramuscular and not intravenous.
• If a spore of some clostridial organism such as tetanus, blackleg, black disease or malignant oedema, is lying harmlessly in the muscle, the disturbance created by the injection may cause it to germinate leading to fatal disease. This is a good reason for keeping clostridial vaccinations up-to-date.
  

Intravenous injection (into the vein)

• Avoid giving intravenous injections (into the vein) and leave them to your veterinarian as finding a vein and injecting into to it can be tricky, especially on a sheep with long wool.
• You can do intravenous injections under veterinary supervision and where you will have to demonstrate to your veterinarian that you are competent to carry out the task.
  
• Intravenous injections are generally given into the jugular vein in the neck and it can be tricky to find. The sheep should be well restrained when locating the vein and when injecting.
• If the vein is missed, there can be serious bleeding under the skin, and accidental injection of many medications around the vein instead of into it can cause a very nasty reaction, sometimes with sloughing of the skin.
  
• There are many medications that could kill or do serious damage if injected into a vein and run in too quickly.
  
• For example, when injecting calcium solutions intravenously, a veterinarian may listen to the heartbeat to gauge the rate of injection by the response of the heart. Without this, sudden deaths may occur.
• For large volumes e.g. for milk fever or grass staggers, injections come in bottles or sachets with a long rubber tube attached to the needle so that the solution is gravity fed and the rate must be controlled by the height at which you hold the container.
• Because the rapid injection of any medication into a vein can be lethal, all intravenous injections are given very slowly. The sheep must also be well restrained.
  

Intramammary injection (into the udder)
In sheep (and goats), antibiotics for mastitis are normally given intramuscularly but you may need to give an intramammary injection to get antibiotics into the udder via the teat canal.
• These are really “infusions” using the long neck on the tube rather than a needle to deliver the treatment.
• Remember the teat sphincter muscle that opens into the teat canal are very delicate structures and the teat is a very sensitive part of the sheep so work gently and with care.
• A sheep’s teat canal is much smaller and more delicate than that of a cow.
• After the full tube has been emptied into the teat, it’s no longer recommended to hold the teat end and massage the product up into the udder.
• It is also important to clean the end of the teat with meths before you insert the tube. Use cotton wool swabs and keep using them until they show no more dirt from the teat end. This may take quite a few rubs. If you don’t clean the teat end - all you’ll do is to push dirt and bugs into the teat and cause more problems.

Filling a syringe
• If you have to draw liquid from a new bottle of product into a syringe, it’s often hard to suck out because there is no air in the new bottle or container.
• All you need do is to draw into the syringe the amount of air that will be replaced by the injection, and inject this air into the bottle through the rubber cap.
• This will put enough air into the bottle and allow you to fill the syringe.
• You may have to do this every now and again if you find it hard to fill the syringe.
• Or you can put another needle in the cap of the container to act as an air entry while you are drawing product out.
• Try to keep everything as clean as possible and free from contamination.

Daft Laddie tales from North Tyne & Rede: 'Beestins puddin'

Beestin's puddin

By Clive Dalton

The hoose cuw
Before the days of supermarkets, fridges, powdered and tinned milk, every ootbye farm up the North Tyne and Rede had a ‘hoose cuw’, as well as a heifer timed to calve when the main cow was dried off. Shepherds and hinds were allowed to keep a cow as part of their job, and it got free grass and the pleasure of the farm Galloway bull free of charge too.

‘Milkin the cuw’ was part of the twice-daily routine – generally by the women folk, who were very proficient – and the cows appreciated that. The job could also be the Hind’s job or the Daft Laddie after his milking skills had been learned and approved.

After the ‘tit pullin’ the milk warm milk was taken to ‘the dairy’, which was usually an area in the big cool darkened pantry. The flagstone floor, big thick bench of stone, slate or concrete, and small louvered window, kept the temperature cool in summer.

The milk was left to stand in large shallow enamel dishes for the cream to rise to the top, before being skimmed off and accumulated over a few days until there was enough to be worth making butter. Ancient milk setting bowls were made of wood.

Wooden dairy bowls from the 1600s

If butter making became a serious business, then it was worth buying a mechanical separator

Churning to make butter which could be timed with the weekly walk or trap ride to the local village where regular orders were delivered or aimed at the local market day. Cheese was also made but in much less quantity.

An old North Tyne barrel churn, no doubt with many memories!

The new-calved cuw
Everyone looked forward to the cuw calvin – for a number of reasons. First, there’d be fresh milk again in abundance, and all that went with it. Then there’d be a calf to rear and add to the yearly income. Then there was the colostrum or first milk of the cow after calving, that nature has designed to be rich in protein, energy and antibodies, which protected the calf from any diseases in the environment.

You would have thought that Mother Nature would have designed mammals so that the foetus was loaded with antibodies from the dam through the bloodstream during pregnancy, rather than risk the hazardous business of getting them into the calf at the first suckle after birth. The calf’s gut is only permeable to these large antibody molecules for the first 6-12 hours after birth, so if the calf misses out on colostrum, chances of survival and good health later are greatly reduced. Nature works in wonderous ways!

The beestings
But a special feature of the milk from the newly-calved cow was ‘the beestings’. ‘Beestings’ is a word common in Scotland and parts of England with some modification for example to “beestlings” in the Yorkshire dales.

Beestings (colostrum) is more like thick cream than milk, and is a rich golden yellow, and is thickest in the first couple of days (four milkings) after which it gets thinner. In some cases this colostrum is more like glue, and regularly had streaks of blood in it from the oedema of the rapidly expanding udder tissue!

But the thought of making colostrum into anything for the table is unimaginable to many modern folk and the word “beestings” doesn’t help.

Colostrum rediscovered!
To New Zealanders, colostrum is definitely not for eating - it’s for feeding calves or pigs. The very thought of eating it is too much to contemplate. But things have changed recently with the recognition of colostrum as a ‘Neutraceutical’ (health food) for which there is a new and expanding export market. It’s most popular with body builders, so if such folk reckon it has something, then that will be good for what used to be considered stock feed. It’s certainly expensive enough when packaged and aimed at this market, developed mainly in Asia and Japan.

Over recent years, New Zealand Dairy Companies have paid farmers a premium for colostrum in spring, instead of penalising any who dared to sneak it in the vat before four days (8 milkings/cow and 10/heifer) after calving. In the past dairy factories making milk powder hated colostrum, as it clogged up the driers when heated and had to be chipped off the drier plates.

Beestings pudding
In the old days, after the calf had had its first feed, the mass of surplus beestings were made into ‘beestins puddin’, which was very much like a junket or very light custard. You certainly didn’t have to chow it – you could just "suck it doon”. There were plenty of different recipes which were passed on over time, and the ones below were taken from and old recipe book published by the UK Farmer’s Weekly in 1946 (the weekly is now part of the internet, with blogs an all!). Notice the instructions about which day’s milk was best to use, after the cow calved.

Beestings – a note from Mrs H.M.Watkins, Wrexham
We do not use the very first milking, as it is so deep in colour. I always test it by putting a little on a saucer in the oven. If it sets too thick, I put a pint of milk to 3 pints of beestings (or in proportion, according to the way it sets), sprinkling a little pudding spice on top, and add a little sugar. Let is simmer in the oven but not boil, just as if you were making an egg custard. I make tarts with it just as one would make egg custard tarts.

Fruit beestings – from Mrs E.J. Cotty, Devonshire
Take the beetings at third milking of the cow and set in a pan. After 6-12 hours, skim off about 2 pints of the rich head of the milk. Take a good sized pie dish, grease well. Mix 1oz cornflour, with a little milk in a basin until smooth.
Put the remainder of the milk into a pie dish. Add 1oz of sugar (brown if possible), 2 oz sultanas or currants (prunes, chopped would do). Then stir in the cornflour and bake in a moderate oven until golden brown and set.
When served, the fruit will be in a layer on the bottom.

Beestings cheese – from Mrs McLennan or Argyllshire
Fill a pudding dish with milk from the second milking; stir in 2 tablespoons of syrup and mix well. Spread on top the cream from the first milking, put into a moderate oven and bake until firm to touch and golden brown.
This cheese cuts into smooth, creamy slices and is short and free in texture.

Beestings curd – from Mrs Duckles, Yorkshire
2 pints new milk
1 breakfast cup water
1 breakfast cup beestings
Heated quickly on a bright fire, makes about one and a half pounds of delicious curd.
One teacup of beestings is equal to 2 eggs in Yorkshire pudding. And do they rise!

Beestings custard – from Mrs Burkett, Cumberland
Take 1 pint of beestings milk; 2 tablespoons of sugar; pinch of salt. Add salt and sugar to milk in pie dish. Stir well. Cook in moderate oven until set.
The result is a delicious custard-like pudding; but much depends on the correct heat.

Beesting puddings – from Mrs Duckles, Yorkshire
Take a dozen small puddings, allow 3 tablespoons batter to each tin (cake tin size). Tins should be warm, bottoms just covered with melted fat. I use:
2 breakfast cups flour
1 breakfast cup beestings
2 tablespoons water
1 level tablespoon salt
Half a pint of milk

Mix the flour and salt; pour in the beestings and water. Beat out lumps, thin down with milk (separated or milk and water) to creamy mixture. Bake in a hot oven for 20 –30 minutes. As with Yorkshire puddings, do not open the oven door till they should be ready – it only wastes heat and makes the puddings go flop.
In case you should be tempted to use more beestings – Don’t! You will get better results with less if it’s the first time you have tried them.

Beestings tarts – from Mrs Johnson, Yorkshire
Add 2 parts beestings to 1 part water and stir over a fire or stove till it thickens. Don’t let it boil. To this add 3 eggs, half a pound of sugar, a little nutmeg, currants (sultanas will do), a little marmalade instead of peel. Add if possible a small quantity of rum.
Line tins or saucers with paste and put a good filling of the mixture and you’ll find this delicious.

Beestings “new cheese” – from Miss Christian Milne, Aberdeenshire
I wonder how many country women make that old fashioned farmhouse dainty “new cheese”?
For this you fill a pudding dish with milk from the second milking of a newly calved cow. Heat 2 tablespoons of syrup and add, stirring until thoroughly blended. Remove cream carefully from first milking and use the “top” cheese.
Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown and firm to touch. (An oven suitable for a baked custard is just right). New cheese make thus, cuts into smooth, creamy slices, and is short and free in texture. Served with cream, it is a delicious change from the usual milk pudding.
Note – a too intense oven ruins the texture of new cheese, making it tough and leathery instead of tender.

Acknowledgements
To the ladies who contributed these recipes (where every they may be now), and to Margaret Dagg, Hott farm, Tarset, Northumberland who was wise enough to keep her old recipe book, and kind enough to send me the recipes.

Request
If you have any more beestings recipes, I'd love to have them for the blog.

Drench resistant worms in sheep – current myths & half truths

Sheep, farming, husbandry, health, worms, internal parasites, current practices, myths, half truths.

By Dr Clive Dalton

Myths & half truths won't clean up these backsides!
Dagging has been an accepted part of sheep farming since
the start of farming, but we can't afford the time, cost & physical pain
of dagging sheep any more.

Because of the way internal parasites operate in sheep, and the methods we have used in the past to control them, a lot of myths and half truths have become interwoven with good solid facts.

Myths are defined as ‘traditional narrative embodying popular ideas’ so some bits are true or half true, but others are certainly not. Myths are things we want to be true!

Examples:

1. The more you drench, the quicker you’ll have worm-free stock.

Not true. You will never create worm-free stock and you would not want to either. Sheep need worms to challenge their immunity. But the more you drench the greater the chance of multiplying resistant worms.

2 You cannot farm without drench.

Not true. Some farmers are already doing this. They had no choice as they have already ‘hit the wall’ and used up all their drench options.

3. Drenching stock will eliminate worms from pastures.

It won’t. It will reduce larval numbers but to what extent will depend on a long list of factors.

4. If you don’t graze pastures for 3-6 weeks, all or most of the worm larvae will have died.

Not true. We now know that larvae can remain viable for up to 6 months, never mind 6 weeks.

5. Drenching hoggets at monthly intervals from weaning through autumn and winter with 5 to 7 drenches will make doubly-sure that they are worm-free as two-tooths.

Not true. Hoggets and two-tooths still produce worms long after the drenching stops.

6. If one drenching interval is not working, then shortening it will.

Not true. Drenching more often can easily build up drench resistance as resistant worms have a reproductive advantage.

7. Using long-acting drenches in sheep will delay the onset of drench resistance in worms.

Not true. Good evidence is building up that this will hasten the development of drench resistance.

8. Drenching ewes, especially with long-acting drenches, at pre-lambing and docking will prevent them infecting their lambs.

Not true. This will build up drench resistance in the flock even faster because the resistant larvae passed out by the ewes and recycled by the lambs will have a reproductive advantage.

9. Tapeworms have serious effects on the health of lambs.

Not true. Masses of research prove that tapeworms are not a serious problem. They look much worse than they really are.

10. Newly-drenched lambs should be immediately put on to clean pasture or special lamb blocks.

Not true. The chances are very high that the clean pastures will be contaminated with drench-resistant worms as all the susceptible worms will have been killed by the drench. They should be held for at least 4-5 days (some vets say 2 weeks) on old contaminated pasture before shifting them on to the lamb block.

11. Breeding is far too slow a way to fix the worm problem.

Not true. If you use an accurate way to identify worm resistance in both males and females and select flat out for this trait, you’ll be surprised at how fast things can change

12. New worm resistant genes, and developing new drenches and vaccines are just around the corner.

Pigs will fly! The current generation of farmers with average age 50+ should not hold their breath.

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Drench resistant worms in sheep – the situation on your farm

Sheep, farming, husbandry, disease, animal health, worms, internal parasites,


By Dr Clive Dalton

Answer this question – it’s compulsory!
Are the worms in your sheep resistant to the chemicals in drenches currently being used?

1. If ‘YES’, then get your veterinarian or consultant to work out a strategy to continue farming your sheep sustainably.
2. If ‘NO’, then make sure your conclusion is right, and is based on sound information and not just imagination or hope! Your future business could be based on a myth.
3. If the answer is ‘DON’T KNOW’, then talk to your veterinarian or consultant urgently to find out what’s going on and develop a strategy for the future.
   

Key point 1:

• Read the Rattray report (see further reading) and check that anyone giving you advice has studied it too. It's available free from NZ Meat & Wool.
  
• It was done in 2003 and covers 228 pages but is still essential reference and discussion material for when you talk to your professional advisers to plan a sustainable sheep enterprise.
  
• All New Zealand’s experts have made valuable comments in it and it covers world research.

Key point 2:

Fill in this form to assess where you are at, and which will help you have a very profitable conversation with your veterinarian. Click on the image and it will expand in a new window, suitable for printing.

Think - Premium lamb

• Think about the increasing pressure coming from export markets about food safety and the international demand for chemical-free produce.
• Talk to anyone in a meat company who has had to do a ‘trace back’ under terrible pressure from an overseas customer breathing down their neck, threatening to cancel a major shipment. They say it’s a nightmare.
• Imagine how delighted meat companies will be in future to be able to source lamb which is ‘chemical free’!
• Stock that have had minimal or no drench are already starting to demand a premium. Think about meat ‘lambs’ (hoggets) being sold before June that in normal circumstances will have had seven drenches by then if not more.
  
• How much more would they be worth if they had received no chemical drench?
• It won’t be long before farmers buying store lambs and meat buyers sourcing lambs for export will be demanding details of the drench status of the stock.
  
• The ASD forms will become even more valuable documents in future.
• Store sheep buyers will soon demand information on whether the sheep have been drenched, when they were drenched and what product was used to prevent importing problems of drench resistance, and having to worry about quarantine drenching.
• Ram breeders producing worm-resistant rams to breed progeny that can be farmed without chemicals will certainly earn a premium.
  

Which of these sale rams will produce progeny that can be farmed without chemicals?

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Drench resistant worms in sheep – advice, old & new, good & bad

Sheep, farming, husbandry, disease, animal health, worms, internal parasites, advice, old & new, good & bad

By Dr Clive Dalton

What's wrong with what we used to do? And what needs to change?

Good old advice

• Read the label on the drench pack to make sure that you bought the right product and you understand what the product will do. The label should also tell you the withholding period for meat. This is now more important than ever with so much concern over food safety and traceback from markets and consumers.
• Give the container a good shake before loading the drench gun back-pack, and put what you don’t use back into the bulk container.
• Check the drench gun is working properly and delivering the correct dose.
• Squirt ten doses into a measuring jug and check the volume for accuracy.
• Pressure check the gun by filling the barrel fully with drench, seal the nozzle with a finger or thumb and attempt to depress the plunger. It should not move. If it depresses then drench is escaping back past the seals and the gun is defective. Some animal health labs now offer a calibration service.
• Give the correct dose rate to each animal. This is based on live weight so ‘drench to the heaviest’ animal in the mob. So if the heaviest gets its correct dose, then all the others will be guaranteed to have been given enough.
• If there is a wide range of weights in the mob, split them into two and this will save you wasting drench on massively overdosing the lighter ones.
• Use a good drenching technique. Gently place the gun over the back of the tongue and depress gently so all the drench goes down the throat and swallowed and not spat out. You must avoid drench getting into the lungs.
• Clean all drenching gear after use following the manufacturer’s instructions to prevent the washer on the plunger drying out and perishing.
• For drenches delivered by injection, make sure you give them correctly. This should be ‘subcutaneous’ which is under the skin and give them in the neck (the cheap end of the carcass in case abscesses form).
• Do not inject wet or dirty sheep as the injection sites may become infected.
• Take special care when dosing with capsules or boluses to make sure the sheep’s head is in the correct position. It should be level and not pulled upwards. Check with your vet for directions and assistance.
• Key point: Feed stock well and keep the stress levels down. It may be old advice but is still valid.
  

Bad old advice
Here are some things we now know NOT to do:

• Put stock on what you think is clean pasture immediately after drenching.
• Starve them before drenching to reduce gut fill.
• Make sure you drench every animal in the mob and don’t miss any.
• Use a different drench chemical family every year.
• Have a separate lamb block where only lambs graze.
• Drench ewes regularly or use low-dose long-acting products.
• Drench ewes especially before lambing and at docking to stop them polluting pasture for the lambs.
• If the drench used does not appear to be working – drench more frequently.
  

Good new advice

• Urgently find out the drench resistance status of the sheep on your farm using a FECRT. Seek veterinary advice on how to arrange this.
• Use this knowledge to fill in the Farm Resistance Summary (see later blog) and carry it with you when you buy your next drench.
• Realise the limitations of FEC testing and use the Faecal Consistency Score (FCS) to improve the accuracy of decisions.
• Stop drenching by the calendar and don’t drench stock unless you are sure there is a problem, and that the drench used will fix it.
• Discuss your intended drenching programme with a veterinarian or farm consultant, regardless of where you purchase your products.
• Fully use the concept of refugia.
• Don’t expect rotational grazing on 3-6 week intervals to be effective, as larvae can be viable for 4-6 months or longer. But some spelling of the pasture is better than none.
• Avoid drenching mature stock and especially ewes before lambing unless there are major problems which will compromise animal welfare. Many farmers find this especially difficult to accept.
• Use short-acting drenches and not long-acting ones.
• After drenching, put stock back on to a dirty paddock first and then 4-5 days later put them on a clean paddock. Then any resistant eggs will hatch into larvae and mix with susceptible larvae preventing the resistant ones enjoying a reproductive advantage.
• Use drenches (in double or triple combinations) to cover all the worm species that are killed by the products. But get professional advice before you do this. As a general rule use double combinations in preference to triples as you need to keep the triples as a very last resort.
• Consider using a long-acting ‘exit drench’. This is where you use one family of drench, and then after at least 30 days, use another drench family to kill any worms left that were resistant to the first family used. This is because long-acting drenches are reputed to be a major cause of advancing drench resistance (currently only valid for moxidectin).
• Use ‘integrated management’ - which means do everything you can think of.
• Use FECs over time to show which parts of the farm are heavily contaminated with worm eggs, so you can avoid grazing stock on them at critical times, or graze them with different species of animals.
• Start putting maximum emphasis on breeding sheep for improved host resistance.
  

Use ‘quarantine drenching’ for purchased stock
There has been a major change in thinking here. The old recommendation was to drench everything that came on to the farm (with a double or triple active) as soon as they got off the truck, and keep them isolated for a few weeks. This is not ‘best practice’ any more.

Some current recommendations:


1. When the previous property status is unknown.

• Drench with a triple-active.
• Put on highly contaminated pasture for at least 3 weeks.
  

2. When the previous property status is worse.

• Avoid buying stock from them.
• Drench twice at 12-24 hour intervals with triple active after arrival.
• Put on highly contaminated pasture for at least 3 weeks.
  

When the previous property status is better.

• Don’t drench sheep on arrival.
• Tell the vendor not to drench on departure.
• You need their susceptible worms to breed with yours to provide maximum contamination of your pastures!
  

Major snag

• This is good advice but there’s one major snag.
• How do you find out the drench resistant status of the farm the stock are coming from?
• Few vendors at present would have any idea of this, and even if they did, would they be willing to tell you? So the safest option is to assume their property is worse than yours.
  

Purchased rams

• Ask your ram supplier to avoid quarantine drenching your rams before delivery, and don’t automatically do them on arrival.
• Instead, do a FEC/FCS on them and don’t use any with more than 500 epg and producing marbles or hand grenades.
  
• But for accurate results, rams should not have been conventionally drenched for 2 months. And how can you rely on this being done?
• See blog on dags.
  

A Fin cross pet sheep called 'Finnie" that lived for 10 years and had a daggy rear
end all her life. She dried up for a while after drenching before scouring again
She was a 'genetic dagger'!

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.