Goats Flashcards
What is a doe?
Adult female goat
What is a dowling?
Young female goat
What is a buck/billy?
Male entire goat
What is a buckling?
Young male goat
What is a wether?
Castrated male goat
What is a kid?
Baby goat
What goat breed is best used for meat?
Boer
What goat breed is best used for Dairy?
Toggenberg, Sanem, Anglionuben, Golden Guernsey
What goat breed is best for fleece?
Angora, Cashmere
What goat breed is usually used as a pet?
Pygmy
At what age do goats require ear tags?
- 6 months if housed overnight
- 9 months if not housed overnight
Why does goat milk not have to be pasteurised?
Tb content is low
What is the average milk yield of a goat?
500-1200 litres
What is the peak goat yield?
4L a day
What is the average lactation length of a goat?
280 days
What is the meaning of goats producing milk via apocrine secretion?
- Large number of skin cells and cell fragments are present in the milk
What age can females be mated from?
From 6 months old
How long is the goat oestrus cycle?
18-24 days
How long is goat gestation?
150 days long
What is hydrometra?
When clear fluid accumulates in the endometrial cavity
What causes hydrometra?
- Prolonged luteal function and absence of oestrus
- may be linked to infectious diseases such as toxoplasmosis and border disease
- may also be caused by hormonal manipulation of the oestrus cycle
What are the clinical signs of false pregnancy?
- abdominal enlargement
- udder development
What is a ‘cloudburst’?
Expulsion of fluid
When are you legally allowed to disbud goats?
Between 2 and 7 days
* local anaesthetics are not well tolerated
Name three common diseases in goats
- Caprine arthritis encephalitis
- Caseous lympahadenitis
- Johne’s disease
What are the main categories of goat keepers?
- Milking goats
- Meat goats
- Pet goats
- Petting zoos/ farms
What two notifiable diseases are goats subject to?
- FMD
- TB
Name 4 things about goat behavior
- Tend to flock together in extended family groups
- Strong hierachial structure
- Establish social dominance
- they like to orally investigate everything
- need environmental enrichment
Name 5 things about goat housing
- Providing shelter is required
- Good ventilation
- Space to minimise bullying
- Straw for good comfort and drainage
- Lots of feed and water trough space
What age can females be mated from?
6 months
What age are male kids sexually mature from?
6 weeks old
What two diseases is hydrometra linked to?
Toxoplasmosis and Border disease
What are the two clinical signs of false pregnancy in goats?
- Abdominal enlargement
- Udder development
What can make goats sensitive to prolonged progesterone?
persistent CL
What age do breeders usually wait until they breed their dows
18 months old
Name 5 things that can be used as a pregnancy diagnosis
- Lack of oestrus
- Ultrasound
- Abdominal enlargement
- Oestrone sulphate test
- Ballotment
What is the issue with goats having limited grazing?
Land becomes ‘worm sick’
grazing rotation should be considered
Name three common UK diseases in goats
- Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis
- Caseous lymphadenitis
- Johne’s diseases
Name the 6 key factors surrounding Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis
- Lentivirus
- Spread via infected colostrum/ Milk
- Causes weight loss, other clinical signs are rare
- Causes encephalitis in young kids
- No treatment, no vaccine
- Test and Cull
Name the 3 key facts surrounding caseous lymphadenitis
- Caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
- Skin disease
- Causes abscesses of head lymph nodes
Name 5 key facts surrounding Johne’s disease in Goats
- Happens in Commercial herds
- Causes Poor Milk yield, Wasting, Anemia
- Faeces is unchanged
- there are no reliable tests
- Has the same control measures as for cattle and sheep
How long is the goat oestrus cycle?
18-24 days
What vaccine is used for clostridial disease?
lambivac
What is the main advice for goat hoof trimming?
- The hoof wall is a lot drier and harder to trim than sheeps
- Only trim if needed
What happens when you give a local anaesthetic to a lamb?
Toxic
