Disease Prevention and Control Methods in Boer Goat Farming

Goat disease prevention and control must implement the principle of “prevention first, with prevention outweighing treatment” to ensure the healthy growth and development of the goats. Especially with the development of intensive goat farming, there are more and more breeding goat farms and goat farmers, and the scale is constantly expanding, so adhering to the principle of “prevention first” is particularly important. The general preventive measures for goat diseases are introduced first below, followed by a detailed explanation of the five major categories of the most common goat diseases one by one: parasitic diseases, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, obstetric diseases and others.   

1. Scientific feeding and management Boer goats have strong adaptability and tolerance to roughage. In spring, summer and autumn, they are mainly fed wild grass, and in winter they can be fed tree leaves, sweet potato vines, peanut vines, bean straw, rapeseed hulls, etc., supplemented with a small amount of concentrate. They can also be fed micro-stored, ammoniated rice straw, wheat straw, corn straw or silage. However, the following points should be noted.   

① Forage and feed must be clean and must not be moldy; the forage should not carry water or mud, and should be dried before being given to the goats.  

② Drinking water should be clean; give warm water in winter, and add a little salt to the water.  

③ Keep the goat shed clean, dry and well ventilated at all times, achieving warmth in winter and coolness in summer.  

④ Appropriately increase the goats' exercise and maintain the goats' body hygiene.

⑤ Breeding rams, does, pregnant does, does with kids, weaned kids and growing goats should be raised in separate pens, with ear numbers properly assigned and card files established.   

2. Regular disinfection of pens and sheds Goat pens and sheds should be disinfected regularly. Plant ash and quicklime powder can be spread inside the pens and sheds, or the following chemicals can be used to disinfect the pens, sheds and equipment.   

① 3% Lysol solution: used for disinfecting pens and sheds, equipment, hands, etc.  

② 10%-15% quicklime solution: used for disinfecting pens, sheds and excrement.  

② 0.5% peracetic acid solution: used for spraying the ground, walls, feed troughs, etc.   

④ 1%-2% sodium hydroxide solution: used for disinfecting pens and sheds, areas and equipment contaminated by bacteria and viruses. Because this product is highly corrosive, the goats should be driven out when disinfecting the pens and sheds, and the goats may be allowed back into the pens only after half a day, once the feed troughs and ground have been rinsed with clean water.   

⑤ Chloramine: 0.5%-2% chloramine solution is used to disinfect contaminated utensils and pens and sheds, and 0.05% chloramine solution is used to disinfect drinking water.   

⑥ Kangduwei: spray a 1:400 dilution to disinfect the pens and sheds. The liquids for killing mosquitoes and flies include dichlorvos, Miewenling, Mieyingling, etc., but attention must be paid to the safety of the goats.   

3. Regular deworming Regular deworming is carried out every year in spring and autumn. According to the types of internal and external parasites commonly occurring locally, effective drugs can be selected in a targeted manner for deworming, and the harmless treatment of parasite eggs in the manure should be done well.   

4. Planned immunization So-called planned immunization means carrying out immunization and preventive vaccination in a planned way against a certain infectious disease (or diseases) that have occurred locally and their epidemic seasons. This includes immunization against foot-and-mouth disease, tuberculosis, brucellosis, clostridial diseases and other diseases.   

5. Prevention and control measures when an epidemic occurs   

(1) Report promptly once discovered When an epidemic is discovered, it should be diagnosed and reported promptly, and neighboring units should be notified to take preventive measures. Especially when important infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax and rabies are suspected, a report must be made quickly to the epidemic prevention department at or above the county level.   

(2) Emergency vaccination Emergency immunization vaccination should be carried out for goats in the epidemic area and threatened area that have not yet developed the disease. However, emergency vaccination has no protective effect on affected goats in the incubation period; instead, it causes them to develop the disease faster and more intensively. However, because the incubation period of these acute infectious diseases is relatively short, and resistance is quickly produced after vaccination, the epidemic may soon come to a stop.   

(3) Isolation and blockade When an epidemic occurs, according to the diagnostic results, the goats can be divided into three categories: diseased goats, suspected diseased goats and healthy goats, and isolated by category. Unauthorized persons and livestock are prohibited from entering, leaving or approaching the isolation site for diseased goats. Staff entering and leaving must strictly observe the disinfection system. Tools, feed, manure and other items in the isolation area must not be transported out without thorough disinfection treatment. Suspected diseased goats refer to goats in which no symptoms have been found but which have had contact with diseased goats and their contaminated environment. These goats should be isolated and kept under observation, observed in detail, and treated as diseased goats if symptoms appear. Those that do not develop the disease after a certain period may have their restrictions lifted. Healthy goats should be strictly isolated from the above two categories of goats and raised separately, with disinfection strengthened, and emergency vaccination carried out immediately; when necessary, according to the situation, they may be fed in a dispersed manner or moved to remote pastureland.

When certain important infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, blackleg and sheep pox break out, in addition to strict isolation, measures of zoned blockade are taken to prevent the spread of the disease to safe areas and to prevent healthy goats from straying into the epidemic area and becoming infected. After a certain period, when no epidemic occurs, the blockade may be lifted after comprehensive disinfection.