AWJAC 2018

AWJAC 2018

Dairy Goat Scenario

Prepared by G. Zobel, edited by J. Siegford

AWJAC 2018

Overview of farms

Farm A• Owned by a vet, managed by

manager with 10 years dairy cow milking experience, 3 full time staff, 3 part time staff

• Producing milk for a local cooperative

• Southern Ontario (Canada)• Average winter temp. = 32°F (0°C)• Average summer temp. = 79°F (26°C)

Farm B• Family owned

• Wife manages the goats• Husband manages feed production

and genetics• Milking done by 1 part time milker,

plus 4 teenage-aged children • Produce milk for their cousin’s local

ice cream and cheese company• Southern Virginia (USA)

• Average winter temp. = 50°F (20°C)• Average summer temp. = 88°F (31°C)

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Animals

• 950 milking does• Saanen Alpine X• 17 bucks

• Most kids that are not used as replacements are reared for meat by whatever local rearer is interested

• CAE* positive herd, do not test for Johne’s, CLA* present on farm

*CAE - Caprine arthritis encephalitis; CLA - Caseous lymphadenitis

G. Zobel

Susan S. (flickr)

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Animals

• 475 milking does• Registered Saanen• 26 bucks (some are typically up for sale)

• Sell most of doe kids that are not used as replacements, as well as buck kids (as breeding bucks) to other farms

• CAE and Johne’s negative herd, CLA present on farm

Eponimm, Wikimedia Commons

*CAE - Caprine arthritis encephalitis; CLA - Caseous lymphadenitis

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Housing

• Indoor barn completed in 2010, with side curtains that can be lowered and raised

• Seasonal access to non-pasture based outdoor area

• Pens• Pens are lowered relative to feed alley, allowing

for very deep bedded straw pack• Small concrete step in front of the feedrail

• 8 in (20 cm) high x 12 in (30 cm) wide• Straw cleaned out every spring• Each pen has an automatic waterer with alarm

for failureG. Zobel

Sammy Grosvenor (flickr)

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Housing

• 112 year-old converted dairy cow barn

• No outdoor access

• Pens• Straw bedded and cleaned out as

needed (no set schedule)• 2 ‘horse’ automatic water bowls per

pen• Newly installed industrial fans to

promote airflow G. Zobel

Created by M (flickr)

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Pens

• Each pen houses ~200 does• Space allowance is ~16 ft2 (1.5 m2) per

doe• This triples to nearly 54 ft2 (5 m2) per

doe in summer when goats have outdoor access

• Small area is sectioned off near the parlour for sick goats

• They are checked on frequently and given treatment

G. Zobel

Kate – flyhoof (flickr)

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Pens

• Each pen houses ~70 does • Space allowance is ~22 ft2 (2 m2) per doe• Sometimes there are more does in one

pen compared to another (depends on which pen they return to after milking)

• 3 ft (1 m) wide platforms along wall • Goats climb on and hide under them

• No special sick pen• If a goat is sick she is marked and

watched more closely

Damien Hardy CC-BY-SA

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Milking parlour

• 80-goat rotary with a return alley at the end that links to the pens

• Large concrete holding area • Sometimes gets slippery as milkers

often move goats forward with short sprays of water

• Manure of these goats is often quite loose

• Farm does complete wash-down of parlour after each milking

G. Zobel

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Milking• 40 goat side-by-side milking parlour with rapid

release system • Located in a new building ~650 ft (200 m) away from barn• Holding area is filled with deep straw

• Milkers typically bring up 2 pens at a time• Goats can return to either pen after milking

• Goats move readily into parlour to access concentrate

• Parlour managed as a ‘dry-parlour’ • Clusters cleaned with a standard wash cycle • Deck and floor cleaned with compressed air G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Milking

• Manager reports not using data from milk metres very much as ‘goats rush past each other’ entering milking bails

• Teats are sprayed (0.5% iodine) following milking

• Clusters have automatic removal but do not self retract

G. Zobel

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Milking• Individual milk metres installed and display

real time (not linked to a computer)• Milkers ‘know the goats’ and feel they get good

info from the system

• No teat spray used• Milkers regularly use CMT* to check any suspected

goats

• Clusters have automatic removal but do not self retract

Blonder1984, Wikimedia Commons

G. Zobel

*California mastitis test

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Feeding

• All goats fed complete pellet ration• For the most part it is freely accessible• Sometimes on Friday and Saturday nights feeding is

delayed• Goats have free access to large bales of straw

stacked next to pen • Replaced with new bales weekly • Remainder of bale is tossed into pen as bedding

• Ad libitum sodium bicarbonate provided in a small trough by the waterer

• No mineral blocks in pens• No concentrate provided in the parlour• Sick goats are fed the same diet

G. Zobel

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Feeding

• Total mixed ration for all does• Formulated from the farm’s home grown

silage and chopped straw and purchased rolled corn

• Mineral blocks in each pen• Milking does received 300 g/doe

‘complete’ pellet • Provided in the parlour each milking

• Sick goats are fed the same diet

G. Zobel

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Lactation management

• Does dried-off ~ 60 days before expected kidding

• ~305-day lactation

• BCS assessed half way through the dry period

• 20% of dry does are either BCS > 2 or BCS < 4

Emma Young CC-BY-NC

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Lactation management

• About 40% of the herd managed to an extended lactation (e.g. 450+ days)

• Does milking well at 200 days are selected to continue milking (and are not mated)

• Half way through dry period, most does have BCS = 3

• Frequent checks of does 1-2 months before kidding to identify does > 4 BCS

• These does are moved to a smaller pen and fed hay and a small amount of top dressed corn (~ 200 g/d/doe)

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Health managementFarm A• Hooves are trimmed for the first

time at first kidding • Then does are trimed at mid-lactation

and prior to dry-off• If any goats look scruffy,

particularly those that are outside a lot, the farm assumes parasites may be an issue and treat that goat with Ivermectin

• Dry does vaccinated with a ‘6 in 1’ vaccine against clostridial bacteria diseases and caseouslymphadenitis

• Kids provided with the same vaccine a few months after weaning

Farm B• Hooves trimmed every 3 months,

starting at about 5 months old

• Goats are not given anthelmintics

• Does vaccinated once a year at dry off with a ‘5 in 1’ vaccine against clostridial bacteria diseases

AWJAC 2018

Longevity in the herdFarm A• Mortality of does is ~7%

• Most deaths happen prior to kidding (last year’s records showed that 54 does died before re-entering the milking herd)

• Replacement rate ~35%• Culling is based on:

• Sudden milk production drop in early lactation

• Milk production at ~200 d• Any record of sickness• Bad hooves

Farm B• Mortality of does is ~4%

• No official records, but last year there were ‘at least a dozen’ that were euthanized due to ‘black mastitis’

• Replacement rate ~15%• Culling is based on:

• Reproductive issues• Age (does which >6 years old are not

mated, but are milked until milk production is too low then culled)

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Kidding

• Does kid in large dry doe pens

• Kids are pulled off immediately to prevent colostrum suckling

• Does are monitored 15 hours a day by a hired staff member

• Any kids born at night are not kept as replacements

Rhino White CC-BY

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Kidding

• Does kid in dry doe pens

• Does are monitored twice daily• The wife read a paper that activity is good

for pregnant does, so she pushes the goats out of the pen each day and makes them walk to and from the milking parlour

• Kids stay with dam for 24 hours

Rhino White CC-BY

Rhino White CC-BY

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Early kid care

• Kids are immediately moved to a separate heated room

• Placed in individual bins with wood shavings and marked with a “kid record sheet” (includes doe information, birth date and time)

• Navels are sprayed with the same spray used in the milking parlour

• Colostrum is fed by milker after each milking• Up until this year, the farm fed pooled, heat-

treated colostrum• This season the farm is trying commercial

colostrum replacement product as milkers were often over heating the colostrum

G. Zobel

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Early kid care

• After removal from dam, kids are moved to small area sectioned off by gates from the main doe pens

• The kid area is divided into smaller pens with hay bales

• Try not to ‘overcrowd’, but very dependent on kidding schedule (kids spend a few days in these pens)

• Bedded with wood shavings• No heat lamps are provided for fire risk

• No additional colostrum provided

AgResearch Ltd.

AWJAC 2018

Farm A – Kid housing and care

• After two days in bins, kids are moved to a separate insulated kid barn

• Reared in pens of 40 • Their kid record sheets move with them (pinned to

the wall next their pen) • Free access to automatic feeders providing

whey-based milk replacer • ~20 kids/teat• Feeder lines rinsed with cold water every 2 weeks

• Kids are provided with complete pellet concentrate and water from birth

• Kids are hot-iron disbudded by a veterinarian with no pain mitigation at 4 days of age

©Susan Schoenian University of Maryland

AWJAC 2018

Farm B – Kid housing and care

• Kids moved into bigger pens of 50 kids (next to the small pens they start off in)

• Free access to cow’s milk via drum feeders• 1 teat for every 2 kids• Cleaned every other day

• Kids are provided with hay, concentrate and water from about 1 week of age

• Kids are hot-iron disbudded by a staff member with no pain mitigation at 14 days of age

©Patrice Delaplane

AWJAC 2018

Kid mortalityFarm A• Kid mortality last year was 15%

• Determined by kid record sheets and post-mortems

• Farm has a vet tech on staff that post-mortems any dead kids, most common causes:

• Young kids: infections (e.g. navel-ill) and dehydration

• Older kids: respiratory issues and bloat

Farm B• Mortality is ~4%

• No post-mortems are done

• Farmers report death is from ‘smothering’ when kids are cold

AWJAC 2018

Kid weaningFarm A• Kids typically weaned around 7-8

weeks of age or around 10-11 kg• Farm weighs 2 kids in each pen

that look ‘average’

• Milk removed suddenly

• Kids that ‘look hollow’ are weighed after weaning

• Often found to not have gained any weight

Farm B• Kids typically weaned around 9-

10 weeks of age or around 17 kg

• Milk removed suddenly

• Farmers weigh all kids 2 weeks after weaning

• They typically gain ~150 g/d