Vaccinations and Herd Health Routine

Here at Yellow Point Farms we vaccinate annually, and routinely do herd (and flock) health exams on our sheep and goats. We also test our ruminants for major diseases annually.  (We post our results on our facebook page). 

See below for our "YEARLY HEALTH ROUTINE"

We focus on maintaining good health and try to do everything in our power to prevent any illness or complication before it becomes something we have to treat.  We would rather practice prevention than reaction.  We utilize a combination of both holistic and traditional methods to achieve optimal health.

Vaccination: 

We vaccinate annually with Tasvax 8.  It is an 8 way vaccine that covers: Clostridium Chauvoei-Haemolyticum-Novyi Type B-Perfringens Types B, C & D-Septicum-Tetani Bacterin-Toxoid.  It is important to give your pregnant does or ewes their dose of the vaccine 2-4 week prior to kidding or lambing, as this will give their offspring coverage for the first 8-10 weeks of life.   Then, the kids or lambs will need a booster at around 8 weeks. We give 2 mls per dose.  If it was an adult animal's FIRST dose ever, you would give 4 mls and then 6 weeks later give a booster.  

DeWorming:

To know when or wether you need to deworm and for what, the best option is to submit a fecal sample to your vet of each animal and have it tested.  Then, you will know what worms you’re dealing with, if they have a high enough load to need treatment, and what treatment will work best.  To collect a sample, wait and watch for the animal to poop and collect with gloves about 1/4 cup right when its fresh.  Put it in a small baggie and label with the animal's name.  Do the same for each animal.  

For us, our vet will come pick up the sample and test it in house and then let us know if there are any worms present.  You can also send it to Abbotsford Health lab, and request a parasite test.  Many people also find it easy enough to do their own fecal sample, and have bought a microscope to do their own test.  Then, if you know what you are looking at, you can decide what wormer to use (there are generally two classes of wormers, The clear ones like ivermectin, and the white ones (fenbenzaole) like valbazen or safeguard.  The white ones are the only ones that work for tape worm.  

I will mention that for us and our herd, after trialing different methods, we do one "routine" deworming per year, and this is 24 hours after the doe or ewe gives birth.  With our larger herds, we find this most effective for a number of reasons. The animal is off pasture so we can deworm and clean up the stall easily so she is not contaminating the shared pasture.  This is also the time the female is at her most vulnerable, and this ensures that kids won't be picking anything up from her.  

Disease Testing

It is a very good idea to only buy livestock from tested herds. There are some potentially devastating diseases out there that affect small ruminants with no cure.  Always ask to see the seller's most previous test results.  Many say "from tested herd" but have brought in goats from all over, and have never actually tested their own stock once it's been on their own farm, thus negating the status of closed/tested herd.  Unfortunately these diseases don't always show up until later and can even be brought in by deer or cows.  All small ruminants on the farm should be tested. We test annually here at Yellow Point Farms, and have since 2015. We recently closed our herd which means no more goats will be brought in.  

The three main diseases to test for for goats are: Johnes (fecal or serum), CAE (serum) or CL (serum or abscess fluid).  We rotate each year blood or fecal for Johnes, (Johnes you can do a pooled fecal of 5 goats per pool) and do each goat for CAE, and this is the first year we have done CL.  Mostly just for peace of mind, we probably won't do CL each year, just as needed if we ever saw any lumps.  

If you are submitting a blood sample, it has to be blood taken from the jugular and it has to be stored in a red-top serum collector.  They say they want 3-5mls.  We do 3 mls, and we use a 3 ml luar lock syringe and a 22 gauge needle to collect.  A good idea is to get your vet to come out and take the samples the first year, and teach you.  Or a mentor. 

There are a couple options for where to send your samples for disease testing. Here in B.C., we have:

Abbotsford Health Centre 

1767 Angus Campbell Road
Abbotsford, B.C. V3G 2M3

Phone: 604-556-3003
Toll free: 1-800-661-9903
Fax: 604-556-3010

E-mail: PAHB@gov.bc.ca

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/animals-and-crops/animal-health/animal-health-centre

OR

Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WADDL)
1940 SE Olympia Ave
Pullman WA 99164-7034
(509) 335-9696
waddl@vetmed.wsu.edu

YELLOW POINT FARMS 

Health Schedule 

Here is a glance at my "schedule" for health check-ups (This is NOT something you can copy to a tee on your own farm, this is based on what works best for OUR kidding and lambing in March, and will fluctuate throughout the months accordingly with due dates, your herd size, your location, and vet recommendations)

January: Body condition assessment 

Early February:  Annual Disease Testing,  hoof trimming 

Late February: Does and Ewes: Tasvax 8 and Selenium/E booster,

March: De-worm does and ewes 24 hours after they kid 

April:  Shear the sheep, Tasvax 8 the bucks, rams, and dry yearlings, do fecal samples on bucks, rams, and dry yearlings 

May: deworm the kids and lambs at 6 weeks, Tasvax 8 the kids and lambs at 8 weeks, hoof trimming for all

Early July: body condition assessment - decrease grain/feed, especially in any overweight animals 

August: hoof trimming 

September: Body condition assessment, Fecal test for worms if any body condition concerns, feed grain to any underweight does (to get their body score up to optimal for pregnancy), selenium/e bucks

November: hoof trim