Pneumonia, Pasturella & other Respiratory Conditions in Goats
Here where I live in South Texas our goats are exposed to many different climet extremes. I like to say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few hours!"
In fall our daytime highs can be in the mid 90's and nighttime lows drop into the 40s. These 30-50 temperature swings on a daily basis can really stress out the goat's immune system. Starting late summer is when problems start cropping up. Chronic coughing, snotty noses and the dreaded almost symptom-less but deadly Pneumonia. It happens again in spring when we start warming up in the days and still drop cold at night. Times of high humidity and weeks of wet raining weather can really make things worse.
I am NOT a veterinarian. As many goat raisers have learned, very few medications are made specifically for goats. A lot of medications are used "off label" for goats.
This page is simply an outline of MY PERSONAL experiment within MY herd.
Here where I live in South Texas our goats are exposed to many different climet extremes. I like to say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few hours!"
In fall our daytime highs can be in the mid 90's and nighttime lows drop into the 40s. These 30-50 temperature swings on a daily basis can really stress out the goat's immune system. Starting late summer is when problems start cropping up. Chronic coughing, snotty noses and the dreaded almost symptom-less but deadly Pneumonia. It happens again in spring when we start warming up in the days and still drop cold at night. Times of high humidity and weeks of wet raining weather can really make things worse.
I am NOT a veterinarian. As many goat raisers have learned, very few medications are made specifically for goats. A lot of medications are used "off label" for goats.
This page is simply an outline of MY PERSONAL experiment within MY herd.
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For 2 years I had been using the Pasteurella (Pneumonia) Vaccine made specifically for goats by Colorado Serum. I can't tell you if it helped or not but our goat herd grew exponentially during that time. (From 20 up to 70 goats!) I vaccinated goats over 6 months of age. The only downfall from the vaccine I noticed was that it would leave a lump at the vaccine site. The lump was always worse on the very 1st vaccine and boosters didn't seem as bad. Some goats seemed to lump worse then other. Occasionally, I'd have a vaccine lump that would need to be opened up and cleaned out. All lumps would eventually go away on their own.
This vaccine is pretty cheap ($6 for 10 doses as of writing this). However, it only covers 2 things. Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida. |
2016 was a crazy wet and rainy summer. This was the first summer in 7 years we had grass and green pastures all summer long. We got so much rain and the weather was constantly humid when normally we are very dry. I had 5 cases of silent pneumonia where I almost lost the goat. Thankfully quick treatment I was able to bring them all around. With silent pneumonia they can look fine that morning, go off food that evening and be struggling to breath on deaths door only a few hours later. Untreated goats can die in 24 hours or less from the start of the signs. I also have a cough going through the herd that just would not go away. One would get over it and 2 more would get it. Most needed Biomycin to kick the cough because it only got worse the longer it went on. This was the year I decided to change my pneumonia vaccine protocol. I felt we needed MORE protection.
