Vaccination of goats: what is it for and what vaccinations do, what does it protect against

Table Of Contents

Why get vaccinated
What vaccinations are given to goats

Keeping goats is not as troublesome as keeping a cow, for example. But no less interesting, and most importantly - profitable. Goats also provide milk and meat, give birth to kids that can be sold. And the very observation of these animals will bring a lot of joy. They can be successfully kept in the country in the summer season. Just before buying a mammal, you should study important information about goat vaccination, how and why it is done.

Why get vaccinated

Scheduled vaccinations of livestock used to be mandatory in Russia, but with the collapse of the USSR and the abolition of most collective farms, they became voluntary.However, this does not relieve the farmer of responsibility for his animals in the event of a mass infection, and payment of fines.

Vaccinations are designed to protect livestock from infections that pose the greatest danger to both animals and humans. When vaccinated, a strain of the virus in a weakened form enters the body of a goat. Thanks to this, the mammal will not get sick, but will develop immunity in case of a real encounter with the disease. However, even timely vaccination does not give a 100% guarantee that the animal will remain he althy in any case.

What vaccinations are given to goats

There is a list of basic vaccinations. In addition, there are those that are due to the characteristics of the area where the animal is kept. For example, in regions where ticks are especially active, vaccination against encephalitis is considered mandatory. Moreover, both goats and their owner are vaccinated, since one can infect the other.

In Russia, goats should be vaccinated according to the following list:

From rabies.
From brucellosis.
Anthrax.
From foot-and-mouth disease.
Inject antiparasitic drugs.

For newborn lambs

Vaccinations of sheep and goats begin to be done when the animal reaches at least the age of 3 months. However, in the case of foot-and-mouth disease, even newborn lambs are subject to vaccination.

When an outbreak of the virus is recorded on the farm, the entire livestock is vaccinated, regardless of age. Animals are vaccinated again after 2 months, and then every six months.

Youngsters

The first mandatory vaccine protects against brucellosis.This disease has a chronic form and causes complications in the reproductive system, endometriosis, miscarriages. As a result, the goats become infertile. But even after the illness, the goat remains a carrier of the virus and must be slaughtered. The danger of brucellosis is that a sick goat or sheep can infect the person who cares for it. In humans, the nervous, cardiovascular and reproductive systems are affected. Vaccination is carried out for four-month-old kids. And fix the result for verification every six months.

The second most dangerous disease, against which young animals are also vaccinated, is rabies. The virus infects the nervous system and is fatal. Not treated. A kid at 3-4 months old is vaccinated under the supervision of a veterinarian. There are several types of vaccines. They are freely available in veterinary pharmacies.

Anthrax animals are also vaccinated at 3-4 months, immunity is developed within 2 weeks and lasts up to a year.

At the age of 6 months, the vaccine is duplicated. The vaccine is available in dry and liquid form for convenience. Goats and sheep that have died from this disease are dangerous even after death. Their corpses cannot be buried in animal burial grounds, but can only be burned.

Adults

Mature goats need scheduled repetitions of previously made vaccinations, as well as seasonal vaccination against parasites (helminths and ticks). Vaccination against worms is carried out before pasture.

In addition, it is necessary to check the livestock for leukemia every six months. And adults should be vaccinated against tetanus, tuberculosis and enterotoxemia.