Identifying constraints to health and production in the UK dairy goat industry :Subtheme; Colostrum

Research that informs the health and production of farmed dairy goats is sparse. Therefore, gaps in knowledge regarding current practices and concerns within the UK dairy goat industry were addressed by a postal survey of farmer members of the Milking Goat Association. Some 73% of farmers responded. Findings show extensive variation in farm practices. Farmers’ top priority for further research was kid health (79.5% of farmers), and pneumonia and diarrhoea were reported as the most prevalent illnesses of kids. The findings, alongside published literature and field experience, were used to inform the choice of a focused research topic for this Ph.D research. Kid health has important welfare and economic implications. Colostrum management is vital for kid health but sparsely researched. Therefore, three studies of goat colostrum were undertaken. Study one was an observational study on three commercial dairy goat farms that established baseline measures for the immunoglobulin, nutritional, and energy content of colostrum. Linear regression analyses established that Brix measures significantly predicted the mean ‘total solids’, energy, and immunoglobulin content of goat colostrum. In study two, Bland Altman analyses were used to quantify the reliability of Brix refractometer measures of colostrum, with results helpful for informing the methodology of study one as well as practice on farms. Study three was a single-farm study that measured the colostrum intakes of farmed dairy goat kids that were routinely removed from their mothers at birth and bottle-fed colostrum, providing baseline data for the quantities and timings of colostrum intakes achievable in bottle-fed kids during the first 13 hours of life when real-world factors are in play. These studies provide essential new baseline data for informing future research and guiding better colostrum management on farms and protecting the health, welfare, and production of the large numbers of kids born on commercial dairy goat farms

A case report of lameness in two dairy goat herds: a suspected combination of nutritional factors concurrent with treponeme infection

Background: Two dairy goat farms with high level of lameness in lactating animals were presented for further investigation. Farm 1 and Farm 2 presented with 37 and 67 % morbidity, respectively. Both farms had an all year round indoor system, feeding ad libitum concentrate with forage available at all times. Case presentation: The lameness was found to be based in the foot. Previous treatments consisting of biweekly footbathing with zinc sulphate, spraying lesions with oxytetracycline spray and packing lesions with copper crystals on a single occasion and single injections with long acting oxytetracycline had not been successful. Mild cases had signs of haemorrhaging in the white line or on the sole of the foot. Moderate cases showed under running of the wall horn or small areas of exposed sole corium. Severe cases would consist of horn or wall separation with the corium exposed and infected. In extreme cases only the wall horn of the claw remained, with a large area of necrotic tissue in the centre and no healthy corium visible. Only one animal was seen to have interdigital lesions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture of swabs taken from exposed corium and the interdigital space were negative for Dichelobacter nodosus but PCR for treponemes were positive in both the adults and the youngstock tested. Due to the high level of concentrate in the diet of these goats, nutrition was thought to contribute to the problem. Transcutaneous rumen fluid samples were taken and pH was measured on both farms, with 35 % of the samples below pH value 5.5. Conclusion: No definite diagnosis could be made. However, the results suggest both treponemes and nutrition play a role in the aetiology of the lameness. The initial sole or wall horn lesions were thought to be secondarily infected by treponemes. Further investigation is needed to definitively diagnose the cause and contributing factors for this lamenes

Psalm 32 as a wisdom intertext

Psalm 32 is considered by the majority of investigators to be a psalm of thanksgiving with a mix of wisdom poetry. In this article, the thesis is defended that it was devised from the beginning as a wisdom-teaching psalm although it simulates the form of a psalm of thanksgiving in certain respects. The case for this is argued on the basis of the complete integration of its parts, as well as its similarity to Proverbs 28:13–14 and some other wisdom texts. The aim of the psalmist seems to have been to argue (on the basis of a personal experience) that stubbornness in accepting the guilt of sin causes suffering, but that Yahweh is eager to restore an intimate relationship with those worshippers who confess their guilt and are willing to accept his guidance on the way of life