2009 Oklahoma Meat Goat Forage Buck Performance Test

So Far, So Good

Good Morning,

Well in the last days we can really see a difference in the bucks. They are putting on weight, their coats are shiny and they are foraging well. This is good after a somewhat stressful  first 4 weeks. The bucks in quarantine are doing much better and I expect to return numbers 4, 6, 14 and 29 back to the field tomorrow morning. The temperatures appear to be moderating and we are expecting a good shot at some showers over the weekend and into the following week.

We are wanting some feedback from all of you. Who would be interested in selling their bucks at the end of the test during the field day? Please let me know as soon as you can. If we have enough interest, we are looking at having a private sale. But we need to know so that we can advertise within Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas.

Talk with you later,

Mary

P.S. I am also uploading more photographs taken this morning.

Download buck_test_data.pdf

First Weights & FAMACHA Scores

Hi Everybody,

Well we have managed to weather the heat without too much trouble. Hopefully, it will break soon and we will be clear of the record tying temps until next summer.  Earlier in the week we did have a buck die from bloat. We did a full necropsy and could still not find out exactly what caused him to bloat. He was probably one of the healthiest bucks in the test and was gaining well, with no appearant signs of trouble. Andy and I saw him at 6:30am while doing first check of water and by 10:30am he was dead. This has made me even more vigilent ( Andy believes bordering on obsessed) with checking each and every buck 3 times a day.

Yesterday Dave Sparks, Brian Freking, and myself took the first weights, third FAMACHA scores and assessed the health of every buck. We have quantined 5 bucks that are not doing well. The problems are not exactly clear. We have fecal tested all the bucks and the problem is not worms, lung sounds are fairly clear, no coccidiosis, but all are losing weight and have fairly high temps. We are treating them with antibiotics and anti-inflammitories, so keep your fingers crossed. The buck neumbers are 29, 6, 4, 14, and 20. We have recovered number 1 and 46 from illness at the beginning of the test and have returned them to the pasture. Both are healthy and do not appear to have lost any ground within the rankings.

Dr. Sparks will be typing up a post sometime next week to talk about the weights and ranks. Please know that the only weights that really count are the first weight and last weight. So if you see your buck down at the bottom, there is still plenty of time to catch up. I also have some pics so please look those over.

Mary

Sore Mouth

Buck test participants:

We have had an outbreak of sore mouth. Originally we thought it was 1 animal and had taken steps to quarantine it and have it examined by our on-site veterinarian, Dr. Leon Mitchell. Upon, further observation we have discovered 12 total bucks displaying outward signs of soremouth. We have consulted with Dr. Sparks and Dr. Mitchell and have decided not to quarantine anyone on the basis of soremouth due to the fact that all, or a great percentage, will come down with this. We are going to be spraying a solution onto the mouths as they come up for feeding to try and dry out the sours and prevent secondary infections. We will be feeding 1/2lb/head/day of soybean meal, so that they have something soft and palitable to eat during this period. We will keep a close eye on those bucks that aren't eating and for secondary infections.

This has not been limited to one producer, but we believe was brought into the test unknowingly. With the stress of travel and new surroundings we believe it reared it's ugly head. I will try and take pictures of the bucks tomorrow to let you all see how they are progressing.

The bucks showing signs are:

1,5,14,20,45,7,13,28,33,30,19, and 29.

We will keep you posted.

Mary

FAMACHA Scores & Fecal Egg Counts

From: Dave Sparks, Test Veterinarian

Last Friday we rechecked the eye scores on the bucks and collected follow up stool samples on 9 of the bucks that had high egg counts in the first sample. I thought I might make a few comments that would help understand the results. First, some of the bucks went down one point on the eye scores ( the lower the number the better the score). This doesn't necessarily indicate a problem. As you recall on the original check in score it was raining off and on and we had to set up inside on a very dark day. Friday, when we did them, it was bright sunshine. This may well be the difference. None of the bucks were in danger and the few that had poor initial scores were getting better, so we will look at them again in about two weeks. If you had a buck with an egg count of 1,000 or over in the first check, we repeated the test. If the new score was reduced by at least 95 % (as most of them were) this tells us that the drug we used, Prohibit, is affective against the worms on your farm. Since this is a sheep wormer you will need to visit with your local veterinarian to get appropriate goat dosage and withdrawal information. If the count was reduced but less than 95% reduction, then your worms are at least partially resistant to this drug.

Dr. Dave Sparks, DVM

Test VeterinarianDownload buck_test_data.pdf Download buck_test_data.xls