Calling all goat peeps! Let's talk about CAE...

[CrimsonRose]

Ok I have a few questions about CAE and I hope you guys will have some good answers for me... I know some people are terrified and 100% against goats with this virus... and most of the info I've found supports that thought of staying away from goats with this issue...

But...

I found an awesome deal on a saanen goat... (my dream breed goat!) She is a proven milker... comes from great show and milking lines... typically a goat of this standard would sell for around 400-500 around here... I could have a cow for that! Anyhow here comes the bad part... she is CAE positive... she isn't showing symptoms though...

So here is my questions...

1. With her testing positive is the milk safe to drink raw for humans?
2. Is she ok to breed without passing the virus to the male goat? (all info said it was passed though milk to baby)
3. I know you should pull the baby to prevent it from getting the virus... but... I really wanted to raise the baby natural on the dam... Since mom has no symptoms could she just simply have the antibodies and not the actual disease?
4. If you do raise a baby on the dam what are the chances of it contracting the virus... percentage wise?
5. If you pull the baby at what temp would you have to heat the milk to too kill off the virus to make it safe...
6. If I get her... and later want to add to my herd or keep her baby as her replacement... will my land be contaminated to where I can't sell the other babies safely?

 

[Henrietta23]

Freemotion will chime in with great info. I have a Nubian who developed symptoms and tested positive after I bought her. We drank her milk raw. I decided not to breed her because of the arthritis symptoms. I couldn't see asking her to carry a kid when her knees were so painful already. And we have the hardest time keeping weight on her. We will keep her happy and healthy and breed our "Saanerhasli" instead. Half Saanen, half Oberhasli

 

[freemotion]

1. With her testing positive is the milk safe to drink raw for humans? All data says yes, it is ok for humans. My first dairy goat is CAE positive.


2. Is she ok to breed without passing the virus to the male goat? (all info said it was passed though milk to baby Info on this is conflicting. I've had no problems....yet.


3. I know you should pull the baby to prevent it from getting the virus... but... I really wanted to raise the baby natural on the dam... Since mom has no symptoms could she just simply have the antibodies and not the actual disease? Skip the dam raising with this goat. Although she is symptom-free, that could change at any minute (see H23's experience.) It is not fair to the babies or to whoever buys them. It is just not worth it. You can create a CAE-negative doeling from this goat, then let HER dam-raise her babies so you can have the experience.


4. If you do raise a baby on the dam what are the chances of it contracting the virus... percentage wise? 100%


5. If you pull the baby at what temp would you have to heat the milk to too kill off the virus to make it safe... 145 F for 30 min or 161 F for a minute. You will need to get some colostrum (most breeders freeze some for the following year) for the kids' first day, and some whole cow's milk or goat's milk to feed the kids until your doe is done producing colostrum. It is very difficult to pasteurize without a machine. It turns into pudding.


6. If I get her... and later want to add to my herd or keep her baby as her replacement... will my land be contaminated to where I can't sell the other babies safely?
I haven't had issues although there is conflicting info on this, too. I raised Plum with CAE prevention and she tested 100% negative a year later.

 

[Henrietta23]

Yup, Free was with me when I went to meet my Donki. Within 5 months she had symptoms that we did not see when we first met her. Some good vet care and extra treats and she's doing much better now.

 

[CrimsonRose]

awesome guys you are the best! thanks for the info!

 

[Beanie]

Ok - I'm feeling really stupid here...what's CAE?
the hubs wants a goat so this looks important enough to learn about.

 

[CrimsonRose]

I'm far from an expert (obviously or I wouldn't be asking questions... LOL) but from my understanding it's a virus that can cause severe arthritis and such in goats...

I know it's one of 2 major illnesses that they commonly check for in goats... so if looking for one it's good to know if they have been checked for this and CL (have no clue what CL is sorry) Just know it's good if they say they tested negative...

One thing to look for if they have not been tested I was told is to look for calluses on their knees where it's painful to walk they sometimes crawl on their knees... It's not super accurate though

 

[Henrietta23]

Donki is not a knee walker but one of the first things we noticed that first fall was that her knees were swollen. The vet who saw her said she had "poster knees for CAE" In other words she took one look at those knees and knew what we were dealing with.
CAE stands for Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis

 

[Beanie]

Thank you Crimsom and Henrietta.!!!!
Awesome info! I have so much to learn.

Sounds brutal for the goat.

 

[TanksHill]

Ok so if CAE is the arthritis issue is CL the one with the icky oozing cyst???