Stay ConnectedDr Cara Sammons-Shepard, DVM is a practicing veterinarian in Maine and New Hampshire, and when on the road, the majority of her patients are goats. She and her husband have owned and operated a commercial farmstead creamery since 2009. In this podcast, Dr Shepard discusses different topics related to goat medicine and husbandry.
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Copyright: © Cara Shepard
A long overdue update on what's been going on at Flying Goat Farm this spring/early summer.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc. Want another place to talk about goats online? Come say hi on the Discord server: http://discord.gg/am66zGny2b
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Why should we care about whether our goats are registered? It's more than just being able to say that your animal is "purebred" or not. In this episode, I talk about my experience and opinion about why you should register your goats. I'm obviously biased, but it may not be why you think someone would be biased towards registering animals.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc. Want another place to talk about goats online? Come say hi on the Discord server: http://discord.gg/am66zGny2b
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Dystocia is our veterinary doctor word for difficult birth. (I guess maybe we call it something different for humans? I don't know, all species but one over here). In this episode I talk about different causes for dystocia, my experiences with what is more common in goats, and some dystocia do's and don'ts.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc
Want another place to talk about goats on the internet? Come over to the Goat Talk Discord server! http://discord.gg/am66zGny2b
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Seems like we talk about poop a lot sometimes doesn't it. While I'm sure I've touched on fecal analysis as part of a parasite management program in the past, I thought I would take some time and talk about the different types of fecal analyses we have available to help assess and monitor parasite levels in our goats and other animals. This episode covers the difference between qualitative and quantitative fecal analysis, Baermann fecals and touches on the usefulness (or not) of FAMACHA as a tool to help monitor parasite levels in your goats and small ruminants.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc
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While coccidia is the big player in problem protozoa for ruminants, there are a couple other guys I see around that I sometimes care about as well, so Entamoeba and Giardia get a couple minutes of attention in this episode and I also spend some time discussing considerations for treating enteric protozoa in general- why, why, how, and what to consider when you are doing it.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc
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It's been a while, but I'm back for at least a few episodes to talk about enteric protozoans - single celled critters that live in the guts, and may or may not be a problem. First things first- Coccidia. I managed to get a little long winded here talking about these guys and options for treating them when you may have a problem.
Questions, comments, just wanna say hi and send me cute goat pics online? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, Insta: @goat_doc
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Talking a little pause from calcium to talk about the fall breeding season. The leaves are turning in Maine and in a strange turn of events, I finished my 2021 breeding plan several weeks before it's actually needed!!! #signsoftheapocalypse. This episode is just my thoughts about how I approached a breeding plan for about 45 does for the 2022 milking season- things I think about, what options I use for bucks and why, how we are planning our timing for breeding and kidding for the next round.
Questions, comments, thoughts about how you approach your breeding plan? Shoot me an email at goatdoccara@gmail.com, find the website at www.goatdoc.com, follow on instagram @goat_doc
Loving the podcast? You can support the podcast through the acast supporter feature here: https://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc
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This is the first of a couple of episodes talking about calcium. For this first episode, I go into the physiology (I think I kept it mostly under control) of where calcium hangs out in the body and the systems that regulate how much calcium is available for important life functions. The goal of this episode is to have an idea of how this all works when things are normal, so that when things are not normal, we have something to compare to.
Questions/comments/etc? www.goatdoc.com, goatdoccara@gmail.com, @goat_doc on Instagram
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A departure from your more goat oriented podcast. In this episode I am going to tell you all about what is going on in the veterinary field as of this moment in July 2021. If you have not already been made aware, the veterinary profession all over the world is experiencing unprecedented and overwhelming demand for services and we are all just trying to keep our heads above water while we try to help as many patients as we possibly can. The field is experiencing higher than normal rates of burnout, individuals leaving the field for a variety of reasons, and it is frustrating for everyone involved. I take some time to tell you all what this experience is like from this side of the fence.
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Devin and I recap what all has been going on over the winter and spring at the farm on a rainy truck ride up to my parents' house on the 4th of July. (Sorry about the windshield wiper noise!)
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Got some stuff to clear up for people! You may already know some of these things, but I've had a few things bouncing around in my head lately that I hear people say, or do or read people talking about on the interweb that *aren't* quite right, so here's what I've got to say about those things! Talking about parasites and goat kids, milk fever and pregnancy toxemia, and probably some other stuff stuck in there too.
Questions/comments/things you want me to clarify more? Send me an email at goatdoccara@gmail.com, find the website at www.goatdoc.com, or come say hi on Instagram @goat_doc.
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I got a couple of requests to talk about general buck keeping, so here we go! Also go check out Episode 39 for a more reproductive focused buck episode.
This episode starts with a step back to talk about the "why" of keeping a buck, then my general nutrition recommendations, and then some of the less charming aspects of keeping bucks.
Questions/comments/etc? Shoot me an email at goatdoccara@gmail.com, check out the website at www.goatdoc.com, or come say hi on instagram @goat_doc.
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More Goat Talk about the whole passive transfer of maternal immunity for our goat kids coming at you in this episode. We talked about the actual amazing importance and complexity to the seemingly simple system of goat kids drinking colostrum in the first 24 hours of their lives in Part 1, so in Part 2, I go into what problems can arise from the failure of passive transfer (FPT), sequelae of FPT, and goat and human behaviors that can cause FPT to be a problem.
Come say hi on the internet at www.goatdoc.com or @goat_doc on Instagram and Clubhouse!
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Crash course in immunology of neonatal goat kids part one! In this episode, I try to give a foundation for understanding what all is going on with goat kid immune systems and how they manage to survive a world full of bacteria and potential pathogens for the first 1-2 months of their lives while their immune systems get geared up. Talking about a whole bunch of things in this episode including placentation (refresh yourself with Episode 23: Ode to the Placenta), antibodies and what the heck those things are, and all things relating to the transfer of material antibodies to the neonatal goat kid immediately following parturition. There's a lot to talk about, so you will be super surprised that I do that. ;)
Questions/comments/etc? Email me at goatdoccara@gmail.com, find the website at www.goatdoc.com, find me on the instagram @goat_doc, or if you're on clubhouse, follow me @goatdoc.
Part 2 to come will talk about the not normal stuff pertaining to passive transfer or immunity and what common sequelae are.
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Part 2 of Goat Respiratory Stuff - I talk about non-infectious causes of respiratory issues in goats. Discussion includes, inflammatory/allergic issues, cardiogenic, neoplastic, anatomical, and functional causes, and talk about what I'm looking at in a physical exam focused on respiratory problems.
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Talking about coughing goats! Well, more accurately, talking about respiratory disease in goats. This is going to be a two parter.
In part 1, we get into infectious causes of respiratory disease in goats, some anatomy talking about normal respiratory defense mechanisms, and the interplay of primary respiratory problems and secondary invaders.
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Farm update and talking about what we want to get done this winter and in 2021.
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Annnnd I totally uploaded the wrong episode file for Part 3! And then we had a ridiculous snowstorm and we lost power, then the power came back on, but no internet. So here is the correct episode! Sorry!
Devin joins me for Part 3 of the series on Milk and Mammary Health. We talk about proper milking procedure and protocol and why recommendations are what they are, monitoring milk and udder health and mastitis.
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Milk & Mammaries Part 2 builds on what we talked about in Part 1 and we get into more anatomy and physiology of what type of cells make milk, how the milk comes together into the udder and what that all looks like. Important differences between how goats and cows make milk. Anatomy of the udder and a little bit about how that plays into udder and milk health. Questions, comments or just want to say hi? Find me at @goat_doc on instagram or at www.goatdoc.com
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The first in a series of episodes talking about milk and mammaries. Not quite sure how many episodes it will take to get through all the stuff I want to talk about. As usual, I think it's useful to talk about basic stuff, so in this episode, milk is defined, I talk about what all is actually in there, and get into the casein thing a bit.
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Devin and I regroup and discuss how stuff has been going on on the farm this summer... 2020 has been kind of a dumpster fire, eh?
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I joined Devin on the road for his deliveries so we could record the last part of So You Think You Want Goats: Why You Absolutely Should Not Get Goats. A little bit tongue in cheek, but we discuss a couple of major reasons why you should consider NOT getting goats if you're on the fence.
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So I get a little verbose and long winded in this episode talking about health considerations for acquiring your new goats. Quick overviews of CAE, CL, and Johne's diseases, parasites, and things to avoid/ask/otherwise be aware of when you're goat shopping.
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For Part 2B of our series- So You Think You Want Goats, I'm going to continue the nutrition discussion, now switching gears to grain and additives or supplements that may be already added to prepared grain, or ones you may add yourself. What is a "medicated" feed? Should we be feeding grain with ammonium chloride? Should we be feeding grain at all?
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So you still think you want goats? You're going to end up a crazy person like me who can go off on an almost-full-podcast-length talk about differences in cuts of hay.
Part 2 of So You Think You Want Goats is focused on hay- cuts of hay and the differences between them, practicalities of feeding your goats hay, important considerations for providing water to your goats, and some goat keeping protips related to hay and water.
Talking for 40 minutes about hay and water sounds kind of silly and basic, but it's the foundation of feeding your goats, so I hope this is at least a bit of helpful information!
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So you think you want goats? Another multi-part series comin' at ya. For this first episode, we're going to talk about lifestyle changes that should be considered before getting goats, and basics for goat housing and fencing. Future topics to include: feed, preventative care routines, and Why you should NOT want goats! ;) Shoot me an email at goatdoccara@gmail.com or at www.goatdoc.com with other suggestions for new goat owners and/or what questions you might have as a potential future goat owner!
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Just a quick check in. New episode coming tomorrow! Thanks for bearing with me!
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Time for some fun goat chat! I was asked on Instagram to share my perspective as a vet on different breeds of goats!
Come say hi on instagram at @goat_doc or www.goatdoc.com and tell me about your breed.
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Herd Immunity. I bet you didn't hear this term very often until the past 2-3 months and now it's almost a media buzzword. These kinds of things get tossed around and lots of times, people think they know what it means, and they don't *actually* quite get it.
In this episode I talk about the concept of herd immunity, what it means, talk about it in terms of goat health situations, how do we know what kind of percentage of the population needs to be immune, what is R0, and how does it help control an infectious/contagious disease. (I realized while editing this episode that I forgot the word "contagious" and many times it would have been a better word to use than infectious, so thanks for bearing with my brain forgetting words sometimes!)
Come find me on the internet and let me know if you have questions or comments! goatdoccara@gmail.com, goatdoc.com, @goat_doc on Instagram. Join the Goat Talk SuperFans at patreon.com/goatdoc.
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A relevant topic in the current times- What is herd health? How do you approach thinking about this topic in an animal population? What does it entail and where do you start?
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Devin and I sit down and recap some of the insanity of the last two months.
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After a month of kidding and building and the start of a global pandemic, I'm back with some tales from the road.
In this episode I talk about how my life as a vet has changed over the last couple of months.
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A quick check in.
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This episode was a little slow in the making- sorry! I needed a couple of tries to gather my thoughts and figure out the best way to approach the topic. Your goats' hooves are their foundation and very important to their longevity and mobility! Lots of comparative anatomy discussion in this episode to try to help explain what all is going on in goats' hooves and distal limbs. I think it's helpful to understand this stuff at least a little bit because it helps with preventative care and dealing with problems when they occur. I'm going to do my best to get some photos up on instagram @goat_doc and get back on the show notes bandwagon at www.goatdoc.com to get some visual aid support going on.
This episode focuses on comparative anatomy of goats' distal limbs and hooves, and discusses normal hoof maintenance and strategies you can utilize to increase the "inter-trimming interval" in your goats.
Part 2 on Hooves will talk about pathology - hoof rot, laminitis, maybe some more about how trimming/anatomy can cause problems in the more proximal limbs, and touch on the less common hoof problems, growths, etc.
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Exciting life changing events in the barn - Electricity! Hot water! Laundry! New kids, first fresheners and baby rabies. Still lots of work to do, but Devin and I sat down to give a farm update.
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In this episode, I discuss how we manage our goat kids during the first 1-3 days of their lives, what we do immediately after birth, the MOST IMPORTANT 2 THINGS to do with your neonatal kids, and talk about a few things that people tend to want to do with goat kids, that mostly don't do anything to help the goat kids.
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What we've been up to for the past month. This episode is probably not as exciting as previous TFTF episodes, but if you're curious about what we've been up to, here it is!
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Kidding season is upon us. By request, this episode recaps some of my thoughts about kidding, when to intervene in a delivery, what things I get excited about, and what things I don't get excited about.
For more kidding info, also make sure to check out Episode 19: Care of the Pregnant Doe, Episode 21: The Periparturient Doe, and Episode 23: Ode to the Placenta.
Happy #kidding2020, y'all!
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The next volume in the saga of moving in and some of the problems, solutions and new critters on the farm.
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Join me as I geek out about the physiology of pregnancy toxemia. This small ruminant metabolic disorder of late pregnancy is characterized by a negative energy balance- the doe can't take in enough energy to meet her needs and the energy needs of her growing babies. What all is happening there from a physiological standpoint, what do these does look like in real life, what do we do about it? I keep going back to the physiology in this one, sorry guys, but hopefully I didn't get too intense about it! Let me know what questions you have: www.goatdoc.com
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Tales From the Farm continue with me and Devin recapping the last few months leading up to moving our lives, goats, home, and dairy to a new location.
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Wrapping up the series about GI parasite management in goats! You made it this far, and this last episode talks a little bit about why I recommend the things I recommend and talk about the things that I don't think do anything but seem to be very popular recommendations on the internet.
After this episode, I will be taking a bit of a short break to finish moving my life and my farm and my goats to our new home. I will talk to you all in December!
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Part III of the GI Parasites in Goats series. If you haven't listened to Parts I and II, go back and have a listen because there is some info there that will make this episode more useful.
In this episode, I talk about strategies for parasite MANAGEMENT in goats and small ruminants. Developing a parasite management plan and utilizing strategies to do so is always going to be a multi-faceted and ongoing part of owning goats and other small ruminants. It's not a quick and easy topic, it takes some thought and planning, and in this episode I talk about the many things to consider when developing a parasite management plan for your animals.
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Part II of our series on gastrointestinal parasites in goats. It's time to talk about the things we have in our arsenal that we can use to keep parasite numbers in check. If you missed Part I, go back one episode and have a listen to get to know the enemies.
In this episode, I'm going to break down the families of anthelminthic drugs ("chemical" dewormers), talk about copper oxide wire particles, and nematode entrapping fungi.
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Many people have asked, and here it comes- Gastrointestinal Parasites in Goats.
This episode is Part 1 of what is planned to be a 4 part series, and we are going to get to know the enemy. In order to have a plan to manage GI parasites, it is vital to know which ones you're dealing with and know about their life cycles and survival strategies. In this episode, I break down the major GI parasites- HOT Complex (Hemonchus, Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus), Cestodes (tapeworms), and Nematodirus.
The rest of the series to follow:
Part 2: Knowing your Weapons
Part 3: Strategies for Diagnosis, Prevention, Treatment
Part 4: Perils & Pitfalls (AKA Please don't do that)
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Making up for missing a week with an extra long episode talking about our stinky boys- the bucks!
I looooove my bucks. In this episode I talk about keeping bucks and focus on reproductive aspects of health and selection of breeding animals and about the goal to #buildabettergoat. We're going to talk about a lot of reproductive organs and this episode talks about goat sex, so if that's not your scene, maybe sit this one out. ;)
If you love your bucks as much as I do, post them on instagram and tag me (@goat_doc) and hashtag #showmeyourbucks.
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The final part of my series talking about pain awareness for September's Animal Pain Awareness Month, and I'm getting into a kind of nebulous discussion about the legal differences in how different countries regulate animal welfare, which can have to do with how we are aware of pain in animals, especially our livestock species. The United States, where I live and practice veterinary medicine, is pretty lackadaisical about animal welfare regulations as pertaining to livestock, especially as compared to other countries.
In this episode, I talk about the differences in these laws, regulations and requirements between different countries, what that means for how we handle some management areas in our livestock species, what I have experienced as a vet as far as people's willingness to prevent pain and improve the welfare of their own animals, and what I hope that might mean for revisiting our animal welfare principles as a country in the future.
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So... I can apparently talk about pain and what we can do about pain in animals for a few minutes... This episode is Part 2 of what looks like is going to be a 3 parter for Animal Pain Awareness Month. In this episode, I largely focus on what we've got in our human medical bag to combat pain in our non-human species. As with the first pain awareness episode, I do talk a bit about other species besides goats, but largely this episode focuses on three major categories of drugs we have to prevent and/or decrease pain, and why some of them are more appropriate for goats than others.
There is going to be one more pain awareness episode coming your way next week!
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Recent thoughts and experiences about the past month or so which was our first month as owners of a gigantic old farm house that needs tons of work to become a goat dairy.
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September is Animal Pain Awareness month! Animal Pain Awareness Month was established by the IVAPM (International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management) to coincide with the human medicine Pain Awareness Month, with the goal of educating animal owners about the signs of pain and what we can do to help our animal companions have an improved quality of life with the use of different modalities of pain therapy.
Pain management is a particular area of interest for me in all of the species I see as patients. Pain management in livestock and food animals in particular is challenging, but there is compelling evidence that mediating pain has physical and physiological benefits as well as just being nicer for the animals!
There will be at least one more episode about pain awareness this month. This episode focuses on what pain is, recognizing pain in different animals, and why we should care about mediating pain in our food animal patients. While I do talk about different species of animals in this episode, as usual, the focus is goats and how this affects them!
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A few more thoughts about the rumen and how goat kids do that.
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As previously mentioned, this is going to be one of those episodes where I'm going to talk about what all has been going on on our farm for the past year. This episode was originally recorded on July 17, 2019, so it's a bit back dated, and I recorded this on the day that we found out about the financing for the purchase of the new farm.
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This episode is dedicated to the amazing organ that our goats, cows, sheep and other ruminants are named for - the rumen. In this episode, I break down, what all is going on in goat guts, why ruminants are so special, and the general anatomy and physiology of the ruminant. The rumen is AMAZING.
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Just a quick thing to say hi and where I've been and what is going to be coming your way! Thanks much for listening!
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No hoof no horse, no tooth no goat. I think I just made that up, but it should be a thing.
In this episode I talk about goat teeth, general dental anatomy of goats and ruminants, what kinds of dental issues I see in goats and what I do about them.
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What is the Veterinarian Client Patient Relationship?
I talk about it at the beginning of every single podcast, and I think that vets in general are kind of bad at talking about the VCPR and what it is and why it's important. A VCPR helps me help you. A VCPR involves trust and responsibility on both the client side and the vet side. In this episode, I discuss the AVMA definition of a VCPR, what that means to me, what that means about the reality of vet med and my ability to help you and your animal. I also touch on what you should think about and be aware of as a client establishing a VCPR with a vet.
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Part 2 to mostly wrap up the email inbox of questions...
Topics in this episode include: ticks and goats, minerals and baking soda, goat butter, recommendations for starting a goat dairy, mosquitos, buck behavior, and tying goats up.
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Listener questions have been coming in and I haven't had time to site down at my computer to answer them! This Episode is Part 1 of listener questions going back to March... eeek... sorry guys!
Topics in this episode- goat vision/visual acuity, barn/stall bedding and cleaning, sedating goats for things, fecal floats.
Come on back for part 2 in a few days!
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This episode is a little bit of a departure from your normal goat owner oriented topic and delves into the problem of feral goats in several locations in particular in the world. Check out the show notes at www.goatdoc.com for links to the other podcasts and other things I refer to in this episode.
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Episode 27 marks the One Year Anniversary of Goat Talk with the Goat Doc! Thanks everyone for listening and your feedback and interaction with me on this project!
This episode is a topic that I've been mulling over in my head for a while: What Things I Think That Goat Owners Should Have on Hand. I've probably missed some things, but shoot me an email or hit me up on instagram and let me know!
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For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
We are wrapping up our week of mini podcast episodes today with our best Goat ProTips.
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
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For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
We had a request today to talk more about raw milk, so in this mini-sode we share some of our thoughts about raw milk.
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc.
Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goatdoc.
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For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
Today's minis ode answers several questions that are not related to each other except that they have to do with goats!
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc.
Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goatdoc.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
Today's question was to address organic vs conventional dairy farming practices and whether we think organic certification is worth it.
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
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Halfway through National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019!
In this mini-sode we talk about the goat dairy industry in general and in Maine specifically.
For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc.
Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goatdoc.
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We're in the truck for Mini Episode #3 and talking about copper, minerals and kelp!
For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc.
Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goatdoc.
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National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019 Mini Episode 2! Resources for getting started with dairy goats and our favorite things for udder prep.
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!
For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram! #NDGAW2019
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/goatdoc.
Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goatdoc.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For National Dairy Goat Awareness Week 2019, I hijacked my husband Devin (herd manager, cheesemaker and all around driving force behind our farm, Flying Goat Farm), and had him sit down with me to record some mini episodes to answer your dairy goat related questions from instagram!
In this mini-sode, we talk about our favorite dairy goat breeds.
We are going to try to post one mini-sode every day this week, #NDGAW2019
Enjoy listening to an old married couple discuss one of our favorite topics - Goats!!!
(PS the name of the dairy breed that I couldn't remember towards the end of the episode is the Damascus goat)
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I forgot to talk about a couple of things about horns! So here they are!
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Goats have horns. Humans keeping goats may choose to prevent horns from growing or let them be.
In this episode I talk about horns in general, and different ways they may be removed or prevented from growing, and my personal preferences for horns in my own animals.
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Urolithiasis = formation of stones in the urinary bladder.
All kind of animals can make urinary stones. For goats, particularly castrated male goats, this can cause a problem when the crystals or stones block the way for the urine to get out. This episode gets into the physiology of why and how urinary calculi form, why it's a problem for goats in particular, what to look for if you think this is happening to your goat, and what treatment and prevention look like.
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I finally got brave enough to open the can of worms that is Selenium.
In this episode, I get into the chemistry and biochemistry of Selenium, what the body needs it for, where the body should get it from, what happens when there isn't enough, what happens when there's too much, etc. Strap in everyone, this is a long episode.
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When I said that I don't get excited about the placenta in Episode 21, that was totally a lie.
Placenta is crazy. Learn all about this amazing temporary organ in this episode.
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AKA: Things That Are Normal for Neonatal Goat Kids That People Freak Out About But Are Not Really Anything to Worry About.
Kidding season has officially arrived at my place and it reminded me about the little funny things that can seem to be "wrong" with fresh goat kids and can cause people to freak out, when these things are actually normal and not anything to worry about.
Questions about neonatal goat kid poop and joints are very common, and what I talk about in this quick episode.
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Following up on Episode 19, Care of the Pregnant Doe, this episode includes some of my "kidding pro tips," a discussion about the stages of labor and what those look like in goats, and things that I do and don't worry about in these animals.
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Just a quick episode to check in and answer a couple of email questions from listeners!
Thanks so much for listening and your questions!
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Making babies is hard work. In this episode I talk about considerations for feeding and care for your doe from shortly after breeding up through the later stages of pregnancy.
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Brrr it's chilly up in Maine!
In this episode I talk about what you can do to help your goats and other livestock critters handle the chilly temperatures we see in New England winters.
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Even though I said episode 16, it's really number 17, and it's time to talk about pregnancy detection. This time of year, I need to set aside time to run my does through the milk parlor and verify how many are bred. There are other methods of pregnancy detection if you don't have an ultrasound or a vet that can check with one and I'm going to talk about the different options for pregnancy detection in this episode. These does can be sneaky!
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I'm still alive and I didn't drop off the face of the earth!
Just a quick blurb to say Happy New Year and thanks to everyone who has listened this year and people who continue to listen even though I've been a slacker at podcasting and completely absorbed by other life stuff. I hope to be back to better podcasting regularity as we start 2019!
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Brain worm!
Parelaphostrongylus tenuis aka meningeal worm aka brain worm is a problem for small ruminants, camelids and cervids in areas where there is a white tailed deer population. These weird worms do not have negative effects on their normal definitive hosts, white tailed deer, but when they get lost trying to complete their lifecycles in other species, they cause issues.
In this episode, I talk about what P teuis does, why it causes issues, what the issues look like, how I tend to treat clinical cases, and what can be done for prevention.
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Recording this story to remember to include it when I write a memoir or something someday.
The story of delivering a bunch of my does to western PA.
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I love it when people think carefully about what they are doing before they purchase and take responsibility for any type of animal. In this episode, I discuss a listener email with questions about what to think about when establishing a new goat herd. I go off on some tangents about how I got into the goat world, some analogies to dogs and puppies, priorities and pros and cons of different ways to get goats and what to look for.
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I finally finished my breeding plan! To celebrate, I spend an hour in my truck talking about Advanced Reproductive Techniques (mostly AI) in small ruminants (but mostly goats.)
This episode builds on what I talked about in the last episode about the hormonal influences of normal goat reproductive cycles and how we use that to build a better goat via ARTs (advanced reproductive techniques) including Artificial Insemination (AI), and a little bit about ET (Embryo Transfer), what are considerations for AI, why AI breeding is somewhat more challenging than live cover, and what my own process is for AI in my herd, and some other stuff thrown in there as well.
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It's that time of year when I'm just waiting to wake up to the sounds of hormonal does screaming outside my window.
In this episode, I talk about basics of the goat estrus cycle, timing and breeding, and quite a bit about the hormones and physiology that's going on with the whole thing. And I get on a soap box for a minute to talk about thinking about why we do all this breeding goats stuff in the first place.
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Vaccines are designed to prevent disease, so what preventative vaccinations should your goats have? Which vaccines should all goats have and which ones should only some goats have and why? Core vaccines and risk based vaccines- what is that about, which are which, who should get vaccinated and when and why? So much conflicting information is out in the world about all kinds of vaccinations, so I'm going to try to break down what we can do for our goats in this episode!
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Sometimes those testicles have to come off.
In this episode (which is, in fact, Episode 10, even though my brain to mouth connection misfired and said 7...), I'm going to discuss the different methods for castrating small ruminants, focusing on goats, what age you should think about castrating, how your vet can help make this a less unpleasant endeavor for everyone, and some other considerations related to the topic.
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Goat skin is different from goatskin. Dealing with skin stuff while the skin is still on the goat is the topic of this episode.
This episode talks about external parasite (lice, mites, fleas, ticks), a little bit about Orf (aka Soremouth), zinc responsive dermatoses (and my pet theory about well water's role in that skin condition), and touch on the "zebras," skin cancers, and non-healing lesions, and what to do with those (hint: call the vet, but I'll explain why).
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A quick episode to answer a couple of emails I have received over the last few weeks. And say thanks to everyone who is tuning in! :)
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What do I feed this goat kid? How do I feed this goat kid? When do I wean this goat kid?
In this episode I provide an overview of goat kid nutrition and recommendations, largely based on my own experience raising probably close to hundreds of goat kids over the last ten years. I have been surprised in clinical practice by the problems with inadequate nutrition and misunderstandings and misinformation about what adequate nutrition consists of for young and growing animals.
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Are you creeped out by eyeballs? I’m not – eyes are totally cool!
In this episode I go over some common eye problems in kids and adult goats and what I do to fix them. Usually these things look really scary, but, in my experience, goats can heal their eyes from some really crazy looking stuff.
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Recording on the road because that's where I spend my life.
A few different topics in this episode:
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Help me help you! In this episode, I go over how to efficiently and effectively tell me (or your own primary vet) about your goat's problem on the phone.
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A little departure from your regularly scheduled goat educational podcast- telling a kind of ridiculous story about what happened on the road last week....
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What is permanent identification and why should you have it for your goats? In this episode I get on my soapbox for a couple minutes about why permanent identification is important for livestock owners and veterinarians (hint- it's not because vets are trying to be a pain), and then over some options that are available for goats for legal permanent USDA approved identification.
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First episode ever and we’re gonna talk about poop! There is a LOT of advice, some good and some terrible about diarrhea in goat kids available on the internet! I’m going to break down some common causes of diarrhea in kids, what to do, and when to worry.
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