OBJECTIVE Purpose was to determine the effects of grazing system and floor type on concentrations of blood metabolites, activity of creatine kinase, body weight and carcass characteristics of castrated Nguni goats. METHODS Forty eight, 7 month old goats were randomly allocated to herding and tethering treatments from 0800 to 1300 hours and accommodated on slatted and earth floors daily. Blood...

Abortions and the economic losses they bring about is an important issue in sheep and goat husbandary. Despite many studies conducted on sheep and goats, the underlying reasons behind abortions could not be identified. In the present study, the role of immunologic factors in abortions seen among sheep and goats has been evaluated. The frequencies of anti-sperm antibodies (ASA), anti-zona pelluc...

This study was conducted to determine the electrophoretic pattern of serum protein in goats infected withBabesia ovis. Serum total protein was calculated and serum electrophoresis from 15 goats naturally infectedwith B. ovis as well as same number of healthy goats was performed. Microscopic examination of Giemsastained peripheral blood smears revealed B. ovis infection. The parasitological diag...

ba ck gr ou nd CBPP is a severe respiratory disease of cattle and buffalo caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides biotype Small Colony (MmmSC). The agent of CBPP was recently isolated from goats at different times and places, even in areas free of CBPP. Thereby, goats should be considered a putative MmmSC reservoir. No test has been proposed so far for surveillance of CBPP in goats. Furth...

A grazing trial in Central Otago compared the effectiveness of feral goats, Angora goats and Merino sheep for sweet brier control. The three ammal types were set stocked in replicate 0.5 ha paddocks at 10 Angoras, 14 ferals and 12 Merinos per ha. Goats were also rotationally grazed on a 50 ha block at approximately 10 goats per ha. Goat grazing reduced living brie, in the trial paddocks to negl...

Among all the transgenic mammalians produced so far, goats have represented an excellent model of transgenesis when considering the factors such as the market demand for protein, volume of milk produced per lactation and reproductive rate. Various recombinant proteins have been obtained from the transgenic and non-transgenic goats, and among these, human antithrombin, produced by the transgenic...

Goats are economically important in many countries, and little is known of caprine toxoplasmosis in Brazil. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were assayed in the sera of 143 goats from 3 Brazilian states, using modified agglutination test (MAT titer > or = 1:25); 46 (32.2%) tested positive. Samples of brain, heart, diaphragm, and masseter of seropositive animals were pooled, digested in pepsin, a...

A trial was carried out to investigate the possible role of Ostertagia circumcincta, coccidiosis and level of protein in the diet in the development of swelling disease in Angora goat kids. Eighty Angora goat kids were bought from 5 producers whose flocks had a history of swelling disease. These kids were kept in enclosures at Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute near Middelburg (Eas...

BACKGROUND In ruminants, lower ruminal pH causes massive disruption of ruminal epithelial structure during periods of feeding high-concentrate diets. However, the influence of excessive organic fatty acids in the lumen of hindgut on the epithelial structure is unclear. In this study, twelve mid-lactating goats were randomly assigned to either a HC diet group (65% concentrate of dry matter; n = ...

BACKGROUND Pregnancy toxaemia (PT) is a disease that affects pregnant goats during their last month of gestation and is characterized by a high case fatality rate. This study involved 32 does maintained on a commercial dairy goat farm that were diagnosed with PT. A physical examination was performed on and haematology parameters obtained from each doe, at the time of diagnosis. The data from th...