October 2013 A Message from the Chairperson! Hello Members, Well Spring has finally arrived and with it warmer weather, green feed and kids on the ground. Unfortunately Mother Nature has been as unpredictable as usual with parts of New South Wales suffering from extreme unseasonal heat and bushfires. Our thoughts and sympathy are extended to any families who may be affected. The new Board is now in full operation and Portfolio Aims and Objectives are listed below as well as the Directors responsible for each Portfolio. Most State Branches have held their Annual General Meetings and elected their State Branch representatives. State Branch representatives have now been updated to the website, with the exception of Victoria which has its AGM in November. The new contact person for the Newsletter is listed below. This list will be updated in the December Newsletter after the Victorian Branch AGM. With Spring, the Show circuit has also begun with results from shows in South Australia, Victoria and News South Wales published. Because of space, only broad ribbon winners are listed with full results on the website. Memberships should now have been paid for the 2013/2014 financial year. To make sure you don’t miss out on a copy of future Newsletters, please ensure your email or mailing address is current and up to date. Any changes in your details should be forwarded to Barb O’Shea (02) 6773 5177 [email protected]We hope everyone has a successful kidding with the majority being big healthy twins! Vicki Mitchell, Chairperson. BOER GOAT BREEDERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2013 Inside this Issue Chairperson’s Message P1 Newsletter Contacts P2 Portfolio Aims and Objectives P2-6 What’s Involved in Kidding P7-10 Cleft Palette P11-12 Around the Show Circuit P13-22 BGBAA Merchandise sale P23 Ask a Judge P24-27 Joint Ill P28 Newsletter dates P28 A Goat Idiom P29 Website and Newsletter Advertising P29 Additional Snippets P30 An old Yiddish proverb to remember……. Don’t approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back or a fool from any side…….
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Page 1 October 2013
A Message from the Chairperson!
Hello Members, Well Spring has finally arrived and with it warmer weather, green feed and kids on the ground. Unfortunately Mother Nature has been as unpredictable as usual with parts of New South Wales suffering from extreme unseasonal heat and bushfires. Our thoughts and sympathy are extended to any families who may be affected. The new Board is now in full operation and Portfolio Aims and Objectives are listed below as well as the Directors responsible for each Portfolio. Most State Branches have held their Annual General Meetings and elected their State Branch representatives. State Branch representatives have now been updated to the website, with the exception of Victoria which has its AGM in November. The new contact person for the Newsletter is listed below. This list will be updated in the December Newsletter after the Victorian Branch AGM. With Spring, the Show circuit has also begun with results from shows in South Australia, Victoria and News South Wales published. Because of space, only broad ribbon winners are listed with full results on the website.
Memberships should now have been paid for the 2013/2014 financial year. To make sure you don’t miss out on a copy of future Newsletters, please ensure your email or mailing address is current and up to date. Any changes in your details should be forwarded to Barb O’Shea (02) 6773 5177 [email protected] We hope everyone has a successful kidding with the majority being big healthy twins! Vicki Mitchell, Chairperson.
Please contact any of the following Portfolio representatives with photos, articles, events to be published in the Newsletters. Your input is appreciated!
Editors Note: Any text to web sites which is blue and underlined is a hyperlink. When clicked within this PDF
file it will automatically go to that website.
We are primarily a stud association but we must be able to offer a commercial reality with our stock, whether for seed stock, domestic meat or export sales.
Projects must be relevant and up to date. Grass roots events at State Branch level for
encouraging and offering support to newcomers in the industry is essential. Input from Branch committee members is needed for future training and courses to be offered.
BREED DEVELOPMENT Portfolio:
stud-related issues such as breed standards, register;
judges training, ring stewards & breeder workshop guidelines for inclusion in procedure manual;
shows/showing, update of judges register;
state based breeder workshops including husbandry basics for newcomers to industry;
classification & classifying of animals & training for potential assessors;
seed stock; commercial animals; development of hoof & hook; the future and improvement of the
breed.
Breed Development Portfolio Vicki Mitchell (Assisted by Thomas Youlden) Phone: (03) 5829 0693 Mobile: 0427 290 693 Email: [email protected]
increase the membership base of the Association which, in turn, increases income;
encourage breeders to advertise and promote their businesses through the Association resources;
assist in continuing to provide a freer flow of information between the members and the Board;
act as a main point of contact on the Board for membership-related issues.
This portfolio will cross closely with a number
of the other portfolios. In conjunction with
the others, the objectives are to:
Membership assess and review membership categories,
pre-requisites, joining instructions, etc; assess and review the information
membership “pack” to be sent to all new members;
encourage ex-members to rejoin through an incentive program;
ensure that current members are content with the operation of the Association and if they have suggestions for improvement;
grow the membership base through
incentives; encourage international members which
would increase the membership base and international awareness. Liaise with international associations to see if there is common ground and the ability to share information and support each other.
Marketing & Promotion evaluate various marketing options
currently available within BGBAA (such as website, e-mail outs, etc). Assess them and see if there is room for improvement;
provide other options for breeders which should generate income.
Member Compliance assist in assessing and reviewing
Association Regulations, Ethics etc to ensure they are updated, workable, readily available on the website, and that members are aware of them;
ensure breeders are aware of current identification options, and ensure guidelines are clear enough to follow;
oversee the maintenance of the database on an ongoing basis;
continue with the Members Tribunal, assess and review processes to ensure that the Tribunal continues to operate in a fair and equitable manner for members.
The aim of this Portfolio is to oversee the finances of the Association and ensure accountability and transparency. A preliminary budget for 2013/14 has already
been completed and distributed to Directors for comment and the budget will updated to reflect new projects to be undertaken within the Portfolios.
Membership Relations Portfolio Emma Cabot (Assisted by Judith D’Aloisio) Mobile: 0402 578 004 Email: [email protected]
Kidding is occurring here in Yea with its usual joy and pain. We have had to move all animals closer to home to kid after we lost a set of triplets in one night, forty eight hours old, mum never leaving their side, two alpacas and one maremma as guardians. A forty acre paddock with plenty of feed and natural protection under trees is suddenly too big. Checking the stable daily where they have shelter closer to home, we found a day old buck not looking too good. We brought him back to the house and tried him on a bottle as he was a large kid and not comatose but unable to stand. He took to the teat straight away but seemed to be having trouble getting anywhere despite vigorous sucking. Having a closer look at his palette by torch light we saw that the roof of his mouth was not closed over, he had a cleft palette. This has only been the second occurrence of this condition on our farm in thirteen years of raising kids. The first occurrence resulted in us putting the kid down. I “Googled” to see what information I could find and perhaps some miracle cure from other breeders. After research, we decided it was more humane to put the kid down as we had done with the first kid, no miracle cure unfortunately… The following extract is from an article I found which explains this condition further……. http://www.goatwisdom.com/ch1baby_care/cleft_palate.html
Cleft palate
This is a rare, congenital disorder of baby goats known as "palatoschisis"; but if you raise enough goats it is one that may occur in your herd. For this reason, it is a good idea to check every baby for this problem at birth. Upon careful examination of the roof of the mouth (forget about the technical termination), you will notice a thin slit toward the back. (Many thanks to Tonya O. for this great image!) Another thing to watch for is that this anomaly is sometimes accompanied by other congenital malformations (cleft lip, rigid limbs).
Symptoms
The first thing you will notice is milk dribbling from the nostrils after nursing. Occasionally, there will be some choking or snorting when they nurse. Later, respiratory infections may develop due to inhalation of milk or food.
Treatment
This is one of those situations where you need to make some quick judgments. Surgical repair can be performed at about 3 months by a skilled veterinarian, but this will be quite expensive. If you have an outlet for selling kids for meat consumption, then it may be possible to raise the kid for a few months. Definitely, NEVER keep the animal for breeding. If you want to try to raise it, remove it from
the mother and raise it on a bottle. This, of course, means that you will need to bottle feed colostrum right away. You can make a "prosthesis" out of thin rubber (like a bicycle tube) to attach to the bottle that will cover the slit in the roof of the mouth. It will take a little experimentation to make this all work, but it is possible. You probably should try to wean the kid at between one and two months of age. Some of these animals can handle hay and grain with little difficulty; others will snort and cough and get the food up into the air passages; these probably should be destroyed. We have raised hundreds of baby goats and have only had one instance of this ailment. Fortunately, we were able to raise it for meat purposes by the method above. It is up to you to make the initial hard decision as to whether or not to try; just be sure to make the decision early to avoid a lot of hardship on you and the baby.
The Rules of Man have NEVER
Applied to Goats!
Page 13 October 2013
AROUND THE SHOW CIRCUIT……………..
Full results for all shows are available on the National web site
www.australianboergoat.com.au
Royal Adelaide Show 7-15 September 2013 Judge: C Burnett-Smith, Qld
Dear Ask A Judge, I was wondering if there might be any diagrams (like the teats diagram) that shows ideal teeth/mouth, acceptable teeth/mouth and fault teeth/mouth as well as age. I am trying to work through our herd checking their mouths and am not 100% sure on the degree of alignment. Wondering Dear Wondering, It’s very hard to get good diagrams unless you happen to be a graphic artist but when you check mouths/jaws, you are looking for correct placement of teeth and alignment of jaw. Going by the breed standards, it says the ideal should be a strong well formed mouth with well fitted jaws. A strong curved lower jaw rising to meet the upper jaw is ideal. Up to 6 tooth must show a perfect bite (about 3 years old). Eight tooth in age and older may show a 6mm protrusion of the lower jaw. This is roughly about the thickness of a pencil. Permanent teeth must cut in the correct anatomical place and order. To the right is a scan from the South African Breeds Standards which gives photos of teeth at different ages. When you check your teeth & jaws on young ones, feel the base of teeth on jaw bone, if they are coming out straight from there – ok. Sometimes milk teeth appear to be over prior to cutting into 2 teeth. If you look from side view, you can usually see an undershot jaw, particularly if the muzzle is narrow and pointy. Hope this helps regards,
Vicki Mitchell Level 3 Judge.
More on Jaws in December issue!!!
Page 25 October 2013
Scan to the left from South African Breed Standards
Article above from Boer Briefs January 2009, Issue55
Page 26 October 2013
ASK A JUDGE (2)
Dear Ask A Judge, I am new to the industry and I don’t know where or how to put tags in my goats ears. Could you please explain? Tagged out Dear Tagged Out, You will find the following to be a simple explanation. It is also published on the National website. There is also a more detailed article on how to tag and tattoo your animals on the website at: http://www.australianboergoat.com.au/article.php?aid=30 If you have any questions you should contact a breeder near you for advice. Breeders can be found in the members Listing on the website, click on your state.
Vicki Mitchell Level 3 Judge.
How to tag my goats: What tags do I use? There are a number of tag companies that make tags for goats. The most preferred are the small stud range that is suitable for goats, deer and sheep. Avoid using large cattle tags as they are too large for goat’s ears and tend to rip out of the ear more readily. Also avoid using the small wraparound type that are commonly used on sheep as ears can be prone to ear infections For info regarding tag types for 2 piece goat tags, look at suggested websites: http://www.allflex.com.au http://www.leaderproducts.com.au/ http://www.aaatags.com/ http://www.zeetags.com.au/ Have easy to read tags. The easiest tags to read have black print on white, yellow or orange tags. The hardest tags to read have hand printing on black, purple, brown, red or dark blue tags. Tags collect dirt and make darker tags harder still to read. Stud tags do not have to be in a particular year colour. Some tag company require a minimum order for tags to be supplied. Printed tags don’t fade as quickly as hand written tags. Order different colour backs for easy year identification Make sure the applicator fits your brand of tags
Where to tag: The best place for tagging is in the centre of the ear about two thirds of the way up from the end. If you turn the ear over you will see veins running down the ear, it is advisable to tag in the centre between the veins. Also consider spraying the ear with methylates spirits to prevent scabbing and ear infections after tagging. Use logical numbers: Tag numbers should follow logical and sensible orders. Use numbering systems that suit your stud setup. You may use different colours to represent different breeding of goats or years, but decide and stick to a system.
Year A Yellow tags 001 to 050
Year B Red tags 051 to 100
Year C Blue tags 151 to 200
Or an alternative system might be: Bucks green tags 001 to 050 Does orange tags 051 to 100
Year codes & colours (Note there is no code “I” as this is too similar to number 1)
YEAR CODE COLOUR
2012 H Purple
2013 J Yellow
2014 K Red
2015 L Blue
2016 M Black /pink*
2017 N White
2018 P Orange
2019 Q Green
2020 R Purple
*Pink is preferred due to the majority of printing is black which can't be seen on black tags. There is more information on the BGBAA website about tagging and tattooing.
Page 28 October 2013
JOINT ILL IN KIDS Joint ill is defined as more than one infected joint in a young animal within weeks of birth. A temperature may or may not be present and also there may or may not be swelling at the naval cord area (umbilicus). Often the kid continues to eat and drink but can show signs of joint pain and joint swelling. When goats are kept extensively and give birth on green grass or especially planted grazing crops, they are less likely for their kids to develop joint ill. Normal umbilical cords should be dry and black before dropping off naturally. If pregnant goats are kept in confinement or sheds, it is essential they are placed on clean straw or bedding prior to giving birth. However does like to dig around in the bedding and hence can drop their kids on dirt and germs. These germs than then easily gain entry into the kids blood stream and eventually end up in the kids joints. Early vigorous veterinary treatment with antibiotics that get into the joints, plus pain relief is needed. Sterile joint lavage by a vet to flush out infected joints is sometimes tried. As with most diseases prevention is best.
Preventing Joint Ill in kids The umbilicus cord in the kid has a vein and artery within it and this leads directly to the kids blood supply as shown in the photo on the left. For this reason kids born in intensive situations must have their cords dipped in strong Lugol’s iodine or other disinfectant e.g. neat teat dip. Keep a small bottle or spray handy and treat the cord every time the kid is handled. Ensuring kids get a good drink of disease free colostrum is also essential for preventing joint ill. The colostrum from the first milking is the thickest and richest in antibodies that will help protect from all infections. Also the first drink by the kid after birth is the best as the gut absorbs more antibodies at this time and less at the second and less again at subsequent feeds. Keep some excess disease free colostrum in your freezer for kids that may need it. “This article was originally written by Dr Sandra Baxendell for the autumn 2013 e-newsletter, available for free
download from www.goatvetoz.com.au”
NOTE FROM EDITOR: This site offers excellent information and it is recommended that members subscribe
to the Newsletter as well as peruse the site on a regular basis..
BGBAA NEWSLETTER PUBLICATION DATES AND DEADLINES 2013
PUBLICATION DATE DEADLINE
Friday, December 20, 2013 Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Example: People in cars often provide hand signals to communicate their dissatisfaction with your driving. They are trying to get your goat, so just smile and wave. Origin: This may be a mispronunciation of get your goad. A goad is a pointed rod used to urge on livestock. A modern equivalent of a goad is the cattle prod. To goad is to stimulate into action. The phrase
goad you on comes to mind. To get your goat (goad) then is to be successful in stimulating a response. Alternative 1: The word gut down through the years was altered to goat. When something gets your gut, it upsets you and ties your stomach in knots. Alternative 2: Hyperactive racehorses were often given goats as stablemates because their presence tended to have a calming effect on the horses. After the horse became attached to the goat, it got very upset when its companion disappeared - making it run poorly on the track. In the 19th century, when a devious gambler wanted a horse to lose, he would get the horse's goat and take it away the night before the race, thus agitating the horse. http://www.english-for-
students.com/Get.html#chitika_close_button
WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING
The following chart lists the options for advertising in the Newsletter or the website. Prices include GST. A form is available on the website at the following link: http://www.australianboergoat.com.au/forms.php Any advertising can be forwarded to [email protected] (03)57973232. Members can login to the website and upload Classifieds in the Members Area. There is no charge for State Branches to advertise. A mail out to members can be done through ABRI, contact Barb O’Shea [email protected] Cost is $75 for members, $110 for non-members.
MEMBER OF BGBAA NON MEMBER OF BGBAA
ADVERTISING TYPES & COSTS Please complete details below Please complete details below Website – Classifieds For Sale
ADDITIONAL SNIPPETS…………….. NEW!!!!! THE NEW SOUTH WALES WEB SITE IS UP AND RUNNING!!!!! Check out their website at: http://www.nswboergoats.com.au/
Congratulations to the Committee on a great site!
UPCOMING SHOWS…
NSW STATE SHOW IN CONJUNCTION WITH QUEANBEYAN SHOW SOCIETY, November 9-10, 2013
Visit the NSW site for more information and planned workshops with the Judge Johann Strauss (SA
Boer Goat Association) which will follow after the Show.
http://www.nswboergoats.com.au/shows.html
Visit the National website for details of other shows…
Disclaimer: The articles contained herein are individual views and ideas, not necessarily those of the BGBAA Board or members. Where any suggestions are made with respect to health issues, it is advised
