1. Health Sheep & Goat Toolbox
This presentation is primarily about keeping animals healthy and does not address specific diseases. We think producers need to consult a veterinarian for information on specific diseases (and of course, the treatment).

2. The best animals are. . . Healthy Well-Conformed Robust Alert
Bright eyed
Lively
Strong in structure
Deep bodied
Wide chested
Able to walk squarely on feet & legs
Along with being robust, alert, bright eyed and lively, healthy goats are shiny with a smooth coat and are free of abscesses.
Conformation is the way an animal is put together. They should be strong in structure, deep bodied, wide-chested, and able to walk squarely on all feet.
Of these traits, health is far more important for the productivity and longevity of the animal. So selecting healthy animals should take precedence over conformation. Still, it’s good to know what conformation to aim for and to select the better animals.

3. What to look for: In General: For does & ewes: Proper body condition
Lively appearance
Good coat or fleece
No abscesses
No limping
Well-balanced udders
Two functional teats
Proper body condition, liveliness, good shiny hair coat or healthy fleece are all indicators of good health and nutrition. If you DON”T see those signs, the animals may be wormy or just malnourished. Suspect worms. Abscesses (lumps) may be harmless or may be due to CL, caseous lymphadenitis, which is contagious and detrimental. Limping may indicate foot rot or foot scald. (also contagious and very difficult to eradicate).
Foot rot
Is a major economic problem for many sheep producers, it is also one disease that is totally preventable.
Diligent examination of potential stock additions and quarantining of new animals brought onto the farm will prevent the contamination of pastures and barns.
For a footrot infection to occur, two distinct types of bacteria must be present. One is common in soils but the other bacterium, Bacteroides nodosus, lives only on animals and does not survive in the soil for more than a few days.
If footrot does occur, resting an area for a couple of weeks will kill out the second bacterium, and then the pasture can be considered footrot-free.
This resting, coupled with treatment of infected animals, should get rid of the disease on a farm. However, some animals are chronic carriers of Bacteroides nodosus, and even with prolonged and repeated treatment, these animals will continue to infect pastures and other sheep. The only way to deal with these chronic carriers is to cull them from the flock.
For breeding stock, avoid animals with really small or really large teats. Avoid one-sided or too bulbous udders, or too many teats. A misshapen udder is often an indicator of previous mastitis; the animal may not be able to feed the next babies. Too many teats can confuse the offspring and result in death by starvation. Boers are known for having more teats and for having some abnormalities; opinions vary as to whether this is a problem or not.

4. What to look for: Teeth
Select animals with good teeth and a proper bite. You can determine an animal’s age by looking at its teeth. Just as “no hoof, no horse”, you could say, “no teeth, no sheep” (or goat)! They need good teeth to graze well and maintain health and body condition. These are approximate ages estimated by seeing tooth development.

5. Tips for keeping animals healthy
Prevention is key!
Provide adequate nutrition (pastures)
Observe animals daily
Provide sanitary conditions
Provide a low-stress environment
Cull chronically ill animals
Have a good working relationship with a veterinarian
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Preventive management is fundamental to maintaining health. Proper nutrition, sanitation, and ventilation, as well as timely vaccines, isolation of sick animals, and treatment or culling of problem animals, helps keep the herd in good health and reduces health care costs.
Check with a local veterinarian to get recommendations for a vaccination and health maintenance schedule for your goat herd. Because so few medications are approved for use in goats, it is imperative to work closely with a veterinarian who can advise you on proper drug use and withdrawal times. It is important to find a veterinarian who is compatible with you and with your management style, and who knows (or is willing to learn) about small ruminants. Contact the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners ( to find a vet in your area who works with sheep or goats (also camelids, such as alpacas). Producers may want to encourage their vet to join the Association for technical information and support, including an informative newsletter and a helpful network of colleagues.
Before buying an animal, learn as much as possible about sheep and goats and potential diseases. It is important to know what can or cannot be treated and the consequences of bringing diseases into a flock.
Keeping livestock as stress-free as possible keeps their immune systems functioning properly. A healthy immune system is the best disease preventive. Conversely, periods of stress, such as weaning or transporting, may trigger disease. Intensively managed livestock become calmer and tamer, and handling them calmly makes them easier to work with when things such as loading, vaccinating, or other tasks need to be done.

6. Body condition score 1 2 3 4 5
Keys to maintaining good body condition: proper nutrition and health.
Heavy-milking does and ewes will be thinner and this is not cause for concern. Body condition will vary throughout the year due to production stages and diet; the goal should be to maintain near a score of 3. Animals that are too fat or too thin may not breed or will have difficulty lambing or kidding or lactating. Other health problems can result from extremes of condition as well.
Goals for body condition are the same for sheep, but to assess condition you MUST handle the animals as the wool camouflages true condition.
Score 1 Very poor body condition
Deep cavity under tail and around tail head. Skin drawn tight over pelvis with no muscle tissue detectable in between.
No fatty tissue felt at loin. Pins, hooks, and short ribs can be seen; edges feel sharp.
Score 2 Poor body condition
Cavity around tail head is evident, but less prominent. No fatty tissue felt between skin and pelvis, but skin is supple.
Ends of short ribs are sharp to the touch, but individual ribs can no longer be seen. While bones are less prominent, they are still angular and can be easily distinguished by touch.
Score 3 Good body condition
Slight cavity lined with fatty tissue apparent at tail head. Area between pins has smoothed out.
Ends of short ribs can be felt with moderate pressure. Slight depression visible in loin area. Hooks and pins can be felt but have some covering of flesh. Hook, pin, and back bones appear smooth.
Score 4 Fatty body condition
Depression between pins and tail head filling in. Patches of fat apparent under the skin. Pelvis felt only with firm pressure.
Short ribs cannot be felt even with firm pressure. No depression visible in loin between backbone and hip bones. Back and area between hooks and pins appear flat.
Score 5 Grossly fatty body condition
Tail head buried in fatty tissue. Area between pins and tailbone rounded, skin distended. No part of pelvis felt, even with firm pressure.

7. Signs of poor health
Animals that are sick or in poor health will show some or all of the following signs:
Soft stool (this also happens naturally in spring with lush pasture)
Tail Down (goats)
Limping
Swollen Joints
Head Down
Laying down/resting more than usual/lagging behind the rest of the flock or herd
Decreased interest in food
Hunched stance, legs under body (see photo)
Rough hair coat
Losing condition; thin (with no cause, such as nursing kids)

8. Keep records!
Keep thorough health records including all illnesses and treatments.
Have a working relationship with a veterinarian
Keeping adequate records can help a veterinarian diagnose disease or illness by observing patterns (are the same type of illnesses recurring?). It is also imperative if you are going to sell animals as breeding stock or slaughter stock or milk, as withdrawal times must be noted and followed.
Keeping records also will help you understand which animals you should keep and which animals you should cull. Chronically ill animals should be culled.

9. Vaccinations Many Available Most Common is CD-T: Consult Veterinarian
Clostridium
Overeating Disease
Tetanus
Consult Veterinarian
In many areas, veterinarians recommend vaccinations for tetanus and enterotoxemia (overeating disease). Certain selenium-poor regions require the use of a selenium and vitamin injection several times a year. In other areas, additional vaccines or injections may be necessary for other diseases or deficiencies. Your veterinarian can help you set up a vaccination protocol that will protect your herd from some diseases that are problems in your area.

10. Parasites Primary Concern Signs of Parasitism:
Rough Hair Coat
Thin/Unthrifty
Bottle Jaw
Anemia
FAMACHA is a system for detecting anemia:
Internal parasite management, especially of Haemonchus contortus (barberpole worm, stomach worm), is a primary concern for the majority of sheep and goat producers. These parasites have become more difficult to manage because of developed resistance to nearly all available de-wormers.
The cost of internal parasite infection includes treatment expense, reduced animal weight gains, and even animal death.
These parasites are difficult to manage because on some farms they have developed resistance to all available commercial de-wormers. Resistance to de-wormers is now seen worldwide. Producers can no longer rely on drugs alone to control internal parasites. Rather, an integrated approach that relies on sustainable methods to manage internal parasites should be employed.
Signs of parasitism include:
Loss of condition
Rough hair coat
Scours, diarrhea
Bottle jaw
Pale mucous membranes (eyelids, gums), indicating anemia
Death
FAMACHA - FAMACHA© is a system for classifying animals into categories based upon level of anemia. This system identifies anemic animals on a 1 to 5 scale by examining the eyelids of sheep and goats. The system treats only animals that are anemic (a sign of parasitism). This reduces the use of dewormers, slows the development of resistant worms, and saves the producer money. Most importantly, it also allows the producer to select animals that are healthier. By breeding the healthiest animals and culling the weaker individuals, the flock or herd becomes stronger over time. FAMACHA© is only effective for the treatment of H. contortus. Producers must be trained by a veterinarian or other trained animal health professional in order to use FAMACHA©. However, this technique is simple to learn and quick and easy to use.
New (recently researched and implemented) methods of parasite control include: feeding copper oxide wire particles and using tannin containing forages such as Sericea lespedeza.
Always rotate pastures and avoid over-stocking and over-grazing to help avoid parasites
See ATTRA pubs on managing internal parasites. There is additional information in the parasite presentation in this Toolbox as well.

11. Hoof care Trim as needed Helps prevent hoof problems including footrot
Keeps animals sound & walking properly
regular foot-trimming helps prevent footrot and lameness. On some terrains, trimming won’t be necessary. Providing shingle-covered ramps or rough concrete slabs to climb on can help maintain hooves with minimal trimming. Animals on rich diets (dairy goats getting lots of supplement, for example) will tend to have more hoof growth and more need of trimming.
Try to provide dry areas to help hoof health; this can be a challenge during rainy seasons.
When trimming feet, use SHARP trimmers (rose pruners work well) and disinfect with bleach between animals to avoid spreading any bacteria.
Footrot is a contagious disease caused by the combination of two different bacteria, one of which cannot survive outside of the host for more than two weeks. The other is present in the environment. The infection is generally painful and is characterized by limping and signs of pockets of pus on the hoof. There is a strong, foul odor associated with footrot.

12. Hoof trimming
To treat footrot, first trim the feet so they are level and smooth (stop when you see pink in the sole, but remove loose bits from the side). Then soak the animal’s foot in a footbath containing zinc sulfate or copper sulfate or formaldehyde. Ideally, it should stand in the solution for five minutes and then move to a dry area. (The lot should include dry areas, because mud and moisture will aggravate footrot.)
Animals that do not respond to treatment should be culled. Many producers cull animals by sending them to the sale barn: one reason to avoid purchasing stock there.
Always observe animals with the herd before purchasing them, and do not buy any animals that limp. Quarantine all new animals for two weeks before putting them with your herd, and watch closely for signs of limping. Consult your veterinarian for assistance in treating footrot and other diseases.

13. How to prevent health problems
Provide low-stress environment and handling
Practice good management
Provide sanitary conditions
Vaccinate as recommended by veterinarian
Protect from predators
Provide good nutrition and plenty of forage
Observe animals daily
Cull animals that are chronically unhealthy
Sheep and goats can be very hardy animals if these principles are followed.

14. Resources Books Websites See ATTRA Small Ruminant Resource List
Infovets.com
Pipevet.com
Sheepandgoat.com
The Small Ruminant Resource List has several good books listed; note especially Thetfords and Raising Goats for Milk and Meat, the Heifer International book. Both include diagnostic charts and are very helpful and affordable. The Heifer International book includes an excellent chapter on health, and also includes great information on other aspects of production and marketing; it is geared to limited-resource operations and focuses on prevention of illness. Highly recommended. Rosalie Sinn and Paul Rudenberg authors.
These websites include articles that are very informative. Infovets and Pipestone also have a consultation service. They do not take the place of a local veterinarian but can certainly help with education of producers.

15. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is a nonprofit organization that helps people and communities. NCAT champions small-scale, sustainable and local solutions to reduce poverty, protect communities and promote natural resources. Since 1976, NCAT has weatherized houses, trained farmers, monitored energy use and demonstrated renewable technology. NCAT works on local and national projects that foster a healthy quality of life for everyone.