08/25/2026
Good biosecurity isn’t just about responding when an animal looks sick. Our goats may look healthy (and thankfully, they are!) but some diseases can be present long before an animal shows obvious signs. That’s why repeat testing is an important part of our annual herd management.
Some diseases that can affect goats, including CAE, CL, Johne’s disease, Brucellosis and Q-Fever, can be present without obvious symptoms. Regular testing gives us a chance to monitor the health of the animals we’re building our breeding program around and catch potential concerns before they become bigger herd-wide problems.
For us, late summer is a natural time to do it... Before the breeding season, we can take a step back and evaluate our herd. As we continue building our herd and working toward bringing our old dairy facilities back into production, we want to establish good habits now vs. when the herd is larger and the stakes are higher.
Testing doesn’t guarantee that a herd will never have a disease challenge, and no test or biosecurity program can eliminate every risk. But routine screening and careful decisions about animals coming into the herd can all help us better understand and protect the herd we’re building.
We think of it a little like preventative maintenance on the farm. Sometimes good animal husbandry means checking what you can’t see.
