Herd Health is very important to us here on the farm. With so many animals we take very seriously their health and happiness.  We have what could be described as a holistic viewpoint of animal health.  We believe in a natural and holistic approach to health.  Using natural methods as well as alternatives we may do some things unconventionally, but are not shy to bring in the big guns of western medicine when needed.  An animal should be seen as a unified body where the immune system is supported in a way to ward off most illnesses.  That being said, we think it is inhumane to withhold medicines or treatments that could save an animal's life or relieve its suffering. Again, we want to look at the whole animal and use a multitude of approaches- thus holistic. 

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In general we are a low or no vaccine home and farm.  This is our philosophy and you do not need to agree but know that you may be buying an animal that is unvaccinated.  Please inquire as we do do some vaccines depending on the type and animal. We test yearly our goat herd for CAE and bi-yearly additionally for CL and Johnnes.  We feed our baby goats raw milk straight from the mothers, comingled- but only from those mothers who have tested negative for CAE.  Any milk from goats whose status is unknown is tossed, until we get test results back.  We do not worm our goats habitually, but rather, as needed.  This is the current best practices as recommended by vets but really we have been doing that long before. We have bred our goats for worm resistance over the years and while some may show symptoms each year it is very few and rare.

 

Our puppies are indeed wormed, and given their first round of vaccines.  Since we have not bred specifically for resistance over many generations like our goats we cannot assure that our puppies have enough natural resistance in them. We vaccinate the puppies ourselves here on the farm and send them to their new home with a complete record.

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Our cows in general are left alone in their pastures.  When castrating bulls we will also give a tetanus shot and any cows going off the property to shows will be Bangs vaccinated and tagged according to protocol.

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If you would like to further discuss our health management systems with us we would be pleased to do so.