[maddy]

Can someone explain to me about the CAE certificate.  I am abit confused by it (doesn't take much!)

I bought my 4 girls from a CAE certified herd.  Does this mean their offspring are automatically immune to CAE? 

If not, how often do you have to test.  What does this entail.

To ensure that my starter herd produce good quality kids and ensure a good herd for the future what further tests/certificates do you recommend. Thanks for any help. 

[plumseverywhere]

It means that the certificate covers the offspring until they are one year old.  They will need their first CAE test along with the rest of the herd at one year old and it needs to be done annually.


Most shows, breeders etc will not want you taking your goats there without certificated proof of whole herd negative status.  It entails a quick blood test by the vet who then send it off to a lab. There is a form on the BGS website that you can download and ask the vet to send along with the form so the results are presented universally.


In order to produce good quality kids, you are more likely to need a good vaccination/worming/dietry/socialisation programme than testing I think. We had one of ours tested for Johnnes (?sp) but only because she was poorly. CAE is the main one. Oh and make sure any billies you use are CAE tested too!

[Lesley Silvester]

If you don't have your own billy, you will probably need to get them tested before any breeder will let them anywhere near their billies.  I had never had mine done but needed to when I wanted to send them to stud.