Thirty-eight domestic goats from an area of Ehrlichia chaffeensis endemicity were tested for antibodies reactive to E. chaffeensis and for E. chaffeensis-specific 16S rRNA gene fragments by an indirect fluorescent antibody test and a nested PCR assay, respectively. Twenty-eight of 38 (73.7%) goats had antibodies reactive to E. chaffeensis (>/=1:128), and 6 of 38 (15.8%) goats were positive by d...

The present study was conducted with a view to know the productive and reproductive performance of Jamunapari, Black Bengal and crossbred goats in Chittagong district during the period of May to December 2012. The data on productive and reproductive traits were collected from 324 goats as a whole. In the present study, the birth weight of Jamunapari goats was higher than other crosses. The adul...

AIM This study was planned to reveal the clinical signs and biochemical alterations in pregnancy toxemic goats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Blood samples were collected from 20 healthy pregnant and 45 pregnancy toxemic goats and analyzed biochemically. RESULTS The most significant clinical findings were observed in naturally affected goats with pregnancy toxemia included anorexia, recumbency, let...

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is an economically important pathogen of cattle worldwide. Infection of a pregnant animal may lead to persistent infection of the foetus and birth of a persistently infected (PI) calf that sheds the virus throughout its life. However, BVD viruses are not strictly species specific. BVDV has been isolated from many domesticated and wild ruminants. This is of pr...

The small and large intestine of 30 healthy Saanen goats were examined ultrasonographically using a 5.0 MHz-linear transducer. The goats were examined on the right side, from the eighth rib to the caudal aspect of the flank. The small and large intestine could be easily differentiated. The descending duodenum could be imaged in 19 goats, and the jejunum and ileum seen in all goats. The jejunum ...

Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE's) affecting sheep and goats. Susceptibility of goats to scrapie is influenced by polymorphisms of the prion protein gene (PRNP) of the host. Five polymorphisms are associated with reduced susceptibility to TSE's. In the study presented here caprine samples from a scrapie eradication program on...

Oestrus ovis (Diptera: Oestridae) causes an important cosmopolitan parasitosis of the nasal and sinusal cavities of sheep and goats called oestrosis. Our objective was to analyze the participation of erythrocytes in the antioxidant system in goats seropositive to O. ovis infection under field conditions. Fifty female goats naturally exposed to O. ovis infection from Baja California Sur, México,...

Thirty-eight young Alpine goats, 16.1 ( 0.370) kg body weight (BW), were reared at QuereÂtaro, Mexico, grazing on a semi-arid woody brush (Caducifolio espinoso) range land. The experimental goats (n ˆ 20) were pastured daily and supplemented with 200 g/day of a complex catalytic feed (CCF). It consisted of molasses (14±18%), urea (8±10%), salt (3± 4%), limestone (3±4%), cottonseed meal (13±18%)...

This study evaluated the usefulness of morphological characteristics to distinguish two important indigenous goat breeds in Nigeria. Fifteen morphometric traits were measured on West African Dwarf – WAD (n = 160) and Red Sokoto – RS (n = 142) goats that ranged in age of up to 19 months and were reared extensively in villages in southern and northern Nigeria. Univariate analysis revealed that th...

Calcium addition is necessary in order to balance the high phosphorus concentrations that are characteristic of high-concentrate ruminant diets. However, calcium sources differ in their bioavailability. Our objective was to determine apparent Ca and Mg absorption and retention in goats offered diets containing different sources of Ca. Spanish-Boer goats (n=18; 19.6 ± 1.88 kg) were stratified by...