Goat producers need to understand the difference between giving a vaccine/TOXOID and giving ANTITOXIN. A vaccine such as the CD/T TOXOID or the Tetanus TOXOID is very different than the C&D ANTITOXIN or Tetanus ANTITOXIN. The vaccine/TOXOID stimulates an immune response in the goat's body, whereas the ANTITOXIN goes directly to work neutralizing a toxin.
A vaccine stimulates the goat's body to produce an immunity to a certain organism. When you see TOXOID, think AVOID. A goat is not capable of producing adequate immunity until the goat is at least 3 months old. Giving a kid a vaccine before that age has limited effect because the kid's system is not developed enough to use that stimulation to create an immune response. It's like asking a 5th grader to do geometry. He will be able to calculate the area of a rectangle, but not be able to determine the area of a polygon if his life depended on it. So, the goat kid can get a rudimentary immunity from a vaccine, but cannot go to war with an organizm when his life depends on it, unless the vaccine is given after he is 3 months old.
Does that mean a kid under
3 months old is defenseless? No.
A kid gets some immunity by drinking his mother's colostrum. I vaccinate my does about 30 days before kidding to boost the immunity in their colostrum. This should give my kids a head start in the immunity game. As that immunity is wearing off, the healthy kid's immune system is preparing for their first vaccination at 3 months old. That's when I vaccinate my kids with their first CD/T TOXOID, followed by a second injection in 28-30 days later. Why 2 vaccinations? The first time your teacher shows you how to figure area of a polygon, you start to get the idea. The second time, you understand better and can calculate that area all by yourself. The kid's immune system sees the first vaccination and starts to figure out what to do. The second time the kid's immune system sees that vaccination, it gets busy solving that problem.
Why do we give yearly boosters? Do you remember how to find the area of a polygon? I bet if you took a refresher course in geometry, it would all come back to you. A yearly booster of a TOXOID gives the goat a refresher course so the immune system is ready.
A couple of paragraphs ago, I wrote, "the healthy kid's immune system is preparing for their first vaccination." I purposely put that word "healthy" in there. If the kids, or adult goat, is weak or stressed, their immune system may not be able to use the vaccine to form an immunity. What's more, the stress of having that vaccine stimulus introduced may make the kid/goat even weaker. Picture yourself sitting in geometry class with the flu and all the Rx and OTC medicines that come with it. Do you even care about the polygon? Should you have skipped geometry class and stayed home to rest? A weak goat should not be given a vaccine because he cannot use it, and will use up precious energy trying to.
So, if your kid is under 3
Goat Health
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