Long-Term Study on the Health Status of Polish Breeding Goat Population

Abstract

Three questionnaire surveys were carried out in 1996, 2002 and 2007 in breeding goat herdsin Poland to identify disorders which posed an important health problem in breeding goat herds inPoland, and to track the variations in the frequency of occurrence of disorders observed between 1996and 2007. In this period strong tendency to reduce the number of herds and increase their size wasevident. The complete set of answers regarding health problems in herds was obtained in 73 herds in1996, 59 in 2002 and 45 in 2007 (177 complete questionnaires in all). Only four disorders wereidentified as important health problems in breeding goat herds in 1996, while as many as ten in 2007.In 1996 external parasites, superficial abscesses, diarrheas in adult goats and mastitis were foundproblematic by the owners.Those four conditions remained important in 2007 but six new emerged: joint swelling,lameness, injuries and fractures, respiratory signs, fetal loss and wasting. Eleven disorders had becomesignificantly more prevalent over the 10-year period of the study: superficial abscesses, lameness,injuries and fractures, joint swelling, respiratory signs in adults and in kids, diarrheas in kids, fetalloss, neurological signs, dystocia and weight loss. This shows how the health problems change alongwith the development of goat industry and can help to prepare effective control programs.