Have skimmed thru the archives here and over at CS but have not seen where anyone has talked about the Goat Serum Concentrate that is listed in the Hoegger catalog.

They say it is natural goat gamma globulin, and basically refer to it as a miracle treatment for a number of conditions. Boosting kids immune systems, help in clearing up mastitis, respiratory infections, pink eye, and shipping fever complex.

Was just wondering if anyone has used this and or has any thoughts at all about this therapy. Would it be worth having on hand in case of a weak kid, or anything else they list? Thanks Lacey

-- Lacey (cddllt@webtv.net), April 04, 2002

Answers

Hi Lacey, what a pretty name! This has been hashed and rehashed on the dairy forums. Stories of folks using it, course it is always a friend :) who came down with this or that in their goats. The problem is that nobody can verify if the heard is truly CAE, CL and Johnnes negative, just like with ID-1 we don't know this either, Johnnes negative cattle or not. So this is just going to be another one of those things like, herbal wormers, DE, vinegar in the water for more doe kids (which didn't help much here this year :) and vinegar for UC, that if you are comfortable with it use it, if not don't. I look at all of these products, just like colostrum replacer. How can anything that is heated to be put into a bottle work? If I were selling a product that was this miricle in a bottle, I would have the herd tested and tout the reports all over my catalog! I would leave no question in my customers minds about how great it is! Like the herbal wormer, I wouldn't have a science fair project done by a 4H child be the only proof of how it works! I would have used the Ivermectin orally, and not then went on to say the herbal wormer killed more tapeworms than the Ivermectin when we all know Ivermectin doesn't get tapes :) I also wouldn't give information in my catalog about worming infants as they are born because they are born with worms.......Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (Nubians) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

Ha ha, Vicki, we agree on something!! I had a lot of the same thoughts about the goat serum. I would not try it without knowing the disease status of the animals the serum came from.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 04, 2002.

I have read stories about the Hoeggers goat Serum causing some type of porblem, think it wa son Nubian Talk i read that. I am a big proponent of a product called Immuno-G, which is sort of similiar, as is ID-1, they do wrok in that it does boost their immune systems, but ya know what I found out, this yr we didn't give it and our kids are just fine so far, in the past 3 yrs we used it, don't see any difference. But I will say last yr I did, the kids we gave it to did not get respiortory porblems but the ones we got from other breeders who didn't use it did. go figure. I am beginning to wonder about the ole' adage, "Snake Oil!"

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Bernice bet lots of stuff we do is snake oil :) I am the queen of prevention, my vet is always telling me that I may be preventing nothing. Not that the prevention doesn't work, but that the wouldn't get sick if I didn't do it................well who wants to risk it. I do know when I got a bottle of ID-1 for free from Ron, for helping him out on a haul, that it did save in my estimation a buckling who wasn't going to get much more attention from me than that. I also know it boosted the immune system of the does I got back that had inviornmental staph. Nothing, including vets and testing got rid of it, well........they were moved to my house at the same time. Who knows!

Rebekkah, I think we agree alot of the time, in fact just today on countryside you gave some really great advice, and I was going to come in behind you and tell you that, I think I will go back and find it and do just that. Most of the time your answers are exactly what I would say so I don't even bother! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (Nubians) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Thanks all....if I had been getting a bit more sleep I would have thought to doing a google search first:). Also have been thinking it is probably like me grabbing the Echinacea when I feel a cold coming on.....think it helps, but who really knows:). Lacey

-- Lacey (cddllt@webtv.net), April 05, 2002.

Vicki, I was kidding! :-) It was just so funny for you to put into words just how I felt about this goat serum and the kids being born wormy!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 05, 2002.