# Too risky? State Fair questions and worries...



## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

I've had our goats for about seven years now, and I've really built up a nice herd with great lines. So, I thought the logical next steps were milk testing and showing, right? I've got everything set up to begin milk testing in January of 2013, and I signed up to take three of my does (two juniors and a senior) to the only show this summer within two hours of us - the state fair. 

I guess it's because I'm a newbie to the whole showing circuit, but I really thought I'd be able to bring my two juniors that are showing on one day and check them in that morning and then take them home that night, then bring my one senior that's showing on her show day and check her in that morning and take her home that night. I just got off the phone with the fair office, though, and that's not the way it works.

I would have to take all of my girls on the 15th and check them in then. Then, they would have to stay there the 15th, the 16th, the 17th (the day of the junior show), and the 18th (the day of the senior show). They have a barn and pens, and I could rent three pens for the three goats. But that's still four days of no browsing, three nights without the herd, and four days of exposure to other goats and LOTS and LOTS of total strangers. 

Is it worth the risk?

If I rent three pens and then put all my girls in the middle pen, I could minimize the risk from side to side. But, that doesn't minimize the risk from human contact and transmission from fair goers handling one goat through the pen and then coming over to my goats and passing something on to them. And, I know that all the goats who go to the fair are SUPPOSED to be free from any communicable illnesses, but is that really something I can bank on? 

I had already asked for the 17th off from work, so I could be there all day on that day. The 18th is a Saturday, so that's no problem. But, I'm supposed to work the 15th and 16th. I could take the goats and check them in on the 15th after work, but that leaves all day on the 16th without my supervision. I could go to give them hay and water before work and go again after work to give them more hay/water, but they would be there alone all day on the 16th. With at least twelve hours between times when I could check on them. That makes me very nervous. What if some well-meaning fair-goer decides that my goats really look like they want a bite of hot dog or cotton candy? There's fair security and the supervisor of the livestock exhibit; but this fair is HUGE, and I know there will be a million other concerns for them. They can't camp out at my goats' pen all day (as much as I'd appreciate that :wink: ). 

Am I being overly-nervous? Or is this just too risky? Those of you who show, how do you handle it???


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I went to a small 4-H fair a few weeks ago... I had tarps on all sides of my stalls and stayed with them pretty much the whole time (or had someone I TRUSTED watching them... NO ONE was aloud to touch them unless they uses hand sanitizer before and after! 

For me I don't think I will be doing fairs again unless it is just one day... it is just to stressful for me....


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## VincekFarm (Jun 27, 2011)

J.O.Y. Farm said:


> I went to a small 4-H fair a few weeks ago... I had tarps on all sides of my stalls and stayed with them pretty much the whole time (or had someone I TRUSTED watching them... NO ONE was aloud to touch them unless they uses hand sanitizer before and after!
> 
> For me I don't think I will be doing fairs again unless it is just one day... it is just to stressful for me....


 :ROFL: So people really did use the sanitizer! LOL


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Oh yes they did!!! LOL! We went through 3 bottles!!


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## VincekFarm (Jun 27, 2011)

Oh gosh.. we have these hand sanitizer machines all around or goat barn near the doorways, I think next year I will move one right infront of my goats and make my own little sign for it. LOL.


Well to add my 2cents when I go to open shows I make sure that my goats are housed next to other people's goats that I know and that I know are healthy. I usually don't worry about diseases too much at shows though since others can tell if goats aren't healthy and if they are responsible goat owners then they usually won't bring their sick animals for ex. if one has an abcess or pink eye. 

If you really don't want anyone touching your goats though put up a sign that says goats bite, goats are overly agressive etc. etc. :laugh:


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

My 2 cents on people not bringing sick animals... 
At the fair I was at some people had recently had a sore mouth outbreak.... and still came... on goat had an abscess on her cheek... Just not some thing I want to do again...


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## 8566 (Jul 18, 2012)

We always spray down the pens, then bed out with straw.
We also dose everyone with VitB and an Immune Support tincture while on travel.

I have never had an issue with the ~3 day trips. 

This year we went to Nationals since it was in our backdoor and the goats stayed there for a week. Came home and the next day everyone had runny noses. Had snotty noses for about a week but didn't require any further treatment. I started to think if it was worth it also. Like a lot of folks, I have invested $$$$ into my herd.

What is surprising is you expect to only see healthy goats at Nationals and for the first day I saw vets visiting goats who someone complained about for this or that .... including a case of what looked like CL. BTW the vet said since the lump was hard the goat got to stay.

I enjoy showing so will do my best keeping everyone going. I have 3 shows in September.

HTH,


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I am hoping to go to Nationals next year but am packing disinfectant spry for the pens and lots of tarps so my goats have no contact with others....


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Elizabeth, did you have to leave the goats for any extended time without your supervision during the week? Honestly, that's the thing I'm MOST uncomfortable with. I think I can minimize the risk from the other animals, but other humans? I'm not so sure... Maybe I can bribe my dad and brothers to go to the fair on the day when I can't be there? :roll:


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

LilBleatsFarm said:


> We always spray down the pens, then bed out with straw.
> We also dose everyone with VitB and an Immune Support tincture while on travel.
> 
> I have never had an issue with the ~3 day trips.
> ...


I CANNOT believe the vet let that goat stay! :shocked: I don't care if the abscess is hard or not you NEVER let a goat with an abscess be housed with healthy goats! My doe has CL and her abscess was hard, so just because an abscess is hard doesn't prove anything! Ugh! That makes me ANGRY! :angry: :veryangry: Stress can make a goat get a runny nose so that could be why yours had runny noses. Good for you to spray the pens down. Never hurts to be extra cautious.


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## 8566 (Jul 18, 2012)

Hi Tina/Caprine Crazy

I had to leave the goats quite a bit because for the first 4 days I was communting 2 hrs each way cuz hubby was out on business and I have 3 kids. I wasn't showing till Wed. I pretty much ran up there fed, made sure everyone was ok, walked them around a bit and then drove back home.

Everytime I went into the barn to see them (they were right by a door) there was always people there hanging over the fence petting them. I tried not to get into protective mode too much but had a few folks feed them animal crackers. Especially the 2 footed kids.

And tell me about the CL... It was big enough on the neck that people were talking about it while the goat was being shown. If the neck was held high you couldn't see it very well so the judge didn't see I think.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

Huh that's weird. Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) occurs in places where there are lymph nodes. Behind the ears and on the cheek are the most common spots for CL abscesses to occur. When the abscess first comes up it can be hard feeling. As it gets bigger it will get squishy. Eventually the hair will start to fall off and that tells you that the abscess is going to rupture soon. Since the abscess was on the neck it could have been staph or maybe the goat was poked by something and has a sticker in there. It's hard to tell. I just don't understand why the vet went ahead and let them show it. It just makes me MAD! Ok I'm done ranting. Hopefully I answered your question.


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## Krazy-Kidsx2 (Jul 20, 2011)

This was our first year showing and from what I saw in my goats I feel that the stress on the goats is more to worry about than other peoples sick goats and humans touching them. The biggest lesson I learned is if you can bring your own water from home our by a filter for the hose you will be using at the show.


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

I ended up deciding not to do the fair. I'll show if it's a one-day show, but I'm not leaving my babies overnight. I'm just too big a worrier, and it would stress them and me too much. :wink:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Tina... this is one of the main reasons why I don't show! Leaving them would kill me.


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

Agreed. We did one show and took a few of our juniors and one buck for a DAY. Never would have considered leaving them. I have learned other tips on going to shows, like, taking a tarp and laying it down before the hay to minimize exposure to the dirt/ground underneath, as well as the spray thing, and renting more pens than you need. Good ideas, but have also heard that there are overfilled does leaking milk everywhere at some shows-which is NOT good, and you would need to carry them to and from the ring. UGH. I think milk test/LA, combination is in my future....SOMEWHERE.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

For me CAE/CL is just not worth leaving a goat, at our small fair I watched people disregard signs, and tarps and lean right over to pet other peoples animals w/o using any disinfectant in between. I had mentioned before, when I showed dogs, my dogs were vaccinated, taken to their class and then loaded back up and home. We don't have the luxury of vaccines for this and it is very frustrating that so many vets are allowing any lumps. I wish as animals were checked in they had to be inspected, and a no lump or other visual sickness allowed to stay at all.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

My kids have their hearts set on going to the state fair next year, so fingers crossed they have nice enough goats that we take that plunge.
They showed at several county fairs this summer, and we never seen a sick looking animal at any of them. Most of the breeders who brought breeding stock <boers, and some dairy>, had beautiful animals in excellent health/no lumps/etc.
I think our doe was the only exception! She got slammed by our herd queen about a week before the first show and her knee swelled big time  That was in mid June, and that swelling didn't go completely away until mid to late August! 
So just because you see an animal with a lump, or swelling doesn't mean they are sick or diseased....a lump doesn't mean CL.
Just like milk goiter isn't bottle jaw 

Of course we do still get worried and 'leary' about it, but we do the best we can to make sure our goats stay safe.
After the first show or two they get used to being shown. Our girls got used to it and weren't stressed out. They knew when we got to the show, they would get all the hay and grain they wanted. So hopefully next years fair goats will be the same 
We bring our own water - a few weeks before they start showing we wash out milk jugs and save them, then fill them up on the day of the show. Sometimes we run out if we're at a long show on a very hot day, and they were fine with the water at the show grounds.

Now the only thing that worries me about going to state fair is leaving them at night. I hear they do have people who either volunteer or paid security on hand to keep an eye on them/make sure everyone is okay <this is what someone told me>. 
We live an hour from the state fair grounds and my plan is, if they do go, we'll just rent a hotel room nearby. I hear they do so much for the kids at state fair I think it would be very beneficial for them to go, they are only young once, and they love showing their goats.

BTW, we spray our goats feet with bleach when they get home from a show. If your leary about the pens, you can always bring disinfectant spray with you and spray the pen down. I'd be very careful using tarp, it may work for some but not everyone - we all know goats can get themselves in trouble, so be watchful


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