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Kids: Coccidia

Coccidia are a protozoan internal parasite, that most goats have, in small numbers. In adults, this is generally not a problem, but if kids get an overload of coccidia, it can cause diarrhea, intestinal scarring, and ultimately death, if not treated.  The first line of prevention for coccidia in kids is to keep their areas clean. This may seem like an unreasonable expectation--it's a barn, for all love--but what this means is essentially making sure the kids have minimal access to poop--they pick up coccidia from mouthing poop, soiled straw, etc. This can mean cleaning out the pen every day, or it can mean adding a new layer of straw once or twice a day, or even both. A good criteria (picked up from Deborah at the Thrifty Homesteader) is that you should be willing to sit down in the stall. Then, it's clean enough for kids. If you're not willing to sit down (while wearing "barn" pants. Not wearing a fancy dress, for instance) it's not clean enough for kids.  In
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ADGA Paperwork/Website

There are several occasions on which it become necessary to interact with the American Dairy Goat Association! 

These may include:

-Renewing Membership

-Registering Kids

-Registering for Linear Appraisal

-Transferring a goat

Those are the main reasons we go on the site. There are a few confusing things about the system, which I'm hoping to explain today.

The first thing is that when you sign up as a member, you have to apply for a PIN number (This can be done online, or with one of the forms from the packet that's sent to you when you become a member) in order to get an online account. If your membership lapses, you need to get a new PIN number in order to have an online account.

Membership renewal if you have an online account is easy; membership renewal if it has lapsed is a pain, because while you can do a sign-in-free membership renewal on the website, you have to request a new PIN. (Which entails also registering your signature, with the form that came with the packet of papers. It's a wee bit complicated.)

Once you have an online account, you can do many things, from member look-up to goat look-up and kid registration. 

Kid registration is fairly self-explanatory, although if you do not own the buck, you need the buck owner to send you the service memo number to input. Once the online form is completed, a pedigree will be mailed to you.

For linear appraisal (in a non-COVID year), the list of people who are willing to host LA is posted in January. Before you register for LA, you have to contact one of the people on the list, and ask if you can transport to their location for LA. (If you have less than 25 goats, which is the minimum for an LA stop. Of course, if you knew other people with goats up to a total of 25, you could host as well.) Only then can you use the online form to sign up for LA. Once you're signed up, soon before LA, you'll receive a packet that allows you to say which of your goats you'll be bringing to LA. You have to bring all the goats you have to LA, although there can be exemptions for dry goats, and bucks are always optional. 

For a goat transfer, in the case of sale, at the bottom of the pedigree is the Certificate of Transfer (circled in black). When the goat is sold, the seller can either fill out all the fields, or just sign it (signature field circled in red) and let the buyer fill out name, address, etc. Then the buyer has to send the transfer back into the ADGA, with a schedule of rates submission form (THIS form) and the transfer fee, and the goat will be transferred to the buyer. 



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