Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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villager
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Grain Mites and GoatsDoes anyone know the effect on animals, particularly goats, of giving them feed infested by grain mites? Could the mites be the cause of foam which I have seen on the mouths of 2 goats?
Maybe you do not get grain mites in the UK, but we have them here in Africa, and from googling I see that they are also to be found in the US. If there are grain mites in a bag of feed, you see what appears to be dust on the outside of the bag, and on the ground under it. When you collect this "dust" into a heap, then over the next few minutes it slowly settles down flat again. A close inspection of the dust, especially with a magnifying glass shows that it consists of a huge number of tiny, tiny insects.
We feed maize bran to our goats, buying it from other villagers, but sometimes it is infested with grain mites. The infestation does not become obvious until it has been dried, bagged, and stored for a while. Meanwhile, some of it will have been fed to the goats. I found this statement from Kendall Bioresearch Services, "If mites are taken internally by eating infested food, they may cause stomach disorders"; I think that they were talking about people.
I am wondering if any mites which the goats ingest can cause problems to the latter, because it seems to me that the mights mite enjoy living in a warm, moist rumen with plenty of food. We have had 2 goats at different times with a little foam around their mouths, which suggests frothy bloat. However, their rumens feel normal, they do not look distressed in any way, and they eat and behave normally. One goat has had this on and off now for some months, while another started last week.
Any thoughts?
Ta
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RichardW
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Sounds like bloat
yes we get them
We lost a dam good goat due to dodgy feed from the merchants
RichardW
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Rob R
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You might get allergens from the mites that will affect the animals immune response but I doubt that they would cause the digestive symptoms. However, the conditions that favour mites may also favour some fungi which can produce toxins which affect the animals. At our local goat farm they don't risk feeding any damp feed because of the high risk in goats, even if the feed is subsequently heated/dried.
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villager
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Thanks for those replies. From Mr Rob's, it looks like we will have to be really sure that the maize bran is dry before storing it, and even then it may cause us problems.
Mr Richard, I was surprised to read that, in the UK, dodgy feed was sold to you. A couple of questions for you:
What was dodgy about the feed?
How did it kill the goat? Bloat, poison?
We have no alternative but to continue buying maize bran , as long as the digestive problems remain few, and confined to only 1 or 2 animals. It is delivered to us damp, in small quantities, and it looks like we are not drying it properly before storing it in bags.
To fumigate the stored bran, someone has given us a tube of aluminium phosphide (Quickphos) tablets. Unfortunately, he had no instructions for their use, and all I have been able to find on the internet is health and safety stuff, telling me that I will have to be very careful using them. Does anyone know of a link where I can find instructions for their use? All I know is that I will have to pile the bags on slats, cover everything with polythene sheeting, do something with the quickphos tablets, then leave the heap for some days.
Ta
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RichardW
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It was a sack of oats (we were mixing out own goat food). It was infested with mites (you could see the grayish fluffy stuff you mentioned) but I was too inexperianced to realise. The goat just wasted away (biggest symptom was the runs) even under the direct supervision of the vet & lots of treatment. Vets test found nothing else to pin it on either way. So cant be sure it was the feed.
Richard
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