I haven't vaccinated my goats before, but I have a CL positive doe now and I was going to vaccinate my others. Everybody I've talked to used the CL vaccine made for sheep with no side effects, and say it works well.
I know they made a vaccine specifically for goats, but it is relatively new and I haven't been able to find anyone who's actually used it. Has anyone used it? Are there any side effects, and do you know how effective it is?
?
Favorite Answer
We considered getting the CL vaccine for a while, but eventually decided against it for a couple of reasons.
One is that (knock on wood) our goats don't really have any contact with CL positive goats (we test any new goats before we bring them into the herd, we require testing for anyone who wants to breed does to our bucks, and we keep our goats as separate as possible during shows). From what I understand, the vaccine doesn't make goats immune to CL, it just decreases their chance of getting it.
Another reason why we decided not to use it is because we regularly test for CL, and if you use the vaccine, your goats will test positive, even if they don't have it.
I once talked to someone who used the vaccine, and they said that their goats got a lump at the injection site, but then again, a lot of shots can do that, especially if you don't wipe the area with rubbing alcohol first (sometimes my goats get a small lump at the injection site after I give them a CD+T shot).
Have you talked to your vet at all about using it? That's what I would do.
And I would also suggest separating the doe from the herd, if you can. I understand if this isn't possible, but you should at least have a separate area for her if she ever has an abscess that is about to break. That's how CL gets spread - through the gunk in the abscesses (keep in mind that the disease can spread when internal abscesses break too).
Good luck.