Immunity in young goats

ARGÜELLO, A.; PAEZ LAMA, S.; M. BATISTA

Gran Canaria

Conferencia; XI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GOATS; 2012

International Goat Asociation

Goat kids are hipogammaglobulinemic at birth due to goat placental structure. This fact has a huge influence in goat kid management and health. For more than 30 days, goat kids are dependent of immunoglogulins absorbed during the first 48 hours of life. In the last years some research groups around the world have focused in increase the knowledge about how and when goat kid immune system (specially innate immune system) develops. Recent advances related how the immunoglobulin’s are transferred into the blood from gut in goat kids and how the management of colostrum feed period can modify the health goat kid status. New attention to minor immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM) has been done, and a new research focused in how much colostrum minor proteins are absorbed and which role in the innate immune system they can play. After colostrum period, milk or milk replacer suckling period has an influence in the innate immune system, overall on the complement system. New advances have been incorporated in the literature about the influence of fatty acids (specially omega 3) on immune system in the recent years. Big efforts have been done in activity complement system assays in goats, showing one more time the importance of develop assays specific for goats.