Weather-created stress, such as drought changing to heavy moisture conditions, help the fungi invade the plants. Feed in storage in closed, poorly-ventilated areas creates and maintains this deadly environment. Because aflatoxin does not result in distinct disease symptoms, it is often not even suspected as being the cause of poor caprine performance. Aflatoxin suppresses the immune system, thereby allowing the goat to develop diseases that it would not likely have succumbed to had aflatoxin-contaminated feed not been fed. Aflatoxins can also be passed into milk by dairy goats.
Young goats are most susceptible to the effects of aflatoxin , although all ages can be affected.
In all animals, aflatoxin can cause liver damage, decreased reproductive performance, reduced milk production, death in utero, tumors, birth defects, and lowered immune system function. In conclusion, periods of extreme weather conditions demand that goat producers keep a watchful eye on grain and roughages, whether they are out on pasture or being fed commercially-produced grain products. Many parts of the United States during 1998 have experienced extreme dry conditions interspersed with heavy rains. When this occurs, testing of grains and hay must be done before feeding these products to our goats. The cost of testing is minimal compared with the animal loss that is likely to happen.