Congenital and Neonatal Hyperplastic Goitre in Goat Kids Linked to Maternal Cabbage (Brassica) Feeding: A Clinicopathological Study of Twelve Cases

Congenital goitre is a common cause of neonatal loss in goats, yet Indian reports seldom link the maternal diet with the clinical and pathological findings in more than one kid. This study describes 12 goat kids presenting with ventral neck swelling at the Veterinary Clinical Complex, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. Eight kids were male and four were female; eight were non-descript and four were Black Bengal, including a pair of twins. Six were presented on the day of birth, four at approximately one month and two at one to two months of age. Every dam had been fed Brassica fodder during pregnancy: cabbage leaves in ten cases and other Brassica vegetables in two. All kids had a bilateral, symmetrical, painless, doughy to firm swelling over the thyroid lobes, and fine-needle aspiration cytology confirmed its thyroid origin. At necropsy, the thyroid lobes were greatly enlarged, dark red and lobulated. Histopathology revealed diffuse follicular hyperplasia with tall columnar epithelium, papillary infolding, scanty pale colloid with resorption vacuoles and a highly vascular stroma, confirming diffuse hyperplastic goitre. Feeding cabbage and related Brassica fodder to pregnant does was consistently associated with hyperplastic goitre in their kids. Restricting goitrogenic feeds and supplementing iodine during gestation and lactation remain the most reliable means of prevention.