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We
at Sherman Farm believe that a healthy goat does not require a lot of
intervention if it is properly managed. They are hardy animals that
offer, milk, companionship, breed improvement and just great experiences with a smaller livestock creature.
We
offer all of our goats free choice hay, second cut, (but not alfalfa),
grain is New England Feeds specialty mix. We want them to be able to
sustain themselves and make milk on hay that is locally available. We
also offer them Golden Blend Minerals free choice and have noticed that
since we have started using this free choice we have had less birth
difficulties and healthier babies. We offer clean fresh water twice a
day, with buckets being scrubbed as needed. With this we get lots of
fresh milk from healthy goats that only occasionally require help
during birthing along
with routine management practices.. |
| Some tips and guidance with kidding. This is general advice from a goat breeder, not a vet. |
Pre
Labor- usually about two weeks before the due date the doe will start
to lie down more, moan softly , (like she is singing to her babies) and
be more affectionate to the caregiver, overall generally lazier than
usual. It is good to actually encourage her to exercise at this
point by making her walk. Put water in one place, hay in another
and feed somewhere else. Maybe place a mineral feeder at the
other end of the field, under cover. The more walking around she
does the easier the delivery. Don't let her become a couch
potato.
As
the date approaches the doe will begin to develop an udder, if she has
kidded before it will develop sooner, if she is a first freshener it
will develop a little bit smaller and a little bit closer to her due
date. The tail ligaments will also become loose. This can
be checked
by holding the tail with your thumb on one side and your index finger
on the other side, when you can almost reach under her tail, near her
backbone and have your fingers meet she has loosened up and is getting
very close. The reason this happens is because as the baby is
born the
mother goat must relax her pelvis and have it become more
flexible.
The softening of the ligaments in the tail are a sign that the process
of getting ready to kid has begun. This usually can happen
anywhere for
a week away to a few days away. The last few signs are mucous,
either
clear or milky clear discharge from the vulva area. This will be
under
her tail and will eventually become clear with blood streaks in
it.
This is the mucus plug and labor is approaching quickly.
Sometimes the
does water will break and usually if this happens, labor is immediately
following. At this point the doe might start pawing the ground
trying
to dig a little hollow where she can get comfortable to give birth, she
will often be restless and walk, dig , walk, pace, etc.... As long as
the doe shows signs of progressing and is not having a problem things
are going according to plan. She might look back at her stomach,
nip
at her stomach and just look uncomfortable. Keep her separate if
possible with a pen mate for company and give her fresh hay, warm water
with molasses, and a little grain to nibble on. Monitor her
progress,
as she begins to settle down and staying still longer in her little dug
hollow labor will usually begin in earnest. She will usually
appear to
be pushing and bellow out loudly depending on the breed. Nubians
are
notoriously loud and Lamanchas are very silent, each individual goat is
very different. Once the doe starts to push, sometimes you will
see a
bubble emerge from under tail, this is the sack that the baby is
in.
If the doe passes the entire sack then immediately open the sack and
clear the kids mouth and nose. Most of the time the sack pops and
you
just have the baby goat presenting itself with it's nose on it front
legs first. This is the normal presentation and should easily
progress
to being fully emerged in a matter of a few more pushes. At this
point
I put layers of newspaper around the does tail area, if she is lying
down, or under her if she is squatting of standing and leaning.
This
keeps the baby clean and helps later with clean up. I wrap the
babies first in newspaper and wipe it off, check it's nose and mouth
are
and clear it if necessary use a suction ball to clear it's nose and
then proceed to wrap it in a towel. If it is breathing clearly
then I
put it to rest in a box. The next one is usually on it's
way. I
repeat the above procedure, check to see if there looks like there is
one or two more and then pay attention to the babies. Make sure
that
they are breathing clearly, if not then hold them by their hind legs
and swing them gently in a circle to help any fluid be expelled from
their lungs. I use dental floss to tie off the umbilical cord
about
1/2 inch from the base, cut it above that and dip it in iodine from a
film canister, (these work great for this and I use 10% iodine for
this).
This causes the tissue to dry up and it prevents infection from
spreading and going up the cord into the blood stream. I put a
nylon/paper collar on the goats, with the name of the dam and sire,
birth date, and tattoo # on them, doe or buck. This prevents
confusion
later on. Then it is moms turn for attention. By now she
might have
passed her afterbirth and you can clean her up. You would have
already
given her a belly and udder clip a few weeks before to clean the area
up and make it easier. Use soapy warm water and clean the doe up
by
washing all around the area. Dry her off to prevent chilling.
Then put
her on a milk stand, milk out the colostrum ( this is thick, yellow and
sticky), what I do now is trim hooves, worm with Safeguard 10 cc's,
give probios, a Vit. B shot. It seems like a lot to do to a new
mom
but it is better to do it all at once than drag the procedures
out.
Safeguard wormer for dairy cattle should be given at three times the
dose recommended for weight and the withdrawal is usually about 4 days
or so. You won't be drinking the milk at this time anyway because
of
the colostrum and the babies needing it. There are two schools of
thought on feeding kids. We follow the CAE prevention method.
This
means that we heat treat all colostrum to !30* for one hour, hold it at
that temperature. We like the kids to have at least 10% of their
body
weight within the first 24 hours. So if a kid weighed 8 lbs. 8
x16
ounces =128, 10% of that would be 12.8 ounces of colostrum. We
have
found that if the receive this much minimum then they do very
well.
After the milk from the doe has become whiter in color and is less
thick you can pasteurize it by heating in a double boiler type setup to
165* for 2 minutes. Make sure the milk is all the same
temperature by
stirring and then cool to feed to the goats. If you add a few
drops of
red food coloring to the milk at this point it will turn pink and I
have found it helpful to
just bottle it up and remember that pink means pasteurized. Some
people feel that if the doe is CAE negative then the kids can
nurse.
There is much debate on this entire topic and I will let you decide on
your own. Do you homework and you will have healthy happy goats.
If you do let the kids nurse then make sure they are
drinking enough by putting the doe in a milk stand three times a day and
holding the kids to nurse, then checking their bellies to ensure that
they are full.
Happy kidding and email with any questions.
Sherman Farm Dairy Goats
mailto:shermanfarmgoat@aol.com
Fairfield, ME |
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