IN THIS ISSUE:

• Preparing for Kidding
• What Are Myotonic Goats?
• How to Buy Onion Creek™ Ranch Genetics

Provide shelter from wind, rain, and cold weather. (My website www.tennesseemeatgoats.com has a Fencing and Pens article on the Articles page.) Provide a place where kids can sleep away from dams so they don't get injured, smothered, or crushed. A shed with the inside walls lined with railroad ties at ground level and a low narrow bench built above the ties provides a good place for kids to hide. Kids can get off the ground and sleep on the railroad ties, while dams sleep on the bench above or on the ground near them. Do not enclose the underside of the bench; kids will pile on top of each other to keep warm and kids on the bottom will suffocate if a vertical wall blocks their escape.

All birthing/bonding areas should be free of ants and other pests. Ants can eat the eyes, noses, and mucous membrane tissues of newborn kids, causing permanent damage. Before using ant killer or ant bait, read the labels and talk with your vet about products safe for use around goats. I use Amdro ant bait, but ants aren't a serious problem in dry West Texas, so I don't know how extensively Amdro can be used where ants are plentiful.

Clean dry hay should be spread on the ground in advance of using these small pens. Do not use wood shavings in kidding areas. Shavings get into kids' mouths and noses, causing breathing problems, and they also interfere with mom's ability to use her tongue to clean her newborns.During very cold or cold and wet weather, I use reflector heat lamps with bulb guards in areas where kids sleep. Newborns and very young kids have difficulty regulating internal body temperature, but they can usually tolerate cold so long as their tummies are full of milk and they stay dry. In areas of moderate cold such as the southern half of the United States, infrared bulbs are usually too hot and some of them produce a very bright light that can be uncomfortable for both dams' and kids' eyes. Keep electrical cords out of reach to prevent kids from hanging themselves or chewing on them. Water buckets should be shallow and carefully placed to avoid a kid's drowning in them. Make provision during freezing weather to provide warm water to both dam and kids. Learning how to THINK LIKE A GOAT™ will help prevent injuries and deaths. Goats are extremely curious animals.

Do not overcrowd goats. Goats require more space per individual than most other livestock species. Goats are like deer; they stress easily. Since goats have very fast metabolisms, they produce large quantities of urine and feces. Does need space to bond with their kids -- to learn their kids' smells and sounds -- and kids require the same. Overcrowding leads to filth (concentrations of urine, feces, and soiled/wasted hay) and filth leads to disease and death. The two biggest challenges in raising goats in any sort of managed conditions are overcrowding and proper nutrition and the problems which result. This point cannot be over-emphasized.

Purchase in advance of kidding the following essential supplies. Every item has an important useful purpose. Other articles that I've written explain their usages. Items in this first section can be purchase at Jeffers (1-800-533-3377) or in some instances your local WalMart.

• Rectal thermometer (digital). Do not fail to buy this item.
• 70% isopropol alcohol
• Triple antibiotic cream
• Towels - cloth and paper
• Q-tips
• Baby aspirin
• Ant killer or bait (livestock safe)
• Mentholatum
• Enemas, baby (Fleets brand or generic)
• Milk of Magnesia
• Wasp spray
• Ear syringe
• Duct tape
• Petroleum jelly
• Cotton
• Bleach
• Pepto Bismol
• Corn syrup (Karo or generic), jar molasses, and corn oil
• OB lube (KY Jelly or generic)
• Benadryl liquid
• Splint materials and tape
• Heating pad (find one that doesn't cut itself off in an hour)
• Chewable Vitamin C
• Baking soda
• Pistol-grip hair dryer
• Infant gas relief drops
• Sugar
• Gentian violet
• Camphophenique
• Orasol oral anesthetic gel
• Paper and pens for record keeping
• Weak kid syringe and stomach tube plus extra tubes (do not fail to buy these items)
• Bounce Back or ReSorb electrolyte powder in bags or packets
• Procaine penicillin (injectable)
• Sulfadimethoxine 12.5% liquid drinking water solution (DiMethox)
• Spectam Scour Halt
• 7% strong tincture of iodine
• Propylene glycol (available in gallon jug)
• ToDay (cephapirin sodium) mastitis infustion tubes
• C&D ANTI-toxin injectable (absolutely essential item)
• Gloves, disposable, latex or vinyl
• 60 cc syringe and 18 gauge needle
• 1 cc syringes
• 3 cc syringes (Luer Lock and Luer Slip)
• 6 cc syringes (Luer Lock and Luer Slip)
• 22 gauge by 3/4 inch needles (poly hub)
• 18 gauge needles (poly hub)
• Blood stop powder
• Prichard teats
• Toxiban or Universal Animal Antidote Gel (UAA Gel)
• Tetanus ANTI-toxin injectable
• CD/T toxoid injectable
• Vet wrap
• Colostrum replacer (not "supplement")
• Reflector heat lamps with bulb guards
• 150W or 200W clear incandescent light bulbs for heat lamp
• Goat milk replacer (not soy based)
• 50% dextrose solution
• Neomycin sulfate
• Red Cell oral iron supplement
• Betadine surgical scrub and Betadine solution
• CMPK or MFO
• De-wormers (see my article Deworming and Vaccination Schedules)
• Probiotic paste
• Water pails: one or two-gallon pails with handles
• SWAT fly control ointment
• Toss n Trap fly traps or equivalent
• Fescue balancer mineral (if tall fescue grass grows in your area)
• Fortified Vitamin B Complex - injectable
• Oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml injectable (LA 200 or generic equivalent)
• Cai-Pan peppermint udder cream
• Mastitis infusion tubes - penicillin based

Make an adult goat stomach tube with funnel attached and PVC pipe to thread the tube through; see my article on Stomach Tubing on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com. This is a big must do. Save 16 oz or 20 oz disposable plastic soda-water bottles with screw-on caps. Accumulate a supply of plastic bags such as those that WalMart uses to sack purchases.

From your vet:

• Banamine injectable
• Nuflor injectable
• Excenel RTU injectable
• Lactated Ringers solution
• Dopram V (if still available)
• Oxytocin injectable
• Lutalyze injectable
• Dexamethazone injectable
• Epinephrine injectable
• Vitamin B 12 injectable
• Thiamine (Vit B 1) injectable
• Sulfadimethoxazine with Trimethoprim oral solution or tablets
• Mineral Max or Multi Min injectable
• BoSe injectable
• Gentamycin sulfate injectable
• Gentocin spray
• Baytril 100 injectable*

NOTE: Some of these items may be restricted for use with goats, depending upon the ultimate purpose for which they are being raised. Slaughter-bound goats must be medicated differently from breeding stock, pets, and show goats. Consult your vet for appropriate usage instructions.

I REPEAT: When these items are needed, you won't have time to go get them. So buy them NOW. Designate a refrigerator specifically for goat supplies that require refrigeration. Select cabinets or shelves for medications and supplies that can withstand normal room temperatures.Storing medications in a barn is a good way to ruin them. Products, including medicines, can often be safely used beyond expiration dates if they are stored at recommended temperatures and away from sunlight. Set up a workspace, including sink and running water. Get everything organized and properly labeled. I sticker all medications with date purchased, from whom, and price for future reference and replacement. Be prepared for your first kidding emergency because it will happen.

Preparing Does for Kidding

If abortions have been an issue in the herd, I inject each doe with Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL before placing them with a buck and every 30 days thereafter until each doe gives birth. There are several articles on www.tennesseemeatgoats.com dealing with abortion diseases and how to handle them.

Six weeks before the first doe is expected to kid, I de-worm all pregnant does with one of the clear dewormers given orally (not the *white* dewormers). Do not use Valbazen; it can induce abortions. At the same time, I boost the does' CD/T vaccinations. Kids are not born with their own working immune systems; the CD/T booster given their dams both protects the pregnant does and passes immunities to the kids which usually last until their immune systems start limited functioning around one month of age. I clean the does' systems of coccidia parasites by dosing them orally individually for five consecutive days with either Albon or its generic equivalent Dimethox 12.5% oral solution. CoRid is another product for this purpose but it inhibits thiamine production, so if you have to use CoRid, also administer Vitamin B 1 (thiamine) injections. An added advantage to using Albon or DiMethox 12.5% is that both contain an antibiotic to handle secondary infections. I also boost the does' pneumonia vaccine and I give them a sub-cutaneous (SQ) injection of Mineral Max or Multi Min. This product is a chelated (slow release) formulation of zinc, manganese, selenium, and copper that are vital to the doe's health and her ability to deliver kids.

If time permits, trim hooves and tail webs. Hoof trimming is a good management practice. A doe with hoof rot or hoof scald cannot forage/browse well enough to produce adequate milk for her kids. A hairy tail web retains feces and placental matter after kidding.

Do not "flush" pregnant does with extra feed immediately prior to kidding. Grain should be very gradually increased during the last month of pregnancy, when fetuses are rapidly growing. Overgraining or improperly graining a heavily-pregnant doe can cause several serious pregnancy diseases(ketosis, pregnancy toxemia, hypocalcemia) that can kill the doe and her unborn kids. Offer grass hay on a free-choice basis. Feed grain preferably before noontime -- especially in very cold weather -- and take up any that has not been consumed in 15 minutes. Do not feed extra grain at night. Instead, make extra hay available. As fetuses grow, the size of the doe's rumen decreases. The doe must have sufficient top-quality grass hay to keep her rumen functioning and still permit some room for grain intake. The long fiber in grass hay stimulates rumen wall contractions which in turn creates body heat to keep the goat warm. Feeding grain properly can be a tricky balancing act in managed herds -- and particularly to heavily pregnant does. When feeding alfalfa or other legume hay, I gradually discontinue feeding it during the last four weeks of gestation. Legume hays (alfalfa and peanut) are high in calcium. As parturition approaches, the doe's body must release calcium from her bones. If she is being fed a high-calcium diet, calcium release from her bones will not happen and Hypocalcemia ("milk fever") can occur. Hypocalcemia is a life threatening illness for the doe and her unborn kids.

Don't forget the importance of exercise to the pregnant doe. Fat does can easily experience dystocia (kidding problems). Don't let heavily-pregnant does become *couch potatoes.* The time for extra grain is when the doe has kids on the ground and is making lots of milk (lactating).

With shelter and sufficient space in place, proper hay and grain and minerals available, supplies at the ready, and does in top condition, let the kidding begin!

Suzanne W. Gasparotto ONION CREEK RANCH 1-12-14