LET THE KIDDING BEGIN

Producers need to become well versed in the pregnancy and birthing processes of does so that they are able to assist when problems occur -- and they will occur Any species that has an early sexual maturity, short gestation, and multiple births will encounter birthing difficulties at some point. This article covers many conditions that hopefully most producers will never have to encounter, but it is best to be knowledgeable and prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.

Definitions

Gestation: length of time from breeding date to kidding date

Parturition: the act of giving birth

Dystocia: any type of kidding problem

The doe's pregnancy ranges from 147 to 155 days. Triplets, quadruplets, or more kids are born in the shorter time frame and are (like human offspring) often born prematurely. Premature kids have unerupted teeth (teeth still in the gums). Kids born either hairless or with all teeth completely in the gums often do not survive, regardless of supportive care provided. Kids born 7 to 10 days' premature have under-developed lungs and almost always die. The lungs are the last major organ to fully develop. Breathing problems are common in premature kids. It is possible to have full-term and premature kids in the same litter. Development depends upon how much nutrition each kid receives in utero. The kid that didn't get enough nutrition will be premature. Bucklings, even at full term, have teeth that are only slightly erupted, while full-term doelings are born with teeth out of the gums.

Before her labor begins, the doe will leave her herd and find a quiet place to give birth and bond with her newborn kids. Kidding in crowded areas results in babies and dam not learning each other's smells and sounds and leads to abandoned, starving, and/or dead kids. Does without kids may even steal another doe's newborns yet have no milk with which to feed them. The importance of the doe's having a quiet, isolated birthing/bonding location cannot be overstressed.

Changes in weather conditions tend to trigger the birthing process. The worse the weather, the more likely does are to begin kidding. This writer suspects that barometric pressure plays a part. Labor is beginning and kids should be coming soon when the doe repeatedly paws the ground, lays down, gets up, paces, and paws the ground again. When the doe starts the kidding process, small amounts of white mucous ooze from her vagina for several days before delivery occurs. When labor starts, a tear-drop-shaped bubble emerges from the doe's vagina. At this point, her water has not broken and the placental sacs are intact. Kids are still breathing through their connection to her body. After the bubble bursts (her "water breaking") there can occur a gush of fluid and the placentas may still be unbroken. Each kid is in its own sac (except for identical twins). If a kid doesn't appear immediately, the only way to know for sure is to glove up, insert two or three fingers into the vulva, and carefully feel for that intact placental sac. Do not break the sac. If the cervix has not dilated, the producer won't be able to reach the sac. If the cervix has dilated, the doe is pushing, the kid is not coming out, and the placental sac has broken, then pull the kid, using the techniques described in this article. The kid must come out quickly or it will drown in placental fluid. Its connection to its dam has been cut and it is breathing on its own. A wise producer will pull kids that don't rapidly come out on their own after the placental sac has broken. Do not wait for a struggling doe to push a difficult birth out if the placental sac has broken. When in doubt, PULL. Read the rest of this article for more information before implementing this procedure.

If the cervix is only partially dilated, use two and then three fingers to very carefully manipulate the cervix into opening more fully. Then pull the kid. Continue to go back inside until there are no more kids to pull. Do not pull the tissues attached by cotyledons to the inside of the doe's uterus; such action will kill her. Her body must slough off this tissue naturally when she passes the afterbirth.

A kid should be born with both front legs extended outward and the head should be between these front legs. The first thing the producer should see is two front hooves and the kid's mouth. For a variety of reasons (dead kids, inadequate calcium production, etc.), sometimes the kid has not turned in the birth canal and can appear breech (back feet first). Other presentations include an up-side-down kid, a kid whose head is folded backwards, one leg folded back with the other leg extended, body doubled over and rear end first, or even two or more kids who are intertwined (when more than one placental sac breaks open at the same time). In such instances, either a very knowledgeable goat producer or a vet is needed to save the kids and the dam. Manipulating kids inside the doe takes knowledge, practice, and dexterity. The risk of introducing infection is high when the human hand is placed inside the doe's body.

Improper breeding (a large-breed buck bred to a smaller-breed doe) can result in the inability of the doe to deliver big-framed kids. In such cases, Caesarean section is usually required. Pulling kids that are too large can result in tearing the doe's uterus, resulting in death or -- at least -- in her inability to breed again.

If the placental sac has not yet broken and the doe is pushing hard but her cervix has not dilated enough for her to push the kid out, oral administration of 15 cc's of CMPK or MFO every 45 minutes for as long as five or six hours may help open the cervix. If the producer has determined that the doe likely has dead kids in her because of ketosis or any other reason, inducing labor is necessary. Intramuscular injection of 10 cc dexamethazone and 2 cc lutalyse should cause cervical dilation in 24 to 48 hours. The producer must go inside the doe every six or eight hours to feel if the cervix has opened. The doe will not have labor contractions with dead kids or improperly-positioned (either live or dead) kids, so the producer has to pull the kids as soon as the cervix has dilated. An example of this situation is ketosis or pregnancy toxemia; most fetuses do not survive these conditions. The doe's vagina and cervix should then be flushed with a solution of one part Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL (LA 200 or equivalent) and one part of sterile or distilled water infused via a sterile clear plastic pipette. (As of this writing, Nolvasan Uterine Infusion is off the market.) Once the kids are pulled, give the doe another 10 cc injection of dexamethazone IM. Three days after getting the kids out, if the doe survives, she should be given another 2 cc lutalyse to clean her out. The possibility of tearing the uterus is very high with such difficult births, so don't be surprised if all efforts still result in the doe's death. Caesarian section is a good alternative and may save the doe's life if a vet is available when needed.

If manual help in giving birth is required, put on disposable gloves, apply KY Jelly or equivalent water-soluable lubricant to the glove that is going inside the doe, and have another person keep her from moving. If possible, she should remain in a standing position and parallel to a wall or fence for better control. Tie her by the horns to a fence if the producer has to do this job alone. Carefully work your fingers and hand into the vagina and upward through the open cervix in search of two front feet and a head. Both front feet should come out at the same time and the head should be facing forward between the front legs. If in doubt about the condition or direction of the kid, find and gently put your finger in the its mouth; a live kid will suck your fingertip. Grab both front legs, preferably above the first joint to cause less stress and provide a better grip, and gently but firmly and smoothly pull downward. Do not pull straight out; pull downward, following the angle of the birth canal. Sometimes it is necessary to loop both ends of a short rope around the kid's legs and use the rope to pull the kid out of the dam. Remember, if the head is bent backwards, the kid's neck is going to break and it will die, so push the kid back in and re-position the head between the front legs before pulling it out of the doe. Pulling the first kid is often enough help and the doe may be able to deliver the remaining kids on her own; this is particularly true of first-time moms. The writer has on occasion had to sit on the ground, put her feet on the rear end of the doe, and pull hard to get that first kid out. After any manual entry into the doe's body, bacterial infection is a big risk. Administer Penicillin sub-cutaneously over the ribs using an 18-gauge needle for five consecutive days at a dosage rate of five cc's per 100 pounds bodyweight.

Once the kid is out of the dam and visibly breathing, quickly wipe fluids from its mouth and nose, place it on the ground near the doe in the location where the kid was born, and stand back. Unless she is unable, the dam should be allowed to take over the cleaning and feeding of her kids. If the kid is having difficulty breathing or does not appear to be breathing, quickly wipe fluids from nose and mouth and hold the kid up-side-down by the back legs, swinging it from side to side, using gravity to get fluid out of its lungs. Slap both sides of its body to get heart and lung functions going and/or try mouth-to-mouth resucitation. Two-tenths of a cc of Dopram placed under the tongue should be administered immediately to help the kid's breathing. Slap the kid's sides to stimulate lung inflation and expelling of fluids. Sometimes an injection of one-half cc of dexamethazone will help the kid's respiration. Use Dopram first. Placing a stemmy piece of hay carefully in the kid's nostrils will cause mucous to be sneezed out, but this is not enough assistance for a kid whose lungs got filled with fluids in utero but instead is an additional procedure to use under less critical conditions. The normal delivery process squeezes fluids out of the kid's body as it travels down the birth canal. Such does not occur in Caesarean section deliveries or in assisted deliveries when labor contractions do not occur and the kid remained inside the doe too long.

Check the doe's teats to make sure that they are not sealed and that she has free-flowing colostrum (no mastitis), then let her clean and feed her kid. If the teats have seals over them, use a clean fingernail to gently remove it so that the newborns can nurse. For most does, sealed teats are easily opened by newborns' sucking them. For weak kids, the seals need to be removed. Watch from a reasonable distance to make sure that she is able and willing to care for the kid and give birth to additional babies without assistance. Some does don't feed their kids until all babies are born and the placenta has come out. Don't be alarmed until she has delivered all the kids, passed the afterbirth, eaten some or all of it, and then shows no interest in her kids. Healthy newborns can live for a couple of hours without colostrum under favorable weather conditions. Weak, cold, and/or stressed kids need immediate assistance. Take into account the dam, the kids, and weather conditions, then use common sense in determining what action to take.

Bonding problems can occur if the doe is moved from the location where she gave birth. If conditions permit, do not move the doe and her kids from this location until she has kidded, cleaned, and fed colostrum to her newborns. Some does, if moved, will return to that site -- even in a severe rainstorm. Smell and sound are major factors in bonding with and being able to identify her kids. If the site is unsafe, either weather- or predator-wise,or confusion exists because more than one doe kidded in the same location, place the doe, her kids, and the afterbirth in a five foot by five foot bonding pen and make sure that she feeds them. Put clean hay in the pen for bedding -- particularly in cold and/or wet weather. Do not use wood shavings, because they get into the kid's mucous membranes, causing breathing problems, and stick to the wet kid, making it difficult for the dam to clean her newborn. Provide the doe with a small bucket of water; cleaning kids takes a lot of saliva. If the weather is cold or the birth was stressful, lace warm water with molasses for quick energy. Don't use a deep bucket, because kids can fall in and drown. If the bucket is too shallow, a starving kid may drink water to keep its stomach full if it isn't getting enough milk. The producer will think the kid is fine and shortly will find it dead. Make a water-bucket stand that keeps a small bucket of water available to the doe but unreachable by the newborns. Ideally, all freshened does should be provided with clean water during birthing and fresh grass hay after kidding.

It is normal for the doe to eat all or part of her afterbirth during the process of cleaning and feeding her newborns -- often before she feeds them. Do not throw away the placental material until she has had this opportunity. Consuming the afterbirth assists in milk production. If she kicks dirt over it or ignores it completely, the producer can be assured that she is through with it. Handle placental matter using disposable gloves; some diseases -- especially abortion illnesses -- are transmitted through contact with afterbirth and may be zoonotic (transmissible to humans). Remove placental material to avoid attracting predators and insects. Ants will attack a kid's mucous membranes and eyes; permanent damage or death can result. Keep birthing/bonding areas free of ant infestation. Read ant-killer labels for safety of use around livestock. Amdro grandules is the ant killer used at Onion Creek Ranch.

Watch to make sure that each kid gets adequate colostrum. This thick, rich, yellowish-colored first milk is vital to the kid's survival. Colostrum contains essential antibodies unique to a specific location to protect the newborn and kickstarts the kid's digestive, respiratory, and immune systems. (This is why it is important to bring open -- not bred -- does to a new site and give them time to adapt and develop antibodies that are location-specific to protect the health of their kids before breeding them. It is also another good reason not to buy bred does.) The doe has all the colostrum she will produce at the time that she gives birth. Make sure it is used to benefit her kids. This writer uses a simple rule-of-thumb for colostrum consumption: get at least one ounce of colostrum for every pound of body weight into the kid shortly after birth. During its first 12 hours of life, a kid needs to ingest about 15% of its body weight in colostrum. The only time a kid should have a very full and almost tight tummy is when colostrum is consumed. The kid should pass the meconium shortly after receiving its first colostrum. This "rectal plug" is black, sticky, very thick, and won't recur. Subsequent feces will be "baby poop yellow." Your dogs will love it.

After the kids have been cleaned and fed, carefully cut the navel cord to a shorter length if it is dragging the ground and dip it all the way up to the body in 7% iodine to prevent infection. Joint Ill, also known as Navel Ill, occurs when germs travel up the newborn's wet navel cord and into its body. Bacteria wicked up the wet navel cord can incubate for weeks, usually settling in the leg joints, causing pain and lameness that -- if left untreated -- can become chronic and continue throughout the goat's lifetime.

A large udder does not necessarily mean lots of milk. The doe could have Mastitis or the udder could be congested or simply be much tissue and little milk. Check regularly for good milk flow and sufficient milk. For at least the first week of the kid's life, check it daily to make sure it is getting enough milk. Place the kid on the ground in standing position, supporting its own body. Put your fingers in front of the back legs and feel the stomach. It should be firm but not tight or loose. A kid has no reserves to fall back on and its body is solely focused on growth. When it is empty, the kid has to be refilled with milk or dehydration and starvation will occur in a matter of hours. Sometimes producers attribute dead kids to having been hit or sat upon when actually its death is usually the result of hypothermia (sub-normal body temperature), dehydration, and starvation. Newborn and young kids have difficulty regulating their body temperatures, particularly when the range of temperatures is wide. They can be fine at bedtime and dead in the morning. One important symptom of dehydration is fever. Like diarrhea, fever is a symptom of a problem and not the problem itself.

Occasionally kids are born with fever or develop fever shortly after birth. Such kids will not nurse. The producer must get the fever down with medication and hydration, then tube-feed the kids with vital colostrum until it gets strong enough to nurse its dam. Generally one injection of 2/10's of a cc of Banamine and 1/2 cc of Excenel RTU will solve the problem. Sub-cutaneous administration of Lactated Ringers will rehydrate the kid. The writer does not know why this occurs but sees it happen in about one kidding per year.

Some births occur normally but the kids are born weak and unable to stand. Late-term abortion diseases are one explanation of this condition. Such kids have to be warmed up and stomach tubed. Details on how to do this safely and properly are in this writer's article entitled Health Problems of Newborn Kids on the Articles page.

Remember the importance of the bonding process. If the doe has been permitted to identify and bond with her kids, she is unlikely to let them starve. All of these factors interact, affecting how or if a dam is able to successfully raise her kids.

Fetal development can stop for many reasons and the fetus can die inside the pregnant doe. If a live healthy kid is behind the dead fetus, labor contractions will not occur, both kids will die, and the doe will die from toxins produced by the decaying fetuses inside her. The producer needs to learn the warning signs of a doe in the early stages of labor who doesn't soon give birth and know how to get those kids out. See this writer's article entitled Health Problems of Pregnant and Lactating Does on the Articles page.

The doe should pass her afterbirth within hours after delivering all her kids. Retained afterbirth is life-threatening. Afterbirth is not considered "retained" for at least twelve (12) hours after kidding. If the producer is absolutely positive that the doe has not passed the placental material and 12 to 24 hours has passed since she kidded (remember, she -- or your dogs -- may have eaten it), then a 2 cc injection of lutalyse should be given to clean her out. Do not pull on the afterbirth hanging from her vaginal opening; those cotyledons inside the uterus must separate from the placenta naturally or she will likely die. Don't be alarmed if the doe sloughs a bloody discharge for seven to ten days after kidding. The "ten-day ickies" is the generic term for describing how birthing residues are cleansed from her body.

If a doe aborts or has a dead kid inside her, the producer should have a necropsy done on the dead kid to find out why. An organism may exist within your herd which could affect other pregnant does and the health of your entire herd. Refrigerate (do not freeze) the kid's body and as much of the afterbirth as possible and deliver it to your vet for immediate examination and analysis.

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. Acknowledgement must also be made that the articles were first published in GOAT RANCHER Magazine, for which Suzanne Gasparotto writes exclusively. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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