PREGNANCY COMPLICATION

Your doe is pregnant and all is well so far. What problems might she encounter?

Vaginal discharges/abortions

Red, brown or bad-smelling discharges are not normal and may indicate early termination of the pregnancy. Abortions can be caused by many different things, including interruption of the fetal blood supply when hit by another goat, poor nutrition (insufficient energy), stress brought on by being moved or having feed changed or becoming ill, abortion diseases, ingesting poisonous plants, fever, surgery, malformation of the fetus during development, or administration of labor-inducing drugs like Dexamethazone.

In most cases, the drug of choice to attempt to stop an abortion is injectable oxytetracycline (LA 200, Biomycin or equivalent) given sub-cutaneously (SQ). If the producer is not successful in stopping the abortion, then a single injection of 2 cc's Lutalyse (prostaglandin) given IM is necessary to clean her out so that infection does not cause her death.

Ketosis (Pregnancy Toxemia)

Ketosis is a pregnancy-related illness in does that can occur either right before or shortly after kidding. Ketosis is the result of producers not providing proper nutrition for pregnant does. The bred female does not receive adequate energy to feed both her and her kids in utero, so either just before or immediately after she kids, her body begins to draw upon its reserves so that she can provide milk for her offspring. As her own body tissues begin to starve, deadly ketones are produced as a by-product.

Treatment is simple. Oral administration of propylene glycol, molasses or Karo syrup is necessary. Dosage is based upon weight of the animal.

Prevention is easy. Feed the doe properly during gestation as well as after kidding. Bringing a doe back from a bout of ketosis is difficult, and death too often results.

Periparturient Edema

During the last six weeks or thereabouts of a pregnancy, a doe may develop Periparturient Edema. "Edema" is fluid accumulation within the tissues underneath the skin that both irritates and causes swelling.

Onset can be subtle, often beginning with the doe's walking as if her feet hurt (tender-footed). This symptom is followed by a gradual swelling in the lower part of the front legs and usually progresses to the lower half of the rear limbs.

The doe will become listless; however, unlike Ketosis or other rumen-related illnesses, she does not lose her appetite. Because walking is painful, she will prefer to sit rather than stand. Moaning and groaning sounds give vocal evidence of her discomfort. Initial symptoms are so generalized that it is easy for the producer to mistakenly diagnose the condition as Founder or Ketosis.

Periparturient Edema can occur in females who have previously kidded without problems and does not necessarily recur in future pregnancies. It is usually appears in a doe who is carrying multiple large fetuses.

The precise cause is unknown, but some veterinarians suspect that the unborn kids are taking more out of the female nutritionally than her system can readily replace.

Edema is associated with increased blood pressure, decreases in blood proteins and/or blockages in the lymph system (one of the body's primary filtration mechanisms).

The first diagnostic step is to check fecals for worms. A heavy worm load can bring on Periparturient Edema. De-worm the doe again, even if she has been recently de-wormed. (Note: Do NOT use Valbazen or Tramisol de-wormers on pregnant does.)

At the present time, supportive care is all that can be done to help a pregnant doe suffering from Periparturient Edema. Much research needs to be done in this area.

Keep the doe as comfortable as possible, provide her with proper levels of nutrition, and make her get up and walk a short distance several times each day until she delivers the kids. No special diet or supplements are required. Do not radically change her diet. Milk production should not be affected.

When parturition (kidding) occurs, be available to help the doe stand and feed her kids during their first 24 to 48 hours of life. After that timeframe, the swelling should begin to go away, and standing will not make her uncomfortable.

Prolonged gestation

Normal gestation is 147 to 155 days. If the doe goes over term (155 days), the producer either calculated wrong or she may have dead kids inside her. In extremely rare cases, a doe may breed in two heat cycles, delivering kids approximately 21 days apart.

Incorrect positioning of kids

Normal positioning for birthing is either (a) head and both front legs extended, or (b) both back legs extended (breech). All other positions are abnormal and require manual manipulation. Learning how to do this is a separate article in itself, but here are a few suggestions. It is helpful for the doe to remain standing, with her front legs "downhill" from her back legs, thereby allowing gravity to assist in re-arranging the kids inside her. When the producer goes inside the doe and gets the kid in proper position for pulling, remember to pull outward and downward, following the angle of the birth canal.

Kids that are too big present birthing problems, sometimes requiring C-section. Overfeeding the doe during pregnancy or mating a smaller-breed doe to a larger-breed buck can cause this condition.

Pregnant does need a slightly rising level of nutrition during gestation and then a significant increase in feed once they have kidded and are producing milk.

Congenital and development defects

Most birth defects never arise because the doe's body either reabsorbs the embryo or aborts the fetus. Birth defects that the producer actually see include cleft palate and mummification, the latter of which is either alive or kid whose limbs are "frozen" in place and therefore unmoveable. A mummified kid may actually have to be taken apart limb by limb to get it out of the doe. A kid born alive with these conditions should be humanely euthanized (put down).

The breeding can be repeated and the producer can have a healthy kid born from the same dam and sire; however, it is this writer's suggestion to avoid such re-matings.

Ringwomb

Incomplete dilation of the cervix usually requires veterinary intervention. Manual manipulation of the cervical opening should be done by an experienced individual. This condition may be the result of insufficient hormonal and/or mineral levels.

Uterine rupture

This condition can occur at any time during pregnancy and is usually the result of being hit. Abortion is the most likely result. If the producer knows the precise delivery date and that time is close, a veterinarian may be able to perform surgery and save the kids.

Uterine torsion

Repositioning the uterus is the only solution to this problem. Suspending the doe by her hind legs while trying to manipulate the uterus is the producer's alternative if he can't get the doe to a vet for a C-section. Veterinary assistance is highly recommended.

Cloudburst pregnancy

Female goats sometimes cycle, mate and display all the attributes of being pregnant, but in fact are not bred. The uterus fills with large amounts of fluid but no fetus or placenta develops. This condition goes by several names — "false pregnancy," "cloudburst pregnancy," "pseudopregnancy," and medically speaking, "hydrometra."

When a doe spontaneously aborts a pseudopregnancy, the material coming from her body may be visually indistinguishable from early-stage fetal abortion. As the name implies, a cloudburst of liquid materials comes out of the doe's body. It appears that external circumstances — oftentimes induced by the producer — are the reason that hydrometra occurs in female goats.

The precise causes of false pregnancy are not completely understood, though several conditions have been found to be involved. Infectious diseases such as Toxoplasmosis and Border Disease may induce hydrometra in does, and certain plant materials that contain phytoestrogens can be the culprit. Consult a list of plant materials toxic to goats to find out which ones to avoid

A more common cause of hydrometra is the artificial induction of does into heat by producers who use gonadotrophin-releasing hormones. Chemically altering estrus (when a doe comes into heat) is high on the list of causes of hydrometra. Most breeds of goats, particularly the dairy breeds, come into season as the days begin to shorten; forcing a doe to breed when her body says it is not the right time can result in a pseudopregnancy.

Hypocalcemia ("Milk Fever")

Milk Fever is not really a fever but is actually hypocalcemia. This "mis-naming" of the illness makes diagnosis somewhat confusing.

If a doe is going to become hypocalcemic, it will occur around kidding time. She will become uninterested in eating, may be mildly bloated or constipated, have difficulty walking and/or rising from a sitting position, have a decrease in body temperature, and may have weak labor contractions. Sometimes the only symptom is hind foot dragging. Rear body parts feel cold to the touch. If the doe cannot get up, set her upright on the sternum and pull her head to one side; this position should reduce the possibility of aspirating rumen contents that may be forced backward by bloating.

The illness is difficult to explain in layman's terms because it involves hormonal changes that occur in the mobilization of calcium within the doe's body when she begins to produce milk. Certain feeds rich in calcium, notably alfalfa and peanut (legume) hays, are believed to be the culprits.

These feeds contain calcium in excess of what the doe needs at kidding time. This excess calcium sets off a chain reaction causing calcium to be deposited into her bones when her body needs to be releasing it for use in milk production. Simply put, Milk Fever is a failure of the body's system to activate calcium mobilization and not a deficiency of calcium reserves.

The best way to prevent Milk Fever is to lower calcium intake during the last 30 days of pregnancy. In most herds, this can be done by eliminating legume hays (alfalfa and peanut) from the doe's diet. This puts the doe's body in a slightly negative calcium position, allowing the hormonal system to mobilize calcium reserves. Normal kidding is accompanied by very mild hypocalcemia, which is not noticeable if the calcium balance in the doe's body is within proper limits.

If legume hays are the only source of forage for feeding does in the last 30 days of pregnancy, then no calcium supplements should be fed. Pregnant does on grass hay need to be fed a grain supplement containing 0.5% dicalcium phosphate or equivalent. Producers are reminded that any changes in feeding regimen must be done gradually or rumen problems are likely to occur.

Treatment involves oral drenches of CMPK or MFO, two inexpensive over-the-counter products that are readily available from feed stores or through mail order houses like Register Distributing (www.goatsupplies.com) and Jeffers (1-800-JEFFERS).

If caught early, Milk Fever is very treatable. If allowed to progress untreated, Milk Fever can result in enterotoxemia, mastitis, retained placenta and death.

Mastitis

Mastitis is essentially an infected udder. Does of all goat breeds can contract mastitis, but it is more often seen in heavy milkers. Since bacteria that cause mastitis enter the udder through the teats, the cleanliness of pens and feeding areas has a significant impact on whether mastitis develops in a herd. As a doe ages, the likelihood of mastitis occuring may increase, simply because her udder has received rough wear by kids over the years. There is some evidence that mastitis can be hereditary, but it is fair to say that it is mostly acquired via external sources.

Mastitis prevents a lactating doe from providing quality milk for her kids, creating a "bottle baby" situation. The udder gets swollen, hard and hot. The milk, if any, is stringy, spotted with blood, and unuseable.

Mastitis is not responsive to injectable antibiotics because the medicine cannot get to the source of the infection. The udder is an interwoven mass of fibrous tissue that is walled off from the rest of the doe's body. Never directly inject a doe's udder with a needle; it will kill her.

Treatment involves removing the kid from its mother and bottle feeding it or getting another dam to nurse it. Occasionally, a mild case of mastitis will permit treatment and still allow the kid to nurse, particularly if the infection is in only one teat. The udder is walled off into two parts, each supplying one teat with milk.

Milk out the infected udder(s) and infuse each infected teat with an intramammary medication like ToDay (cephapirin sodium) or similar product for at least two and preferably for four to five consecutive days. Massage the udder to move the medication around inside as much as possible. Bag Balm can be applied to the outside of the udder for ease in massaging and for the doe's comfort. Some does run fever with mastitis, so fever-reducing medication should be considered.

To keep the infection from going throughout her body (systemic), use injectable antibiotics for five consecutive days. This producer favors Nuflor or Baytril 100, both of which are prescription medications.

Since it is virtually impossible to kill all of the bacteria inside the udder, mastitis is usually chronic, recurring with each kidding. For this reason, mastitis is generally a reason for culling a doe in a meat-goat herd.

No milk

Occasionally a doe does not produce any or insufficient milk for her offspring. Sometimes it takes several hours after kidding occurs for the doe's milk to "come down." Passing of the placental material and ingestion of it by the doe is positively correlated with milk production in some females. If the doe has been previously productive, the problem is either Mastitis or nutritionally based. A freshened doe that is producing insufficient quantities of milk and does not have Mastitis should be put on a diet high in legume (alfalfa or peanut) hay and extra grain rations, particularly if she is low in the pecking order of the herd and struggles to get adequate quantities of food. If the problem recurs from pregnancy to pregnancy, the doe should be culled.

Retained placenta

Placental tissue ("afterbirth") should be expelled by the doe within six to 12 hours of kidding — sooner is better, because the cervix begins to close, making uterine access unavailable. An oxytocin injection may be necessary but must be given before the cervix closes. An intra-uterine application of antibiotics in either bolus or cream infusion form is recommended to prevent Metritis (uterine infection that can quickly evolve into blood poisoning and death).

A doe may eat the placental material, so be aware of the circumstances surrounding the kidding. Do not pull on the placental material; let it come out on its own, even if she drags it behind her. If the problem persists after the cervix has closed, one injection of 2 cc's Lutalyse (prostaglandin) given into the muscle (IM) is appropriate.

Retained placenta can be caused by abortion diseases like Toxoplasmosis and Chlamydiosis or can be a function of selenium deficiency in the doe's diet.

After any abnormal or difficult kidding, the producer is encouraged to glove up and go inside to manually check for undelivered live or dead kids. Pregnancy in livestock is accompanied by great risks; the doe doesn't receive extensive pre-natal care as does a pregnant human female.

The writer hopes that this brief accounting will make the producer aware of the potential dangers that a doe faces with each pregnancy.

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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