PREPARING FOR KIDDING

Preparing for kidding should start when does are first placed with a buck for breeding. Good management practices -- proper feeding, clean water, fresh hay, dry pens, suitable bedding -- are part of the larger picture. The must do's cited in this article will put in place tools that the producer needs for kidding to go more smoothly and with less illness and death. This author's website has an Articles page with information on topics related to goat medications, supplies, diseases/illnesses, nutrition, and management. Take advantage of the knowledge provided and contact this writer via email or telephone for additional assistance. Although not a vet, the author has many years of experience in raising meat goats, writes exclusively for Goat Rancher Magazine, hosts several meat-goat discussion groups on the Internet (including ChevonTalk and GoatER, both of which are on Yahoogroups), and each October offers a one-of-a-kind meat-goat educational program GoatCamp™ at Onion Creek Ranch near Lohn, Texas.

Readying the Facilities

Establish kidding/bonding pens for those problem births which inevitably occur. Five-foot sections of lightweight tubular metal with 4 inch by 4 inch panels welded to them and a gate in one side panel work well.They assemble and break down easily and can be set up in different configurations by removing dividing panels to make larger pens. This writer's kidding/bonding pens were purchased from Northeast Gate Company in Paris, Texas, but there are many manufacturers whose names can be found on the Internet or who advertise in Goat Rancher Magazine.

Provide shelter from wind, rain, and very cold weather. The Articles page contains a Fencing & Pens article. Provide a place where kids can sleep away from dams so they don't get injured by other moms and they don't get crushed. A shed with the inside walls lined with railroad ties at ground level and a narrow bench built above the ties provides a good place for kids to hide. They can get off the ground and sleep on the railroad ties, while dams sleep on the bench above or on the ground near them. The bench needs to be low enough that moms cannot crawl under it. 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, read the labels and talk with your vet about products safe for use around goats. Amdro is the ant killer used at Onion Creek Ranch.

Clean 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, consider using 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 stand a lot of 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 may 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. Special provisions must be made during freezing weather to provide warm water to both dam and kids. Learning to think like a goat will help prevent injuries and deaths. Goats are extremely curious animals and this curiosity can get them into life-threatening trouble.

Do not overcrowd goats. Goats require more space per individual than most other species of livestock. 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 even 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. Subsequent articles will explain how each item is used and when. Items in this first section can be purchased at your local WalMart or drug store.

• Rectal thermometer - digital (do not fail to buy this item)
• Hydrogen peroxide
• 70% Isopropyl alcohol
• Triple Antibiotic Cream
• Towels - cloth
• Towels - paper
• Q-tips
• baby aspirin
• ant killer (livestock safe)
• Mentholatum
• Fleet's baby enemas
• Milk of Magnesia
• wasp spray
• duct tape
• petroleum jelly
• cotton
• bleach
• ear syringe
• Pepto Bismol
• molasses (jar type), Karo corn syrup, corn oil, coffee
• KY jelly
• Benadryl liquid
• splint materials and tape
• heating pad
• chewable vitamin C
• Tagamet
• baking soda
• pistol-grip hair dryer
• infant gas relief drops
• sugar
• gentian violet
• Camphophenique
• Orasol oral anesthethic gel
• paper and pens for record keeping

From a mail-order house (Jeffers, Register Distributing) or local co-op:

• Weak kid syringe and stomach tube plus extra stomach tubes (do not fail to buy this item)
• ReSorb electrolyte powder packets
• Procaine penicillin injectable
• Sulfadimethoxine 12.5% liquid drinking water solution (DiMethox)
• Spectam Scour-Halt
• 7% strong Tincture of Iodine
• Propylene glycol
• Epinephrine injectable
• ToDay (cephapirin sodium) mastitis infusion tubes
• C&D anti-toxin injectable (another absolutely essential item)
• latex disposable exam gloves
• 60 cc syringe and 18 gauge needle
• 1 cc syringes
• 22 gauge x 3/4 inch needles (poly hub)
• 3 cc syringes Luer lock and Luer slip
• 6 cc and 12 cc syringes Luer lock and Luer slip
• blood stop powder
• Nolvasan Interuterine tube and pipettes
• Prichard teats
• Toxiban
• tetanus anti-toxin injectable
• CD/T vaccine injectable
• vet wrap
• colostrum replacer (not "supplement")
• reflector heat lamps with bulb guards
• 200 W clear incandescent light bulbs
• goat milk replacer (not soy based)
• 50% dextrose solution
• Neomycin sulfate
• Entrolyte oral calf nutrient powder (not Entrolyte HE)
• Lixotinic or Red Cell
• Betadine surgical scrub
• Betadine solution
• CMPK or MFO
• De-wormers ( do not use Valbazen on pregnant does)
• Ferrodex 100 injectable
• Goat Guard Probiotic Paste (Register Distributing)
• GoatAde (Register Distributing)
• Water pails -- one- or two-gallon with handles
• SWAT fly control
• Toss n Trap fly traps
• Fescue-balancer mineral (if tall fescue grass grows in your area)
• Formalin (10% buffered formaldehyde)
• Fortified Vitamin B Complex injectable
• Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL injectable (LA 200 or equivalent)

Make an adult goat stomach tube with funnel attached and PVC pipe to thread the tube through; see this author's article on Stomach Tubing on the Articles page. 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 bag purchases.

From your vet or vet supply house:

• Banamine injectable
• Nuflor injectable
• Excenel RTU injectable
• Lactated Ringers solution
• Dopram V
• Oxytocin injectable
• Lutalyze injectable
• Dexamethazone injectable
• Vitamin B 12 injectable
• Thiamine (Vit B 1) injectable
• Baytril 100 injectable
• Sulfadimethoxazine with Trimethoprim oral solution
• Metachlopromide oral solution
• BoSe injectable
• Endosorb oral suspension
• Gentocin spray

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.

TO REPEAT: When these items are needed, there is no time to go get them. So buy them NOW. Designate a refrigerator specifically for goat supplies that require refrigeration. Designate 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 (in most cases) 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 labelled. This writer stickers all medications with date purchased, from whom, and price for future reference and replacement. Be prepared for your first kidding emergency.

Preparing Does for Kidding

If abortions have been an issue in the herd, consider injecting each doe with Oxytetracycline 200 mg/mL before placing them with a buck and every 40 days thereafter until each doe gives birth. This writer has several articles on her website dealing with abortion diseases and how to handle them.

One month before the first doe is expected to kid, de-worm all pregnant does. Do not use Valbazen; it can induce abortions. At the same time, 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 lasts until their immune systems start limited functioning at around one month of age. Clean the does' systems of coccidia parasites by either dosing them orally or in their sole water source for five consecutive days with either Albon or its generic equivalent Sulfadimethoxine 12.5% drinking water solution. CoRid is another product for this purpose, but it is a thiamine inhibitor -- don't use it unless there is no other option. Another plus is that both Albon and Sulfadimethoxine 12.5% drinking water solution contain an antibiotic to handle secondary infections.

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 very serious diseases 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 pregnant does.

If feeding alfalfa or other legume hay, gradually discontinue feeding it and don't offer any kind of legume hay during the last four weeks of gestation. Legume hay (alfalfa and peanut are examples) are high in calcium. As parturition (kidding) 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" -- not really a *fever* at all) can occur. Hypocalcemia can be 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). The time for extra grain is when the doe has kids on the ground and is making lots of milk (lactating).

So . . . . with shelter in place, proper hay and grain and minerals available, supplies at the ready, and does in top condition, LET THE KIDDING BEGIN!

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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