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 and routine management practices..
As the date approaches the doe will begin to develop and 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 read to kid has begun. This usually can happen anywhere for a week away to a few days away. The last few signs are mucos, either clear or milky white 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 seperate 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 notoriosly 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 immediatly 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 squating of standing and leaning. This keeps the baby clean and helps later with clean up. I wrap the baby doe 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 umbillical 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, 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 and 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 withdrawl 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 metheod. 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 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 they kids can nurse. There is much debate on this entire topic and I will let you decide on your own. If you do let the kids nurse then make sure they are drinking enough by putting the doe in a milkstand 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.
shermanfarmgoat@aol.com
Sherman Farm Dairy Goats
Fairfield, ME