Kidding Season Checklist

It's kidding season again and it is always good to review some things to ensure a successful kidding season.

30 days prior to kidding:

1. Administer Bo-Se or selenium paste to the doe if you suspect selenium deficiencies in your area.  Kids that are born weak are often selenium deficient.
2. Give CD &T vaccinations to the mother so that she may pass immunity to her kids via colostrum.
3. Trim feet now before doe gets too heavy.  
4. Kids begin their growth spurt now so the doe has increased nutritional needs.  Gradually increase their grain rations and make sure the does have access to a loose mineral daily. I also feed kelp to supply trace minerals, especially iodine.
5. Gather and order any kidding supplies that are needed such as:

           Nipples for bottle feeding,
           Towels and  puppy pads for catching and drying off babies,
           Iodine and a small container for dipping navels,
           Dental floss for tying off umbilical cords if they don't break,
           Bulb syringe for clearing out mucous from the nose and mouth of kids,
           Baby monitor if desired,
           Phone numbers or contact info for a phone-a-friend or vet,
           "First Arrival" paste for the babies if desired,
            Powdered or frozen colostrum for emergencies (death of doe or no milk),
            Molassas and corn syrup to make up hot drink for doe during and after kidding,
            A box or large bag for carrying supplies to the barn,
            Bo-Se and syringes to administer injection to a weak kid,
            Wormer to deworm doe after kidding. Worms flourish during stress of kidding,
            Coccidia preventative medication for the kids.

As the kidding date approaches:

1. Prepare a clean kidding stall. I sprinkle the bare floor with a dust that kills mites, and I cover this with and mixture of diatomacious earth and lime.  This is then covered with a thick layer of straw or hay.  
2. Check condition of doe frequently to make sure she is eating and acting normally. 
3. As the due date approaches check tail ligaments.  When the two pencil-sized ligaments that lie on either side of the tail go soft  expect the doe to kid within 24 hours.
4. Move doe to kidding stall and supply her with a small bucket of water.  Kids have been known to drown in buckets they can't get out of. 
5. Hang heat lamp at a safe height if the weather is cold.  It helps them get dry and helps keep them from chilling.
6. When the doe appears restless, starts pawing the ground and bleating, then the doe is entering the first stages of labor.  This is when I bring all my supplies to the barn and lay in the straw with my girl and comfort and talk to her.  It is a great opportunity to bond with your doe.
7. Observe her during labor to make sure everything is proceeding normally.  I don't interfere Unless the doe has been in hard labor for a while and it is obviously making no progress.   Try to be patient though.  Your instincts will help you decide when intervention is needed.  A doe in extended labor will often benefit from a drink of hot molassas water when it is offered.  Recipe below:

          Hot drink for doe during and after kidding (for energy and electrolytes)
                32 oz warm to hot water
                8 Tbsp molassas
                8 Tbsp light corn syrup 
                2 tsp salt
                2 tsp baking soda
                
Related posts from 2012
Gettin' Ready for Babies: http://intermittentfarmreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/gettin-ready-for-babies.html

Kidding Preparations - Part 2:  http://intermittentfarmreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/kidding-preparations-part-2.html

Waiting....for babies

 After Monday's ordeal with Phantom's scur, I was very happy to spend a pleasant day yesterday preparing for the arrival of 12 to 14 babies.  Several of our does are now officially due to kid and I spend most of my nights half awake listening to the them paw and rustle around via my baby monitor in the barn.  Fortunately they do tend to sleep at night but I imagine it is hard to get comfortable with all those babies plotting and scheming to get liberated from their close quarters in utero.

Some of the day was spent finishing up preparations in the sunroom adjacent to the kitchen where bottle babies will live for a few weeks.  There was something comforting about aroma of  last night's dinner of sausage and cabbage co-mingled with pine shavings and hay.


I also cleaned all the old bedding out of the stalls and let them dry out with help from the sun and a good breeze.  I put down lime and covered it all with fresh hay so now I'm WAITING!  The does didn't seem too impressed to be in there so where did I find them this morning?

Out side eating of course.  Don't they know I'm WAITING!!











Heidi of course was helping as usual.

Gettin' Ready For Babies - Part 2

Yesterday was a departure from the mild weather we have enjoyed for the past week or so.  Because we are only 3 weeks or so away from a kid explosion, I spent part of the day sorting through my kidding supplies and staging them in our sunroom so they'll be ready to go when needed.

All births are attended by me and Don so that we can be sure each baby gets dried off, treated as needed, and is observed nursing to get colostrum which is only absorbed by the kid during the first few hours of life.  When they arrive in three's, it can be a very busy time for us and the new goat moms.  I hate to jinx my luck, but last year all kids were born healthy and during the daytime.  They also managed to pick the sunny mild afternoons that were sandwiched in between some pretty nasty weather.  The does were very considerate.  I hope it is the same this year.

Many of the supplies are stored in a tote that comes to the barn with me and it contains the followingitems:

• puppy-training pads to catch the kids as they are born so they don't touch the bedding until navel cords are treated with iodine,
• towels to dry off the kid, especially important when it is cold,
• dental floss to tie off umbilical cords,
• iodine to dip the navel cord to prevent bacterial infections,
• a film container to put iodine in,
• A bottle of BO-SE (selenium supplement).  If a kid appears weak and unable to stand it is often due to a selenium deficiency so an injection of this supplement is given to the newborn.

Emergency supplies, are always with me in case the doe needs assistance with her delivery.  These include a lubricant and sterile gloves in case I have to physically go in and assist positioning kids into the birth canal.  I also have a kid puller which is basically a rubber "snare" in case I can't find and turn the kids with my fingers.



The doe also needs a pick-me-up after all that hard work.  If she is just tired but still active then she gets hot bucket of water that contains molassas and karo syrup with salt and soda added.  Does will often drink up to 1/2 gallon of this immediately after kidding to restore their depleted energy reserves.  We also have treatments on hand in case she develops a metabolic imbalance due to the stresses of pregnancy and kidding.

Although most kids come along just fine and they immediately start nursing, there may be an occasional kid that may be too weak to nurse.  If they don't respond quickly to a BO-SE injection and appear to have no sucking reflex then the kid must be tube fed colostrum immediately.  I keep a feeding tube handy along with dried colostrum in case I can't manage to milk colostrum the mother for some reason.  Very occasionally a doe kids and develops an udder later.  Use of a feeding tube will usually save a kid that might otherwise die.  

Fortunately if the does are well cared for, most births proceed easily.  Just like having insurance, I prefer to be prepared for the worst, all the while hoping that most of the supplies that I have on hand will never be needed.

Gettin' Ready for Babies

January was was an unusually mild month here in WV.  It allowed us to work outside on a variety of projects that generally must be postponed until spring.  The end of January also signals that it is time to get ready for the impending arrival of our Nigerian Dwarf goat babies in early March.  A fact of life is that the does need to have babies if we are to have milk.  Goats are pregnant for 5 months and are now in their last month of pregnancy.  This is a critical time in the does life as well as ours.


 The kids grow very rapidly during the last month of gestation therefore, the health and nutritional needs of the doe must be attended to.  Feed rations that were reduced when the does were dried off (from milk) in December are gradually increased during this last month of pregnancy. The does get additional loose minerals and kelp to meet their increased need for trace elements.  It is also important to maintain proper calcium ratios so that the doe's calcium reserves are sufficient for her needs as well as that of her rapidly gowing babies.  I vaccinated each doe this week (approximately 30 days before birth) to maximize immunity passed from dam to kid via colostrum. They are vaccinated for Enterotoxemia (a deadly infection of the intestinal tract especially for young kids) and for Tetanus.  I trimmed feet so that during the last month when the does are extremely heavy, their feet can support their weight preventing undue strain on other parts of the body.  I avoid trimming feet much later than this because it is difficult for them to stand on three legs easily.

Goats commonly have multiple kids and I'm predicting that we will have at least two sets of triplets again this year. It is easy to feel the kids moving around now and the does are resting more.  It is also time to check on kidding supplies and order any items that are needed well ahead of the expected kidding times.  I hang an inexpensive baby monitor in the barn a few weeks before kidding so that I can monitor the herd at night in case there is a night birth.  I make sure I have a large tote filled with old towels and puppy-training pads to catch the babies as they arrive.  I also have emergency birthing supplies on hand in case a doe has difficulties.  BO-SE (an injectable selenium supplement) is on hand so I can administer it to any babies that appear weak.  

If all goes well this next month, then we'll have lots of  cute kids screaming their way into this world the first week of March.


Also check out Gettin' Ready for Babies - Part 2:
http://intermittentfarmreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/kidding-preparations-part-2.html