Goat Kidding - Post Birth Kid Care

Supplies for caring for kid after:

• Nipples and bottle and/or multi-kid feeder
• Milk replacer
• Bottle brush
• Kid coats or blankets if needed
• Dimethox - treating coccidiosis in kids
• Dog house or kid hut
• Mo'milk mix - may aid in improving lactaction of the doe

Normal things that happen after the birth:

• The bottoms of the baby's hooves will "shed" their protective white coating right after birth.
• The kid may poop and pee right after birth, even before he has his first meal.
• The kid's first few poops will be soft sticky "black tar".
• The kid will poop "yellow mustard poops" for at least a week after birth until he begins to eat solid food.
• Some mothers are better than other at cleaning their babies. You may need to clean the kids butts off on occasion. Make sure no hardened poop plugs up their anus.
• Sometimes it takes a couple days for the babies legs to straighten out completely and/or work properly if this seems to be the case you may want to give them a Selenium Supplement
• There is usually one afterbirth per kid, but sometimes there is only one per kidding even if there are two kids. If you don't find the afterbirth, the mother probably ate it. Watch the doe for any signs of her not feeling well in case the afterbirth was retained.
  
• Starting after the kidding, the mother will begin to "leak" blood and birthing products for about a couple of weeks.

POST-KIDDING PREPARATION

Care of the kid.

1. Clear the newborn kid's nose and mouth of any fluid . Then dry it off if the mother is not doing so. This is a critical bonding time for them if you are leaving the kids with the doe. If the kid seems weak or chilled use a blow dryer or rub vigorously with a dry towel. Place the baby in a box of clean straw and put a heat lamp on it until it is dry if seperating. Kids should be trying to stand up within 10-15 minutes.
2. Dip the naval with 7% strong iodine. Use a little cup or film canister and keep it off your hands. It will dry them out. Repeat twice within the first hour to make sure the entire umbilical area is covered. If the umbilical cord is bleeding, tie it off with dental floss or navel clamp about 1 and 1/2 inches from the body. If the umbilical cord is too long, tear it off about 1 and 1/2 inches long. Use your fingers to tear it. Do Not Cut with scissors as it tends to bleed more. Redip with strong iodine.
3. The newborn kid will need colostrum in the first 4 hours. Keep coaxing the newborn to nurse. They may do better if it is quiet and there are no distractions. Let the baby have all the colostrum it will drink. If it refuses or drinks very little, wait 1/2 hour or so and try again. In subsequent feedings continue to feed colostrum until the baby has consumed as much as it can, and then switch to regular milk. Newborn kids should be fed 4 times a day for the first couple of days and then you can cut back to 3 times a day until they are consuming a least a pint at a feeding. Then you can cut them down to 2 times a day if you need to, more feedings is still better on the kids digestive tract.

   Giving new babies their first bottle(s) is sometimes a trial. Just be patient and keep, trying until you get the baby to nurse. Most of them will start sucking right away but you may have to pry their mouth open to get the nipple in. Just remember, the baby is programmed to reach up to nurse its mother so you need to elevate the bottle and make the baby reach for it. Keep some tension on the nipple by pulling the bottle slightly away from the kid. Pulling away helps straighten the neck and allows the milk to flow into the proper area of the stomach. Do not push the nipple into the baby's mouth.
   

   After the babies are on regular milk, give them one to two pints of warm milk in the morning and one to two pints of warm milk in the evening. It is best to feed them at about the same time every day. DO NOT OVER FEED! The babies are greedy little pigs and will eagerly drink somebody else's bottle, so keep track of who has been fed. Too much milk will make them scour. Just be sure to keep everything clean. 16oz pop bottles work fine and are cheap. Pritchard nipples seem to work well for younger kids and then they can be graduated to another type of nipple as they get bigger.

4. It may be important depending on your area to establish a regular prevention program to control coccidiosis in the baby kids.

5. The babies acquire immunity to most diseases from their mother in utero and from the colostrum and are protected for the first 30 days their life. After that they need their own vaccinations to remain protected. Assuming the doe received the requisite vaccinations while pregnant the babies will need vaccinations/shots at 30 days. For vaccinations required please see here.

Vaccination requirements - goat kids

The only universally recommended vaccination for goat kids is CD+T. Clostridium perfringins types C and D and tetanus, caused by Clostridium tetani. Does should be vaccinated 2 to 4 weeks prior to parturition in order to pass immunity onto their offspring through colostrum. Females giving birth for the first time should be vaccinated twice in late pregnancy, about four weeks apart. Antibodies received from the colostrum will protect kids for about two months, if offspring have ingested adequate colostrum. If kids do not get a good amount of colostrum (drink from mother only once or not at all) they should be given same vaccination schedule as below for kids with unvaccinated mothers. Kids should receive their first CD-T vaccination when they are 6 to 8 weeks old, followed by a booster 2 to 4 weeks later (some resources say that a second booster (three total shots) should be given 4 weeks later).

Kids whose dams were not vaccinated for C and D can be vaccinated with some success at two to three days of age and again in two weeks. However, later vaccinations will be more successful since colostral antibodies interfere with vaccinations at very young ages. A better alternative may be to vaccinate offspring from non-vaccinated dams at 1 to 3 weeks, with a booster 3 to 4 weeks later. Anti-toxins can be kept on hand for immediate short-term immunity if dams were not vaccinated or in the event of disease outbreak or vaccine failure. Kids whose dams were not vaccinated for tetanus should be given the tetanus anti-toxin at the time of docking, castrating, and disbudding, especially if elastrator bands are used. Rams, bucks, and does should be boostered annually with CD-T. Does should always have their vaccinations 4-6 weeks prior to kidding. Three way vaccines (just CD+T) are recommended over eight way (contains blackleg and other diseases) since they may cause more of an immune response and bad reactions and it is unlikely that the goats will be infected with the other diseases to which the vaccine provides immunity.

Vaccine instructions should always be followed and I do not recommend giving IM vaccines SQ or vice versa, several people believe that there are no adverse reactions to doing this and do practice this way. I believe that there are reasons behind the methods of injection and they should be given according to the instructions to prevent any adverse reactions.

Other recommended shots:
Bo-se: 1/4 cc to all newborn kids, recommended if your area is selenium deficient. See image map provided.

Other vaccinations available:
Pneumonia - Pasteurella Multocida, Mannheimia haemolytica: Vaccination currently on market causes temporary limping in goats. Vaccinate adults with two doses 4 weeks apart. Kids vaccinated at under three months of age should be revaccinated at 4-6 months.

Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) : Some goat producers use sheep vaccine containing this bacterin to vaccinate goats. It has been known to cause adverse reactions however and is not recommended by the FDA for goat use.

Chlamydia and Campylobacter Antigen - Recommended for areas where disease is common in goats. If needed vaccinate does one month prior to breeding. Used "off label" for goats and appears somewhat affective. Side effects include: Muscle soreness and stiffness, can cause abortion if vaccinated during first 28-45 days of pregnancy.

Leptospirosis Bacterin: Recommended for areas where the disease is common in goats.Vaccinate one month prior to breeding

Sore mouth (Contagious Ecthyma): not recommended unless herd already has soremouth present. Live vaccine will give animals soremouth at time of herd owners choosing. Caution should be used when giving this vaccine. Do not use in newborn kids or sick goats.

Foot rot: Recommended only in wet/swampy areas and in conjunction to other preventative measures to avoid footrot. Can be used with culling, foot trimming, foot soaking etc. to REDUCE the incidence of foot rot, does not prevent

Rabies: Risk is minimal to sheep and goats but vaccine could be recommended in areas with a high potential for spread of disease such as wooded areas that contain lots of racoons, skunks, foxes, or other carriers. No rabies vaccine is currently licensed for goats.


Chart for kid treatments, including wormings

Give your own Subcutaneous shots

Obtain proper vaccination for the animal, make sure that the label says that it is for subcutaneous, SQ, or SC injection. Restrain the animal as little as possible. If possible clip the hair off in that area so that no bacteria off the fur is introduced when vaccinating. However, it is also accepted that for one reason or another some animals cannot be clipped. This can be done anywhere on the body that the skin is loose but between the shoulder blades tends to be best. Wet the area thoroughly with alcohol. Gently pinch a loose fold of skin upwards creating a tent in the skin. the sharpest point of the needle should be on the bottom with the hole that the "medicine" comes out of facing upward. Insert your needle (attached to the syringe) into this tent of skin. Ensure that your needle does not go throught the other side of the "tent" but stays within it. Withdraw on the plunger first to ensure that you have not hit any nerves, blood vessels, or muscle. If only air is sucked into the syringe you are ready to inject, push plunger down fully and remove needle. Congratulations you just gave your animal it's vaccination.