Mid-wifing for goats
On our farm, when we suspect that a goat is getting ready to kid, we usually place them in a kidding stall at night or even during the daylight hours if the weather is poor. This isn't always possible since some of our girls get a bit skittish when they get close to birthing time and don't want us to "check pencils," but it is nice when we can get them in the stall before birthing so we can insure a clean, safe place to kid. If we don't have them in a stall before birthing, we place them in the kidding stall as soon as the kids appear.
Usually a birth goes smoothly, but occasionally there are hiccups. Our second and third kiddings this year were both more involved and happened within two hours of each other. The rest were easy and required no assistance from us.
Since you never know when something may go awry, it is good to have certain supplies ready. We keep a number of medications and medical supplies on hand all the time, but there are a few things specific to kidding time we need to have handy when spring approaches. Old towels are a must in case you need to help stimulate breathing in a newborn, or if you need to warm one up quickly. It is also good to have milk replacer and colostrum gel in the event the kid can't nurse. We had this happen with our second kidding this year. The nanny, Helga, had 5 kids. One died shortly after birth despite all of our efforts, including mouth to mouth, and two others were premature and could not stand for several days, much less compete with their two brothers to nurse. This meant we had to bottle feed them. In most cases where a newborn is having trouble feeding, we may just give supplemental feedings but still allow the kid to stay with mom. This is always preferable as it allows the baby goat to bond with mom and siblings, and is just easier for everyone.
That's not always possible, though, so we have colostrum gel and milk replacer ready to go. The first 24 hours, mom will produce a thick substance called colostrum. It reminds me of sweetened condensed milk (in appearance - I haven't actually tasted it). It is very important to the kids as it contains essential nutrients and also boosts immunity. If a baby can't feed on its own, it is preferable to milk the momma to get colostrum from her to give to the kid, not only for the nutritional value, but also because the colostrum's unique scent will help mom and baby identify one another. If you can't milk out mom, which you won't be able to do easily if there are multiple babies born to one mom, then you can give artificial colostrum. This comes in both a powder form that you mix and feed in a bottle, or in a gel form that you can give orally. We usually hit them with a dose of the gel form and then follow up with the powdered mix for the next few days. After that, we switch to a powdered milk replacer made specifically for goats.
If you are going to bottle feed a goat kid, it is an intensive process, so be prepared. While the goat kid will bond with you in a stronger way (as you are its source of food), it is not the best for the kid, or for you, if you like sleep. The two kids we bottle fed this year kept us on a tight schedule. They needed to be fed every two hours or so for the first week, and they didn't care if it was night or day.
We kept them in a pack n' play type of "baby cage" in our house for convenience. Neither of them developed a sucking reflex for the first week, so we would have to feed them by placing our finger into their mouths and then allowing milk to flow from a syringe down our finger. It was messy, and I think we wound up with as much milk on us as the goats had in them for the first couple of days.
After about a week, they transitioned to a specialized nipple that we could screw onto a water bottle, and we continued feedings for the next 2 months, eventually getting down to just 3 feedings a day. After the first two weeks, they were moved to a sectioned off portion of our chicken coop for night and stayed in the nursery area during the day.
For most births, mom and kids will be just fine and won't require intervention. Even in easy births, though, we stay around until we see each baby nurse for the first time. We often find ourselves cheering on the baby as he/she searches for the teat. They generally know it is around the area where the leg meets the torso, but beyond that, it seems to be a blind hunt. Once they find the teat, we watch to see the nanny's reaction.
Some encourage their kids to nurse and will stand quietly and patiently, while others are more resistant and may try to knock them off by raising their leg or moving around. This is most often the case with new moms and is understandable when you consider that the bag is often tight and sore and new babies are born with teeth on the bottom! Once we see that nursing is going well, and we've gotten in some snuggles (to expose the new babies to our scent), we will let mom and baby bond for at least 24 hours in the kidding stall. After that time, they are moved into our nursery area with other moms and babies under 6 weeks old. This allows them to have less competition for resting spots and for food as they transition to eating solids in addition to nursing after about a week or so.
Other than nursing issues, the other intervention we have to prepare for is difficulty in the birthing process itself. Out 3rd kidding this year involved a first time mom who is a little on the small side.
Baby Gibson presented with his amniotic sac already ruptured, and mom labored heavily without making any progress for over 30 minutes, so at that point, I had to jump in. I had to pull firmly but gently on the front legs until he slid out. Once this was accomplished, mom and baby carried on like normal with no complications.
With our goats, one of the wild cards is how many babies a nanny will kid, so it is good to know the signs that mom is in active labor and when she is finished. We can have anywhere from one to four babies born to our nannies, with the occasional quint birth. Most of our nannies will go to a quiet place right before kidding and will lie down,but we also have nannies that kid standing up right out in the open. Regardless, right before a kid is born, a "bubble" about the size of an orange will precede the birth of each kid (this is part of the amniotic sac being pushed from the vagina). Once kidding is complete, there will be an afterbirth, and this signals the end of labor. This is important to note since it is often hard to tell if mom is finished with labor or is having difficulty requiring intervention just by looking at her. Some mother's will eat this afterbirth (it has nutrients in it and is in no way dangerous for mom to eat), while others will just let it be.
Most mothers will also clean the newborn and its umbilical cord soon after the birth. If that is done, we just check to make sure mom chewed the cord to a good length for the baby.
If not, we may trim it and then dip the cord in iodine. It will then dry out and shrivel up within a day or so, falling off a good bit later (often weeks). You never want to pull off the dried up cord - let it fall off on its own.
Once the kidding is complete and we've allowed mom and baby to bond, the only left to do is to continue to monitor that the baby is nursing and to make sure mom is cleaning the new kid properly. The first excretions (read: poop) will be black and tar-like followed by excretions that are yellow and have the consistency of caulk. The mother goat should clean the baby's anal area by licking it (I know - it's gross, but it is also necessary). If she doesn't, the fecal material can harden and block the anal opening. This would be life threatening since it would prevent the kid from defecating. If the opening becomes blocked by feces, you will need to use warm water and a wash rag to gently clean away the feces from the anal opening. Usually this only needs to be done once. As long as the baby is feeding on milk exclusively, the feces will be yellowish and pasty. Once the kid starts adding solids, the will change color and consistency, but won't start to resemble standard goat pellets until weaning begins.
If you are lucky enough to have multiple little ones on the ground at one time, you will be in for a treat. Watching baby goats playing is one of the most enjoyable activities on our farm. While lots of work, the end of kidding season is always a bittersweet time for us. We love the welcoming of new life to the farm and always hate to see it end.
We'd love to hear from you: what supplies do you keep around for kidding season?
Disclaimer: As with all of the info on our website, this post is not intended to be treated as professional medical information, but rather a sharing of our experience in raising goats.
