Pregnancy - Doe Care - part 2

This post deals with care for the doe (not kids) the day she kids and the weeks to follow.


So - she's within her due date time - 145-155 days post breeding - how do you tell when she is ready?  Things to look for -

Watch her belly - does carry kids on their right side - as they get closer to kidding kids will drop down lower in the belly - she may appear to have lost weight suddenly or be low in the belly - as the kids move into kidding position.

Dropping her milk - or milk let down in the udder - her udder will suddenly seam larger/tighter and perhaps a little shinny.  This usually only happens the same day she kids, some does may not let their milk drop until after they kid or even while kidding.  Keep checking her udder a few times a day so you can see any changes.  As she nears her kidding date her udder will most likely already be increasing in size.

Check her ligaments and watch her tail - To check her ligaments run two of your fingers down her spine (one on each side), start to taper off into a V shape after her hips down to her pin bones - ligaments feel like pencils along the sides of the base of the tail (see picture).  As she gets closer to kidding her ligaments will drop and disappear and be completely gone at the time of kidding.  Her tail will have a loose or almost dislocated look to it.

Does usually have some discharge the day of or a few days before labor.  Solid white discharge maybe seen at any time while clear discharge is usually a sign of oncoming labor.  Actual birthing time will vary from doe to doe.  You can tell when labor starts as the does start having harder contractions - her sides in front of the hips seam to hollow out - and soon after she will begin to push.

Many are hesitant to assist in kidding, however an early assistance can help greatly in preventing trouble later as labor progresses.  I prefer to assist does right away rather then wait for trouble to come.  After the doe starts to push I like to reach in just a few fingers to feel that the kid is coming in a correct position.  Clean hands and some lubricant is all that's needed -  It is much easier to fix the position of the kid before the doe starts to push heavy and it gets stuck in the birth canal.  A good position is one or both front hooves forward and the head first - it may be hard to feel the head - but just look for something sharp as kids generally have their mouths open (tongue hanging out the side) and you can feel the teeth inside.

Normal birth position 

Other birth positions to watch out for -

One front leg forward and one back - this is an ok delivery position

Both front legs forward but head turned back - not good, the head needs to be turn forward.

Breached - the kid is backwards and coming tail first - kids can be born backwards without problems - but both back legs need to come out hooves first.   For a breached birth - reach in and carefully pull up the back legs one at a time,  If possible use your hand to cover the hoof as you bring it up to prevent any injury to the uterus.

The first kid out is usually the hardest.  Watch the timing between kids - 30-40 minutes is good.  If 40 minutes has pasted and the second kid is not out yet - time to reach in again.  It's also possible for does to have a single birth.


After kidding -
Give your doe some warm water with molasses or honey in it for a quick energy boost.  Remember to worm her the day she kids and again in 10 days.   If kidding was stressful you may also give her some probiotics.  Watch for the after birth - sometimes it will come out right after kidding while other times it may take closer to 24-48 hours for it to drop.  Do not pull it out!  Doing so could result in tearing the uterus.  A tummy rub can help it pass out faster or more smoothly if complications were expected.  You can do this by bouncing the belly - stand over the doe facing the opposite way of her.  Place your arms around her and grab your hands together under her belly - like you're giving her a big hug.  Gently bounce your hands up and into her belly - starting in the middle and working your way towards her udder.

If you are bottle raising the kids milk the doe out after kidding.  I like to milk my does out 3 times a day (once every 8 hours) for the first 2 weeks.  Then I will drop it down to 2 milkings a day (once every 12 hours).  This helps prevent does from 'over uddering'  building up too much milk in the udder that the does become uncomfortable - or it may even begin to leak out.  This can cause more problems such as weakening her teat's orifices and making her more likely to pick up mastitis.

Feeding the milking doe - 
Be sure to adjust her daily grain amount to fit her milk quantity.  Most likely you were already feeding her about 1lb of grain a day when she kidded out.  Slowly increase as her milk production rises - a good starting base is to feed 1lb of grain per every 3lbs of milk the doe gives.  Some does my be harder to keep weight on and need a higher grain amount - while others seem to get fat on air.  You can play around with the amount to fit the doe.  Remember her milk quantity will continue to increase until she peaks (reaches her highest milk yield) usually between 2 and 8 weeks after kidding.  If you were not feeding grain before the doe kidded start now.  Once a doe kids out it will be harder to put weight on her while she is in milk.  Remember - any time you add or increase grain to a goats diet do so very slowly.  I use an increase rate of 1 cup every 4 days.  I feed does their grain while on the milk stand being milked - helps to keep the doe occupied and make sure she gets her full amount.

At this time there will be high demands for added calcium and protein from the does diets as her body turns food into milk.  Feeding alfalfa hay free choice is an excellent source of both.

Does will normally still have discharge - some times messy and bloody, sometimes you hardly see it at all - for up to a month after kidding.  Some does may also have runny or soft berries after kidding.  Make sure she was wormed after kidding with a wormer that works for parasites in your area.  Adding a handful of Diamond V Yeast Culture to the top of her grain once a day will ease her intestines through this time and get her back to berries faster.  I do this for the first month after kidding.


This website has a good picture guide to birth positions and ways to help.  Note the author uses a rope or kid/lamp pull - which may be helpful if you have a smaller breed like nigerians or pygmys.

http://www.gryphontor.com/showarticle.php?id=7



Frequently asked questions about kidding -
Q>  Assisted with kidding - should I give antibiotics?

       A> No.  Too often I see antibiotics used as a 'prevention' for infections on goats.  Antibiotics are very hard on a goats system and should not be used unless she is sick.  Also - over use of antibiotics on goats can result in the goats becoming immune to that antibiotic.   After a doe kids her body spends 2-4 weeks cleaning out her uterus - anything you take in with you while assisting kidding will pass out.  If you are afraid your doe is sick from kidding - take her temperature.  Normal goat body temperature is 102-103'. If she does have an infection she will run a fever.  I have assisted nearly every kidding on our farm and never given antibiotics after.  I've only in one case had a doe that developed a uterine  infection and it was on a kidding that I missed and did not assist.

Fiasco farm has a helpful pictorial guide of a doe in labor -

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/prenatalcare.html

Pregnancy - doe care part 1

Ok, so breeding is over, the does have settled - you can officially send in a blood sample for a pregnancy test after 30 days after breeding to 'know' or just hope for the best as time goes on - so now what?

Get your due date - Gestation period for standard size dairy goats is 150 days - ruffly 5 months.  Mini's go just a few days less at about 148 days.  Does can kid 5 days early or 5 days late and still be just fine.  If your does kid much earlier then 5 days till due they will be considered premie -   on the other hand if you doe hits day 156 and still no kids it may be time to induce.

Not too much to do for the first 3 months - it's the last 2 months (60 days) that your doe will really start to grow those kids out and need extra care.  If your doe is in milk you can keep milking her right up until the last 60 days of pregnancy.  She'll need a little bit of a rest - her body will be needing everything to grow out kids and make colostrum for the new babies.

Changes - We don't really start see 'baby belly' until about 4-5 months along.  Udders will start to develop anywhere from 6 - 1 week till her due date depending on the doe.  Some does will not even drop their milk until they are ready to kid.  It seams the younger the doe, first fresheners or does who milk lower quantities will udder up slower then those who have higher milk yields and / or more kiddings under their belt.  The number of kids growing inside will also effect the quantity of milk and udder development - more kids means more milk, fewer kids less milk.

Dietary needs - She will need high amounts of calcium and protein - alfalfa hay fed free choice is an excellent source of both.  Alfalfa pellets can also be used.  There are other supplements out there, but I really believe alfalfa is the best thing you can do for a dairy goat.

Higher amounts of fats and fibers from grains - at day 60 (till due date) our does are started on grain.  Anytime you change your goats diet - especially when grain is involved - diet changes need to be done *SLOWLY*.   I start my girls out with 1 cup of grain and increase about 1/2 cup every 2-4 days - the more grain they are getting the slower I increase.  How much grain your doe will need will depend on the individual doe - mini / standard - how much milk they usually produce - younger doe still growing - etc.  A good base is increase up to .75 - 1.5 lb a day for standard does and 1/2-1 lb a day for mini's.   Use your own judgement - if she is skinny in her hips - try for the higher end - if she is slow to eat up her grain - stop increasing.   Think she is fat - try again- dairy does naturally have a wedge shape to there bodies and should be nice and wide in the barrel - that's not where they carry their fat.  You should be able to feel her back bone right in front of her hip bones - not too sharply (too skinny).

If you can not feel / find her back bone at all or to see if she is fat - there will be lots of extra skin around her chest and under her front legs - enough to grab it by the fist full.  If this is the case you can keep her on a very low grain amount or not at all until after she kids.  Take time and watch her weight carefully.  Once a doe kids and comes into milk it will be very hard to put any weight back on her while she is in milk.  She will most likely loose another 5-15lbs after kid weight.

Grains - What to feed - you will find a lot of different answers on this one and I will explain why I feed what I feed in another post.  For grain I find the best thing is a simple mix - using either whole oats or whole barley, and adding black oil sunflower seeds at the rate of  3 to 4 parts oats/barley to 1 part black oil sunflower seeds.  This grain mix is so simple and works for everything from growing kids, to bucks, to milking does.

Selenium supplements -  selenium is an all around immunity booster, though it's main focus is muscles - keeping the does strong and conditioned for kidding, while also growing new and strong muscles for her kids.  With giving added selenium supplements to our does we have easier kiddings, and healthier kids at birth.  I use Bo-Se (bovine selenium) for my selenium supplement.  This is an RX drug, but most vets will be willing to sell you a bottle if you just let them know you raise dairy goats and are using it for selenium deficiency.  For healthy pregnant does recommended dosage is 1 ml per 40lbs - given SQ.  One shot at 5 weeks till due date, and a second at 2 weeks till due date.

Worming - hopefully your does were wormed before they were bred and will not need to be again during their pregnancy.  If you do end up worming during her pregnancy choose a wormer that is safe for pregnant does.  Always worm your does the day they kid.  Extra stress of kidding weakens her system, unable to fight them off as well.  Anytime you worm, repeat again in 10 days to kill off the second life cycle.

****Also remember to trim her hooves about 3-4 weeks before her due date so she won't be under the stress of it while nearing her due date.    Shave/trim her udder front and back - belly, tail and back of her legs so everything will be and easy clean up after kidding.  If you don't want to to shave it all - a trim to the tail - back of her udder and legs around her udder will work well.  This helps to prevent afterbirth from clinging to her hair and causing skin problems after kidding.



Things to watch out for -

Milk fever - This can occur anytime in a does gestation or lactation period.  It is a severe calcium deficiency - the does diet has not met her needs for calcium so her body starts to pull it out from her bones.  Best treatment is with a CMPK drench or CMPK injection.  A calcium drench is a second choice that also works as well.  Signs of milk fever are  - weak or sluggish standing - trembling or shaking especially after milking - lying down unable to stand - decreased body temperature (102-103 is norm) - decreased milk production.

Ketosis - or pregnancy toxemia - usually brought on by feeding grain inadequately - too much, too little, or the wrong kind.  This happens when the does needs more energy from her feeds then what she is getting.  For a quick energy boost simply mix some molasses with warm water.  You can read more about this illness here -    http://www.goatworld.com/articles/pregnancy/pregnancytoxemia.shtml


A healthy diet is the best way to keep your goats at their best and prevent illnesses from sneaking up on you.

Aiding Immunity

Anytime your goat is sick the following are great for building immunity and helping your goats get back to themselves faster.

Probiotics -  In just about any form - probios paste, probiotic powder, or even yogurt.  Given orally as many times a day as needed as many days as needed - you really can't over dose it.  Probiotics aid in healthy stomach and digestion, keep things running smoothly while your goat is under the weather.

Be-Se - Bovine selenium with Vit. E - vet RX but most vets are willing to sell you a bottle if you ask.  Dosage is 1 ml per 40 lbs given as an SQ injection.   Bo-Se can be overdosed so do not use it more then once a month.  It is an excellent immunity booster.

Vit C - High amounts of Vit C is great for helping your goats fight off infections, colds, illnesses etc.  I use about 2500 mg a day.  If you get the fruity kind the goats may just eat them up themselves.  Or they can also be crunched/ground up - devolved in some yogurt and drenched (given orally with a syringe ---no needle).

Vit B complex - SQ injection can usually be found at your local farm store.  Great for healthy stomach and gut - lining the intestines and keeping things running smoothly.  Also helps to stimulate appetite.


Wormer - remember - anytime your goat is stressed out their stomach worms are having a party - time to worm.  In younger kids cocci will also be a problem and need to be kept in check.  Depending on the illness - you may not want to worm them while they are sick, but do be sure to keep a close eye out for signs of worm overload and be ready to step in if needed.

Goat speak - Learning the terms

Let's start basic - 

*Buck - Male goat

Buckling - Male goat under 1 year of age

**Doe - Female goat

Doling - Female goat under 1 year of age

***Wether - a castrated male goat

Kid - baby goat

A little more detailed - 

Kidding - goat labor, a doe giving birth to her kids - she's kidding.

Freshening - When a doe kids and comes into milk, this is called a freshening.  Freshenings are often counted for the doe's history sake, and to give a better estimated on the doe's milk yield.  A first freshener (a doe freshening for the first time) will most likely not produce as much milk as a second or third freshener.

Lactation - The period through, or length of time, in which a doe is producing milk.   The average dairy goat will have a lactation of 10 months, or 305 days.

Gestation - The length of time between breeding and kidding, through which the goat fetus' are growing and developing.  Standard size dairy goats have a gestation period of 150 days.  Mini's are closer to 148 days.

Udder - mammary gland - often incorrectly called  milk bag, sack etc.  Ideally a dairy goat's udder will consist of 2 halves, each with a single teat.  

Colostrum - a does first milk - she will continue to produce colostrum for up to 24 hours after kidding.  Colostrum contains immunities vital to kids survival not found in milk.

Caprine - the Latin name for goat - also as it's species classification / zoology term - Dogs are canine, cats feline - etc.  Pronounced 'Cap-rine'  -end sound is pronounced like rind as in mellon rind - but no 'd' sound at the end.  Often incorrectly pronounced  - 'Cap-reen'. 

Disbudding - To remove horn buds from kids before they have pushed through the skin.  Usually done with a hot iron on kids at 2-4 days of age.

De-horning - To remove horns after they have developed.  Usually done surgically (Not a recommended procedure).

Rut - used to describe a bucks stress and behavior through the breeding season, or a period of time.  A buck may start into rut in the fall and not  come out of it until the spring, or whenever all the does are bred.  A buck in rut will preform all of the normal rituals including urinating on his face, chest and legs, giving them their famous buck smell.

Drenching - To administer drugs, meds, other/etc.  - *orally.

*Bucks are often also called Billies or Billy, and **does referred to as 'Nanny'.   There is some debate as to which is the 'correct' term.  However the difference in what you call them may be as simple as your location or mentor.   Billy and Nanny seem to be more acceptable  terms with meat goat herds.  Where as many dairy show goat circles would take the terms as an insult describing a unhealthy or ill kept goat.  More so it is just disregarded as slang.

***Wethers, not to be confused with 'Withers' the highest point on the shoulder.  A goat's height would be measured from the withers down to the ground.

Let's talk ears

You may have noticed different breeds of goats have different ear shapes.  Here is a quick over view for you -


Pendulous ears - Long lop ears (also called 'lop ears'), having nearly a bell shape - going out in the middle and coming in to a smaller curve on the bottom.  Found in the USA on the Boer and Nubian goat breeds.

Erect ears - Shorter ears, oval in shape coming to a point and standing 'up' on the goats head.  Found in most dairy breeds - Saanens, Alpines, Oberhasli, Toggenburg, Nigerian dwarf, and also in the meat breed pygmies. 

Airplane ears - much like Erect ears only slightly longer and standing strait out or down from the goats head instead of going up.  Can be found in any of the erect ear breeds, or also in cross breed between a pendulous and erect eared breeds.

Kinked ears can also be found in cross breeds of lop and erect ear breeds   - Typically the ears start to go out like airplane ears and then fall down in at the middle into a short lop ear.

Elf or Gopher ears - Having nearly no outer ear - found in the Lamancha breed.  The distinction between the two is in how long the outer ear is - a straight out (just cartilage) or under 1" is a Gopher ear and more desirable for the Lamancha breed.  Elf ears come out enough that there is actually a flap of flesh - the ear will either bend up or down, and can be no longer then 2" to qualify for registration (ADGA). 

There may be other types of ears, but these are the most common in dairy breeds for the USA.

FAQ - Milking time

I hear it asked often - how long does it take to milk a goat?

Well - it depends.  If you're just starting and still learning how to milk it will take some time.  I think our first milking took about 20 minutes.  I will also depend on your goat - some are easier to milk then others.  Depending on teat size and placement.  Also some have stronger orifices or sphinkter making it harder to push the milk out.  On the other hand - having weaker ones can also be difficult - causing the milk to push more easily up and back into the udder instead of flowing out.  The quantity she is giving is also something to consider - it will take longer to milk out a full gallon then it will a half.

Once you get it down, the actual milking takes less then 5 minutes.  I can milk most of our does out in under 3 minutes.  If you include the time it takes to get the doe out and up on the milk stand - feed her her grain and let her eat it up while you milk and finnish after, it's about 5-10 minutes a doe.  Some are slow eaters :)

This is pertaining to hand milking - I've never used a machine.

How to - Drawing blood

I'm not going to do much of a tutorial on this as I know there are already a bunch of great ones out there on the world wide web.  Here is a popular one - and the one I learned with -

http://goatconnection.com/articles/publish/article_151.shtml

Blood drawing isn't for every goat owner - some of us are a little more nervous about it then others - needles, blood and jugular veins, oh my!  But for the performance herd on the larger number scale it can be quite costly to have the vet run out every time you need a sample.

Why would you need to draw blood?
Many goat tests are run off a blood sample -
If a CAE free herd is important to you it's recommended to test once or twice a year even.  Pregnancy tests on your does to see if they've settled, and many more.

Once you get the hang of it it's quite a simple procedure.  I have found the recommended 1" x 20G needle works best in most cases.   I use this most always on everything - its easier to buy a case of all the same for larger herds.  But if you want a low down on what to use -

The 1"x20G is Perfect for standard size does -

 Bucks have a lot more muscle and thickness to their necks and it may be harder to find the vein.  I have used a 1"x18G needle and a 1.5"x20G and 1.5"x18G needle with successes.  I do not recommend using anything lighter or shorter then the 1"x20G for bucks.  It would be easy for them to snap a smaller needle off in their neck - not fun.

Mini's and younger animals are quite the opposite - having thiner and finer necks usually.  With these the vein is more readily available near the surface of the skin and a 3/4" length needle will work fine.  I still use a 1" usually - just don't plunge it in all the way as it goes through the vein and you get a syringe full of air.

Most blood samples are stored in the red top vacutainer tubes - 10 mL size.  I usually get mine from Amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/Vacutainer-B-D-Red-Top-mL/dp/B0018EKKX4

My first time out for a blood draw we had about 20 head to do, so I got in my practice.  I did shave necks as recommend that first time.  Now I only shave or trim the hair usually on the bucks and only if it's when they have their winter coats in.  Otherwise, it's usually easy enough to find without a shave.

Myths and Misconceptions Part 1 - Multiple births

My first post on 'myths and misconceptions' about dairy goats.  I ran across a lot of these first starting out into goats.  It took me about the first 2-4 years to sort through them all - at least I 'think' I've sorted through them all. :)  These are mainly to help newcomers into the goat world and knowing what to truly expect from your goats.


Many times I get ask from potential first time buyers - how many kids there were at birth.  Usually this is because they have heard of the multiple birth misconception -

If a goat is out of twins, (triplets, etc) - they will be more likely to have twins (triplets, etc.).

Now - there may be a crumb of truth in this (multiple birth genetical?), but for my herd, in our 8 years - I haven't seen any proof.

In my experience -
The number of kids at birth is based on -

1) How healthy your goats were at the time of breeding.

2) How many times the doe has kidded.

3) How stress free were the first few weeks for the doe after breeding.

And 4) - if any flushing methods were used.

Starting with #1 - goat health - I can't say enough about this.  I don't know how many times I've had people approach me with a goat they thought was no good - didn't grow right, doe wouldn't come into heat - wouldn't settle after breeding - low milk yields, bad tasting milk, etc. etc. etc.  We're all so quick to blame the animal, when about 9 out of 10 times it's simply because their health was not were it should be or their nutritional needs were not being met - sometimes as simple as worming.  They will only preform as well as their condition, diet and environment allow.  If your goats are not at the tip top shape and performance levels you want - it's time to dissect your feed and management plan and find out what your goats really need.

#2 - age and how many pervious kiddings the does have had.  First fresheners will be more likely to have fewer kids then at any other time.  It is unusual to see quads or more at births before the 3rd kidding - though not totally unheard of.  That's just the way it is.  Younger animals are still growing and maturing their bodies just aren't ready for high kid yields yet.

#3 - stress free first few weeks after breeding for the does - she may be bred but she isn't pregnant yet - it takes about 7-14 days after breeding for the eggs to implant into the uterus.   Of the 4 points I am stating here, stress free is usually the last thing I worry about.  Goats are pretty hardy in their home environment.  Stress free would be anything short of developing an infection, or a dog attack, etc.

#4 - Flushing.  The most common way to flush is with grain.  The method is that you feed the doe grain starting anywhere from 2 - 4 weeks before breeding.  The sudden increase in feed causes the body to release more eggs and help with higher number of kids.  You then stop feeding grain once she is bred.  You can also flush by switching to alfalfa from grass hay - or sudden pasture - anything that will be more of a lush diet then what the doe is used to.   This type of flushing needs to be done carefully and slowly so as not to make the doe sick with sudden diet change.  I personally have never had much successes with this method of flushing.  I choose to flush using minerals -  high amounts of copper starting one month before breeding - for our herd I simply plan my copper blousing 1 month before breeding season starts.  Added selenium - a Bo-se shot ideally 1-2 days before breeding.  I have better successes rates this way and I don't have to worry about making the does sick or fat with access feed.


What to expect?

After I've covered these and given you some ideas - you may still be wondering how many kids to expect at birth - what is the 'normal' amount of kids?

For first fresheners - singles to triplet births indicates good healthy stock.

Anytime after a first freshening I concider twins and triplets to be the 'norm' or a sign of a healthy herd.

If I see a single birth that is not from a first fresher dam it is most always because one of these points, usually #1.  Single births may also occur more in elderly stock - From what I have seen in other herds this is not usually the case.  For my own experience our oldest doe at this time is only 9 (giving quads nearly every year), so I can't really say.

After the third freshening is what you start to see quads and quints.  This is when you know your over scrutinizing planing is paying off.  High multiple births of quads or more may not occur (or occur as often) without using a flushing method. But flushing alone and you most likely will not get quads or higher births without having does in tip top shape and overall health.  You may only see twins and triplets without flushing and that is perfectly normal.

Do not blame it on the doe or buck being only out of twins or a single birth.  Year after year I have raised kids out of singles, twins, trips, quads and even quints side by side without seeing any difference come kidding time year after year.  My quints have given me singles and my singles have given me quints - all depending on these 4 points.