Saving newborn kid goats contributes to the income of a goat operation. The goal of every goat producer should be to save as many kids as possible in a herd. One solution is to force exercise of the does as they tend to get lazy during the last trimester of pregnancy. In a dairy goat operation, one way to exercise pregnant does is to place the feeders outside at a distance from the barn. This forces the does to walk to the feeders prior to feeding and back to the barn to rest and ruminate. In goat operations that are Spanish, Mountain, Angora and Boer breeding, the goats may be grazing full time with the exception of those days when the ground is covered with ice and snow. Using the National Research Council (NRC) tables on feeding goats to determine the requirements at each stage of their growth and development is helpful in formulating rations appropriate for each phase of pregnancy.

Feeding does grain with the addition of soybean meal, minerals and vitamins will reduce pregnancy toxemia (ketosis). Pregnancy toxemia is caused by a lack of adequate energy in the diet to sustain the doe and kid in late gestation. As a result, energy is taken from the doe's body fat which results in ketone bodies being released into the bloodstream. When energy is mobilized from fat stored in the does body, the released ketone bodies cause ketosis or pregnancy toxemia.

A condition sometimes confused with ketosis is milk fever. It is sometimes seen after the birth of kids. It is caused by a calcium deficiency. Consult your veterinarian for treatment because it requires an IV injection of some form of calcium. It is more commonly observed in milk goats that are heavy milkers than in meat and fiber producing goats.

Does suffering from pregnancy toxemia have urine with an abundance of ketone bodies and "sweet smelling" breath. Treating does for toxemia before paralysis occurs is more satisfactory than waiting until they are in a coma. Early signs of the disease in affected does are wobbling when walking and self-seclusion from the rest of the herd. If a doe is completely down, abort the doe with Dexamethasone to try to save both the doe and the kid. If signs of ketosis are present in the flock, add 1/4 to 1/3 pound of black strap molasses or corn sugar (dextrose) to the grain mixture. Propylene glycol can be administered by stomach tube, two or three times a day, to a doe if she will not eat and prior to a coma. Success with these treatments may not be very good, therefore one may prefer to abort the does, even if the kids are born early. If you treat the doe and wait for the due date, the kids will more than likely suffer fetal stress and die in utero. Consult your veterinarian before performing any procedures.

Figure 1. Normal Positions and locations of the kids.

A full term doe in the early stages of labor will often go off in a corner of the barn or separate from the herd in the field when on pasture. Signs of discomfort include head held down, pawing, and soft vocal sounds. The first sign of birthing is the appearance of the fluid-filled sack resembling a balloon filled with water. The appearance of two front feet, followed by a nose cradled between the front feet is a normal delivery. If nothing is showing, remove any jewelry and wash your hands to prevent admitting microbes into the vagina, as you investigate the birthing progress.

Feeling for the position of the kid and determining how far advanced it is requires patience and practice. Always consider the comfort of the doe.

Figure 2. Normal posterior presentation.

If you find a foot, follow it with your hand to the body of the kid. If the leg bends backward, it is a front leg, if forward it is a hind leg. Find the second leg and make sure it is attached to the body. Sometimes two front legs can be advancing at the same time from two different kids. Find the head. If you find a tail instead, you have a posterior presentation.

Figure 3. Normal anterior presentation with front leg turned back.

In this case, get both hind legs between your fingers and pull quickly. Once you begin pulling, you break the umbilical cord and the kid will try to breathe, consuming the fluids surrounding the head. Pull with care, but do not delay. The faster the delivery, the greater the chance that the kid will survive.

An anterior presentation (normal) may be blocked by one of the legs folded back. (Figure 3) Take your finger and pull the folded leg forward. Put the two feet between your fingers, roll the head between the feet and pull gently. If dilation has not been adequate, take two fingers from both hands and manually stretch the vulva and cervix before attempting to pull the kid.

Having achieved a successful delivery, encourage the kid to breathe. Tickle the nose with straw or gently push the rib cage (don't break the ribs) up and down pulling air into the lungs. You can also hold the mouth and nose and breathe into the lungs to begin the process. When breathing is normal, put the kid up to the doe's nose, unless you are planning to bottle feed as is practiced in many dairy goat operations. If the kid is to remain with the doe, let her lick the kid and bond with it. The doe will then recognize her kid by smell, sight and sound.

Now go back and examine the doe (wash your hands) for a second and perhaps a third kid, especially in dairy goats. Determine position for delivery. She may birth any subsequent kids on her own after being assisted with the first. If not, assist as you did with the first kid. The placenta should be delivered within a few hours following the birth of the last kid. Try to reposition the kid so that the delivery will be as smooth as possible, and to prevent scar tissue from forming that could damage the uterus and affect future reproduction.

Check the kid's sucking reflex with your finger. If it is strong, put the kid's mouth to the doe's teat so that the kid may nurse and swallow colostrum, which is vital to the health and well being of newborn kids. If a single kid is born. milk out the teat opposite from the one the kid nursed and freeze it. If a subsequent doe kidding yields no colostrum, feed the frozen colostrum to that kid within an hour of birth. Feed the colostrum to the newborn kid with a bottle and lamb nipple.

Colostrum contains antibodies and other nutrients needed for quick energy, protein, vitamins and minerals in the newborn. Without colostrum, the newborn kid may succumb to bacteria and virus infections due to the absence of antibodies. For example, gut closure, which prevents the absorption of antibodies into the bloodstream, may occur between three (3) to forty-eight (48) hours following delivery. The antibodies provide passive immunity. At six weeks of age, the kid begins synthesizing its antibodies as protection against microorganisms. The production of antigens produces antibodies, which provides active immunity that is relatively permanent.

"Mothering up" or bonding between the doe and her newborn kid is very important, especially with multiple births if you plan for the doe to raise them. If the newborn is too weak to nurse, it is important to milk some colostrum in to a cup, pour it into a 60 ml. syringe, and attach a catheter tube. 

Figure 4. Syringe and Catheter.

Insert the tube into the mouth of the kid and down the throat into the stomach. Check the end of the tube (detaching it from the syringe) for possible air flow from the lungs. If detected, take the tube out and reinsert it into the stomach. 60 ml. of colostrum in the lungs will prove fatal to the kid. 

Figure 5. Stomach tube technique.

Once colostrum has been tubed (about 3 tubes or 4 to 6 ounces), the kid will usually revive in an hour. (I once tubed a kid for a week before it developed a "suck reflex" and I kept it in the kitchen in a box. Needless to say, it became a total bottle-dependent kid.) When tubing, don't take the tube out of the stomach after the first 60 ml. dose. Remove the syringe, refill it and reinsert the full syringe to the tube. If the kid recovers within an hour, it will then nurse on its own.

Following colostrum consumption by the kid, clip and dip the navel with 7% tincture of iodine. This can be sprayed on the navel or kept in a baby food jar and inverted on the navel.

After applying iodine to the navel, inject newborns with vitamins A, D & E and selenium in low SE++ soil areas. If kids must be raised on milk replacer, it should contain 25% to 30% fat, 20% to 25% milk protein, and 30% to 35% lactose. Milk replacers may contain a high level of antibodies to avoid scours and other digestive disorders. 6 to 8 pounds of milk replacer are required per week for kids raised on the bottle.

Weaning kids as early as possible is more cost effective because of the high cost of milk replacer. Introduce kids to creep feed at 10 days of age in small feeders. Dump the unused portions in the doe's trough twice a day and refill with fresh creep food. Begin with ground corn and soybean meal (SBM) because it is more palatable to young kids than pellets. Some kids will not eat creep feed until they are a couple of months old. The SBM is tasty and kids like it. Other palatable feedstuffs are cracked corn, bran, rolled oats, molasses, and high quality leafy alfalfa hay. Have high quality leafy alfalfa hay available at all times in the creep area. The consumption of hay will increase rumen development at an early age.

Weaning kids from milk that is high in calcium to high phosphorus grains may produce calculi rapidly, especially in the males. To prevent this, the ratio of calcium to phosphorus should be 2 or 2. to 1 in a ration.

For self-feeding, have at least 12 linear inches of feed buck space per kid. Always have clean, fresh water available. Balancing alfalfa hay with grain helps prevent urinary calculi (kidney stones) in the urinary tract of kids. Males are most generally affected. Ammonium chloride, or ammonium sulfate (1.5%), is preferred in the feed one week prior to weaning to help prevent urinary calculi in males.

Saving kids at birth and adopting good management practices will result in a profit for goat operations.

This article is used by permission:
by Helen A. Swartz
State Sheep, Goat and Livestock Specialist
Lincoln University Cooperative Extension