# 3/3/08 Postnatal care for mom and kid/s



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

"Ok the mom has kidded, what do I do now?" 

There are a lot of new goat owners on this board and I think that this suggestion was a good one and relevant to right now.

This is all about what you do - not what is right or wrong.

I think we all will learn something and may find that a lot of our practices are the same.


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## rgbdab (Nov 26, 2007)

Interesting topic. This is what I do, but I'm sure I'll learn from others as well. First, I watch my does closely so I may be with them when they kid. I've only missed 1 kidding in three years and that is also the only kid I ever lost, not at birth but 6 weeks later, might have nothing to do with me not being there but who knows?
While the doe is in hard labor I remove her teat plugs and be sure to get a squirt out of each teat. As soon as a kid is born I suction its nose and mouth good, then let mom do her thing. I offer a bucket of molasses water to the mom. If kid/kids don't nurse within an hour, I milk the doe a little and syringe feed the kid with it. That will usually perk up a kid so that it will try to nurse more. I make sure they are in a warm, dry place and leave them to bond for a couple of hours. Then I take the mom a bowl of oatmeal, rice cereal, molasses and raisins because they often loose quite a bit of blood and this is high in iron. I recheck the kids at this point and start bonding with them. A few hours later, I feed the mom her grain ration and more molasses water and if I'm seeing the kid/s nursing well then I feel like everything is ok. I usually weigh the kid/s at this time so I can judge their weight gain over the next week or so to be sure they are gaining. I feed the oatmeal combo to new moms every day for 1 week in addition to regular feed rations. It really helps them to get weight back on after kidding with a lot of healthy ingredients. D


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

Here is what I do - When the doe is in hard labor I give her a calcium drench, after the babies are born I wipe off their faces and make sure no boogers are still in their mouth or nose. Then (if nessecary) I tie off the umbilical cord with floss, then I dip it in iodine. I give each baby a bit of herbal wormer (just so they get used to the taste) I milk the doe out a bit and feed the kids their first meal with a bottle. I also give the babies a bit of Vit. E and selenium gel as well as some fast track starter gel and some Bovi Sera for immune development. I make sure that mom is nursing them before I take a much needed rest! Oh and after the doe kids I give her mollasis and another dose of calcium, I also worm her.


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## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

After my does kid, I up the feed for my doe so she is able to gain weight and provide plenty of milk for her kids.


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## fcnubian (Oct 23, 2007)

The pygmys-
I am there for the births so when they are born, I clean the face off and get the goo out of the mouth ect ect. I clean the kids off and dry them. We have kids in the middle of winter and I can clean/dry kids off faster then the mothers. Once they are cleaned and dried the mother takes over and will start licking them. I make sure the doe's milk comes out easily. And make sure the kids eat. 

The nubians-
All births are/will be attended for these guys. Once the kid is out, I clean the face off and remove the kid from the pen and start cleaning the rest of the kid off. If there's multiples and I dont have time to clean the kid off completely I'll make sure the nose/mouth are clear of fluids. And get the next kids. All kids are cleaned and dried and put in a separate stall. I warm up bottles of heat treated colostrum and feed them. 

Once the doe passes the afterbirth, she gets on the stand, I milk, and if she had a normal labor/delivery and its not an evening/night delivery I'll put her back in with the rest of the does.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

I am usually there during kidding....I make sure the nose cleaned off. If there is any congestion I pick up kid by hind legs and swing it around in a circle, sometimes alternating with quite firm slaps to the sides if kid not breathing well and repeat swinging. 
Within a few minutes kids should be trying to scramble to thier feet, even if mom hasn't cleaned them off totally. 
Within an hour of birth I dip umbilical cords in iodine. Meantime I have made sure that the wax plug has been squirted out.
I also give moms warm molasses water for a couple of days, as well as worming them the same day as birthing.
Then its weighing time, teat # check and recording in barn notes.


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## Nupine (Nov 13, 2007)

After all of tthe medical stuff all ready posted, I hug the stuffings out of them!!  :hug:


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## zoomom (Feb 27, 2010)

What is the reasoning for bottle feeding the babies colustrum? Won't the mom produce enough for the kids? My prior birthing experience is mainly with horses and baby pigs. The horse had a single baby, so there wasn't the rush, and the pigs pretty much took care of things themselves as far as nursing, the biggest thing was making sure they didn't squish the piglets. 

Just trying to plan in advance. I have not had experience with giving shots and it seems like people are injecting the goats with this and that. I'd like a list of things that newbies can do to enhance the chances of success with their new babies (and their moms too) without having to call the vet in. (i've spent alot already at the vet's office just doing the blood tests and the vaccines and although he's a nice guy, i'd really rather do things myself if i can)


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## Mellee7AcreRanch (Mar 29, 2010)

zoomom, the cost for a vet in this area is insane and the only one who will do a farm visit is an idiot. We consult with another vet and give all of our shots, vaccines, and banding. I don't do the disbudding for the 4H show goats, I make my husband take them to another farm for that. I just cant do it. We keep as mu hubby says anal retentive records(habit from being a nurse). each animal on our small ranch has their own chart that is kept in a tabbed binder with their progress notes, training notes, meds, milk, and monthly medical screenings. For what we would want the vet to do, it is just so much cheaper to do it ourselves and consult with the vet when needed. As for postpartum after care, this is our 1st kidding season and it has been rough. we have learned alot and the 1st set of kids, which we had to bottle feed for a while are now back with their mom and only being supplemented by us, the newest addition is still in the house at night and with mom during the day. we bottle feed him and force his mother to let him feed. as it warms up and starts acting more of healthy kid than weak he will be back outside (needed but sad because we love to cuddle him). The moms, we are just observing right now, watching to make sure their drainage is good, that they don't weakened, and are eating. After they kidded we gave drench and because we are milking we are washing and using utter cream on them. It is still chilly here and really do not want them to get chapped.


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