KIDDING BEGINS
Kidding in a species that has multiple births can be dangerous for both dam and kids. Educate yourself about birthing and the complications that can accompany giving birth so you can assist when problems occur. A species that has early sexual maturity, short gestation, and multiple births will encounter birthing difficulties. You must be prepared.
I. DEFINITIONS:
Gestation: length of time from breeding date to kidding date Parturition: the act of giving birth Dystocia: any type of kidding problem Normal body (rectal) temperature: 101.5* F to 103.5*F IM injection: into the muscle (intra-muscular) SQ injection: under the skin (sub-cutaneous)
Full term or premature: Pregnancy averages 150 days (147-155 days). Gestation for triplets and quadruplets is usually slightly shorter. Premature and full-term kids can be born in the same litter; the kid that didn't get enough nutrition in utero will be premature.
Premature kids have unerupted lower front teeth (teeth completely inside the gums). Goats do not have upper front teeth. Kids born either hairless or with all lower-front teeth completely in the gums seldom survive, regardless of supportive care. Kids born 7 to 10 days' premature have under-developed lungs and often die. Respiratory problems are common in premature kids because the lungs are the last major organ to develop fully.
Full-term bucklings have teeth that are slightly erupted through the gums, while full-term doelings are born with teeth completely through the gums.
Improper breeding equals dystocia: Breeding a larger-breed buck bred to a smaller-breed doe can result in the inability of the doe to deliver big-framed kids. Caesarean section is usually required. Pulling kids that are too large can tear the doe's uterus or abdominal wall, resulting in her death, her inability to breed in the future, or a hernia that can kill her later. Delivering a dead kid that is still in utero can be very difficult. You may have to perform a Fetotomy, which is the dismembering of the dead kid to get it out, hopefully avoiding tearing the doe's uterus. A torn uterus often results in a dead doe.
II. KIDDING BEGINS: Several days before the pregnant doe's labor begins, she will move away herd to find a quiet place to give birth and bond with her newborn kids. Lots of space is vital to successful kidding and bonding. Kidding in crowded areas results in newborns and dam not learning each other's smells and sounds and leads to abandoned, starving, or dead kids.
If conditions are crowded, does with strong maternal instincts, either open or heavily bred, may steal another doe's newborns. If the "thieving" doe is bred, hasn't kidded yet, and has colostrum in her udder, you do not want it used on kids that aren't hers. The colostrum in her udder is all the colostrum she will produce during her pregnancy. An open or short-bred doe has no colostrum or milk to feed the "stolen" kids.
When the doe starts the kidding process, small amounts of whitish mucous ooze from her vagina. She sits down, gets up, paces, and paws the ground repeatedly. When labor starts, a pre-birthing tear-drop-shaped bubble emerges. At this point, her water has not broken, the placental sacs are intact, and the kids are still breathing through their connection to her body. After this "bubble" bursts, there may be a gush of fluid even though the placentas may be intact. Each kid has its own sac (except for identical twins). This can be a very confusing time for the producer.
1) Water Broken: The above-mentioned "tear-drop" bubble is not the placenta breaking open; however, the doe's water should break and flow out of her vaginal opening soon, meaning birthing is imminent. And this is where things get dicey, because every doe is a little different.
When the doe's water actually breaks, you should see a nose peaking out of the vaginal opening and hopefully the hooves of the two front legs on either side of the kid's nose. If you believe that the doe's water has broken and a kid doesn't appear immediately, put on disposable gloves, apply obstetrical jelly, insert two or three fingers into the vulva, trying to move your fingers through a hopefully dilated cervix, and carefully feel for an intact placental sac. I subscribe to the philosophy of "when in doubt, carefully go in and find out" if the placenta has broken.
If the cervix is open and the sac is intact, do not break it. If the cervix has not dilated, you won't be able to reach the placental sac. If the cervix has dilated, the doe is pushing, the kid is not coming out, and you can feel that the kid is out of the placental sac, then pull the kid, using the techniques described in this article. The kid must come out quickly or it will drown in placental fluid. Do not wait for a struggling doe to push a difficult birth out if the placental sac has broken.
2) Cervix Not Dilated: If the placental sac has not yet broken and the doe is pushing hard but her cervix has not dilated enough for her to push the kid out, I use oral administration of 15 cc's of CMPK or MFO every 15-30 minutes for three applications to try to open the cervix.
Live kids assist in their own birth by moving into proper delivery position inside the dam. Labor stops when dead or improperly-positioned (either live or dead) kids exist, so the kids must be pulled as soon as the cervix has dilated.
If CMPK or MFO has not induced cervical dilation, I have used 1/4 cc to 1/2 cc of oxytocin given IM to the doe to try to induce cervical dilation. If that fails, then intramuscular injection of 10 cc dexamethasone and 2 cc lutalyse should cause cervical dilation in 24 to 48 hours. This protocol requires going inside the doe every four to six hours to feel by hand if the cervix has opened. However, I would not put a doe through 24 to 48 hours of painful labor while waiting for dexamethasone and lutalyze to work; I would seek veterinary assistance and possible Caesarian section.
Kids may already be out of the placental sacs , dead, and decomposing (rotting) inside her If you can't get them out quickly. Sometimes a C-section by a vet is the only reasonable choice.
3) Partially-Dilated Cervix: If the doe's water has broken and the cervix has not dilated fully, then additional assistance is required. Put on disposable gloves, apply a water-soluble OB lubricant (ex: KY Jelly) to the glove that is going inside the doe, and have another person hold her still. If possible, she should remain in a standing position and parallel to a wall or fence for better control. Tie her parallel to a fence if you have to do this job alone. Jeffers (1-800-533-3377) sells an adjustable poly sheep halter that works great for this purpose. Use your index finger, then your next two fingers, then your hand formed into a fist and turn it slowly. Hopefully the knuckles will loosen the cervical ring, allowing you to move your hand through the cervix into the uterus. This is very delicate tissue that is easy to damage. Be very careful. The doe may not be dilated enough for you to get your hand through the cervix and into the uterus, so read the Cervix Not Dilated portion of this article (item 2 above).
4) Positioning for Delivery: In a normal delivery, the kid should appear with both front legs extended forward and the head should be facing downward between these front legs. The first thing you should see is the kid's nose/mouth and two front hooves, one on left side and the other on the right side of the nose/mouth. For a variety of reasons (too-fat dams, dead kids, uterus full of kids, single huge kid, calcium imbalance, weak labor), sometimes the kid has not turned in the birth canal and can appear back feet first, up-side-down, head folded backwards, one leg folded back with the other leg extended, body doubled over, rear end first, or two or more kids intertwined (when more than one placental sac breaks open at the same time). In such instances, either an experienced goat raiser or a vet is needed to save the kids and the dam.
Manipulating kids inside the doe takes knowledge, practice, and dexterity. The risk of infection is high when the human hand, gloved or not, is placed inside the doe's body. Having a small hand is an asset in performing this procedure.
5) Pulling Kids: If you do get through the cervix and into the uterus, carefully use your fingers to search for the kid's two front feet and head. Both front feet should come out at the same time and the head should be facing downward towards the vaginal opening between the front legs. If in doubt about the condition of the kid, find and gently put your finger in its mouth; a live kid will suck your fingertip.
Making sure you are reaching the legs of a single kid and not the legs of two different kids, position the head between the two front legs, grab both front legs (preferably above the first joint to cause less stress and provide a better grip), and gently but firmly and smoothly pull both front legs at the same time with the kid's head facing downward and coming out between the two front legs. Do not pull straight out; pull slightly downward, following the angle of the birth canal. Sometimes it is necessary to loop the ends of a heavy-duty (athletic) shoestring around the kid's front legs and use the shoestring to pull the kid out.
If the head is bent backwards, the kid's neck is going to break and the dam's uterus will likely tear, so push the kid back inside and re-position the head between the front legs before pulling. If the kid is turned on its side or in any other improper position, push it back inside and manually manipulate the body until positioning is correct. Occasionally the rear legs may be coming out first. This is ok and should be an easy pull, but the kid is likely to have respiratory distress from fluid in its lungs.
Pulling the first kid is sometimes enough to allow the doe to deliver the remaining kids on her own. Whether you pull the rest of the kids or let her deliver them is a decision you have to make based upon both the kid's and the dam's conditions. If I have to pull one kid, I tend to pull all the kids, clean their mouths and noses of placental fluids and tissue, and put t them out for the dam to finish, going back inside her until I am sure that all the kids are out.
6) Leave Placenta Tissue Intact: Do not pull the tissues attached to the inside of the doe's uterus; she will bleed out and die. Her body must slough off this tissue naturally when she passes the afterbirth. This usually takes no longer than 24 hours.
7) Pregnancy Diseases (Ketosis, Pregnancy Toxemia, Hypocalcemia, Periparturient Edema): If Ketosis, Pregnancy Toxemia, or Hypocalcemia ("milk fever") are in play, inducing labor may be necessary to make the cervix dilate to get weak or dead kids out of the dam. Ketosis, Pregnancy Toxemia, and Hypocalcemia kill kids and their dams and are caused by improper feeding, i.e. improper management. Periparturient Edema also results from improper management and can occur up to six weeks prior to kidding. See my articles on www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.
8) Dead In Utero: Fetal development can stop for many reasons and the fetus can die inside the pregnant doe. If a live healthy kid is behind the dead fetus, labor contractions will stop, the kids will die, and the doe will die from toxins produced by the decaying fetuses inside her. You need to learn the warning signs of a doe in the early stages of labor who doesn't give birth and know how to get those kids out. Do not let a doe go through many hours or days of labor without intervening. See my article entitled Health Problems of Pregnant and Lactating Does on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.
9) Respiratory Distress: Once the kid is out of the dam and you have determined it is alive, quickly wipe fluids from its mouth and nose. If the kid is having difficulty breathing or does not appear to be breathing, hold it up-side-down by the back legs, gently swinging it from side to side, using gravity to get fluid out of its lungs. Carefully rub/pat both sides of its body to stimulate heart and lung functions. Two-tenths of a cc ( 2/10ths of a cc) of Dopram V (prescription) dropped under the tongue should be given immediately to help the kid's breathing. Alternatively, an injection of one-half cc of dexamethasone may help clear the kid's lungs. I prefer using Dopram V. Use one or the other; do not use both.
Placing a stemmy piece of hay carefully in the kid's nostrils will cause mucous to be sneezed out, but this is not enough assistance for a kid whose lungs were filled with fluids in utero; it is a procedure to use under less critical conditions. A normal delivery squeezes fluids out of the kid's body as it travels down the birth canal. The squeezing doesn't happen in Caesarean section deliveries or in assisted deliveries when labor contractions do not occur and the kid has remained inside the doe too long.
10) Navel Cord: After the kids have been cleaned and fed (or sooner, if wet weather), carefully cut the navel cord to a shorter length if it is dragging the ground and dip it up to the belly in strong iodine to prevent infection. Joint Ill, also known as Navel Ill, occurs when bacteria travels up the newborn's wet navel cord and into its body. Bacteria wicked up the wet navel cord can incubate for weeks, usually settling in the leg joints, causing pain and lameness that, if left untreated, never goes away and can result in life-long arthritis.
11) Teats and Udder: Check the doe's teats to make sure that they are not sealed and that she has free-flowing colostrum (no mastitis or congested udder). If the teats have seals over them, use a clean fingernail to gently remove them so that the newborns can nurse. For most does, sealed teats are easily opened by newborns' sucking them. For weak kids, the seals need to be removed. Sucking takes energy that weak kids don't possess. Check for good colostrum flow from both teat orifices. Feel the udder for hot or cold indications of mastitis, congested udder, or dead udder. Do not rely on visual examination. Examine the udder with your hands.
12) Udder Problems: A large udder does not necessarily mean lots of milk. The doe could have mastitis and the udder could be filled with swollen tissue (edema) rather than milk, or she could have a congested udder. Check regularly for milk flow and sufficient amount of milk by hands-on inspection.
For at least the first week of the kid's life, check the kid several times a day to make sure it is getting enough milk. Place the kid on the ground in standing position, supporting its own body. Put your four fingers in front of the back legs and feel the stomach. It should be firm but neither tight nor loose. A kid has no reserves to fall back on and its body is solely focused on growth. When it is empty, the kid has to be refilled with milk or dehydration and starvation will occur within a few hours.
13) Hypothermia: Sometimes people incorrectly attribute dead kids to having been hit or sat upon when death is usually the result of hypothermia (sub-normal body temperature resulting in dehydration and starvation). Newborn and young kids have difficulty regulating their body temperatures. They can be fine in the morning and dead by early afternoon. A tummy full of milk means less chance of hypothermia, dehydration, and starvation. With goats, it is usually the simplest thing. With sick newborns and very young kids, they are usually starving (or overfed and developing Floppy Kid Syndrome, i.e. overeating on milk, if they are bottle babies).
14) Cleaning and Feeding: If the kid's condition is stable and after completing all of the steps outlined above, place it on the ground near the doe in the location where her water broke and stand back. The dam should be allowed to clean and feed her kid. Watch from a reasonable distance to make sure that she is able and willing to care for the kid and give birth to additional kids without assistance.
Some does don't feed their kids until all are born and the placenta has come out. Be watchful but don't be too alarmed if she cleans but doesn't nurse her kids until she has delivered all of them and passed (and oftentimes eaten) the afterbirth. Healthy newborns can live for a couple of hours without colostrum if weather conditions are good, but they get weak fast. Weak, cold, and/or stressed kids need immediate assistance.
Take into account the dam, the kids, and weather conditions, then use common sense in determining what action to take. You may have to step in and get colostrum into the earlier-born kids if kidding is taking a long time. If nighttime is approaching, I will take no chances. I will check their rectal temperatures and if above 100* F, I will milk colostrum from the dam and stomach tube an ounce or two of her colostrum into the kids to give them a head start and me a chance to get some rest.
15) Colostrum: Make sure that each kid gets adequate colostrum immediately after birth and several more times during the first 24 hours of life. This thick, rich, yellowish-colored first milk is vital to the kid's survival. Colostrum contains essential antibodies unique to your specific location to protect the newborn and kickstarts the kid's digestive, respiratory, and immune systems.
The dam has all the colostrum that she will produce when she gives birth. When that udder full of colostrum has been consumed, she begins to produce milk. Make sure that colostrum is used to benefit her kids. Each kid needs at least one ounce of colostrum for every pound of body weight in its first 12 hours of life, which equates to about 10-12% of body weight in colostrum over 24 hours.
Buy only open ( not bred) does and give them time to adapt and develop antibodies that are specific to the bacteria, viruses, and other organisms on your property to protect the health of their kids. Does bred at another location will not have antibodies specific to your property, so their kids will have no protections from the organisms existing on your place.
16) Bonding: Bonding problems can occur if the doe is moved too quickly from the location where she gave birth or if she gave birth in over-crowded conditions. If conditions permit, do not move the doe and her kids until she has kidded, cleaned, and fed colostrum to her newborns. If moved, some dams will return to that site even in a bad storm. Smell and sound are major factors in bonding with and being able to identify her kids.
If the site is unsafe, either weather- or predator-wise, or confusion exists because more than one doe kidded in the same place, then put the doe, her kids, and the afterbirth in a five-foot-by-five-foot bonding pen (minimum size for pen) and make sure that she feeds them. Put clean straw in the pen for bedding. Do not use wood shavings, because they get into the kid's mucous membranes (causing breathing problems) and stick to the wet kid, making it difficult for the dam to clean her newborns.
Cleaning kids takes a lot of saliva, so provide the doe with a bucket of fresh water. If the weather is cold or the birth was stressful, lace warm water with molasses for quick energy after she has finished cleaning the kids. Don't use a deep bucket, because kids can drown. I use a water-bucket stand or hanger that keeps a bucket of water available to the doe but unreachable by the newborns. Starving kids will drink water to keep their bellies full and you will soon find them dead. Better that they cry because they are hungry so you notice it.
The doe should be provided with clean water during birthing and fresh grass hay and pelleted feed after she has cleaned and fed her newborns.
17) Eating the "Afterbirth": It is normal for the doe to eat all or part of her afterbirth during the birthing process and oftentimes before she feeds them. Do not throw away the placental material until she has had this opportunity. Consuming the afterbirth assists in milk let-down and production. If she kicks dirt over it or ignores it, she is likely through with it.
18) Passing the Placenta: The doe should pass the remains of her placenta within 24 hours after delivering all her kids. Retained placenta is life-threatening. Placenta is not considered "retained" until 24 hours after kidding.
If you are absolutely positive that the doe has not passed the placental material and 24 hours has passed since she kidded (she or your livestock guardian dogs may have eaten it), then a 2 cc injection of oxytocin can be given ONE TIME to clean her out. Do not pull on the hanging afterbirth; it must separate naturally or she will bleed out and die.
Don't be alarmed if the doe sloughs a bloody discharge for a couple of weeks after kidding. So long as the material isn't filled with bright-red blood, this is normal.
Handle placental material using disposable gloves. Some diseases, especially abortion illnesses, are transmitted through contact with afterbirth and may be zoonotic (transmissible to humans). Remove discarded placental material to avoid attracting predators and insects.
Birthing fluids and materials attract ants. Ants will attack a kid's mucous membranes and eyes. Keep birthing/bonding areas ant free. Read insecticide labels for safety of use around livestock.
19) Teat Flow and Nursing: During the first 24 hours of the kid's life, check colostrum flow in the dam's teats. Some teats have small orifices that restrict good milk flow. Mastitis and congested udder can occur at any time. Make sure the kids are nursing both teats. Kids tend to stick with the first teat they nursed. This can result in a lopsided udder and inadequate milk if they are all sucking the same side. A single birth can result in the kid nursing solely off one side. Teach the kid to nurse from both sides so the udder doesn't become misshapen.
20) Meconium ("Plug): The kid should pass the meconium shortly after receiving its first colostrum. This "rectal plug" is black, sticky, and won't appear again. Subsequent milk feces will be "mustard yellow." Some does' colostrum is so rich that the feces will harden on the kid's rear. Pull it off and apply petroleum jelly on the kid's butt to prevent re-sticking. This will change as the doe's colostrum turns to milk.
21) Thiamine: Stressed or "dumb-acting" kids should be given a 1/2 cc injection of Vitamin B-1 (thiamine) IM; thiamine tends to "wake up" the kid's brain.
22) BoSe: If selenium deficiency exists in your area, injection of 1/2 cc BoSe SQ at birth is appropriate. Do not use MuSe; it is for horses and is too strong for goats.
23) Uterine Infection (Metritis): Any manual entry into the doe's body increases the risk of uterine bacterial infection (metritis). If I have had to go inside the doe manually, I administer Penicillin sub-cutaneously over the ribs using an 18-gauge needle for five consecutive days at a dosage rate of five cc's per 100 pounds bodyweight after all the kids are delivered and the dam has cleaned and fed them. After a difficult delivery, I give the dam a Banamine injection one time, dosing at 1 cc per 100 lbs bodyweight to take the edge off her pain so she is more interested in her kids.
24) Flushing the Uterus: If the delivery was difficult and I had to go in manually to pull kids, I flush the doe's uterus as soon as she has delivered and fed her kids before the cervix closes with a solution of equal parts of Oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml (LA 200 or equivalent) and distilled water delivered through a douching syringe or large enema bulb. A Sterile Saline Solution may be substituted if oxytet 200 mg/ml and distilled water are not available. The fluids will run back out immediately but that is OK.
After a very difficult delivery and after the kids have been pulled, I give the doe a 6 cc injection of dexamethasone IM (dosage based upon 100 pound liveweight of dam). Three days after getting the kids out, if the doe survives, I may give her 2 cc lutalyse to clean her out.
The possibility of tearing the uterus is very high with difficult births; she may bleed out. If she survives for 72 hours after the difficult birth and is peeing, pooping, eating, and drinking normally, the dam will probably live. Caesarian section is advisable under these conditions if a vet is available.
I don't use any of these medications without considerable thought beforehand and confidence that I know what I am doing is likely to achieve my goal.
25) Feverish Kid: Occasionally a kid is born with fever or develops fever shortly after birth. Feverish kids will not nurse. You must get the fever down with medication and hydration. Generally one injection of Banamine along with five (5) days of Excenel RTU will solve the problem. SQ administration of Lactated Ringers will help rehydrate the kid.
I tube-feed the kid with colostrum until it gets strong enough to nurse its dam. If you bottle feed the kid, it will learn the feel of that nipple, will be difficult to get onto its dam's teat, and you will have a bottle baby. I tube feed stressed newborns so that they can be returned to their dam.
26) Weak Kid Syndrome: Some kids are born weak and unable to stand. They are usually hypothermic (sub-normal body temperature). I put a hypothermic kid in a sink of warm water to bring its core body temperature above 100*F before I stomach tube colostrum (or anything else) into it. See my article Stomach Tubing Weak Newborns.
Do not put colostrum or milk into a chilled kid; you will kill it. Body temperature must be above 100*F before putting anything into a kid's stomach. When a kid is chilled and struggling to survive, its body diverts blood from the stomach to essential-for-survival organs like heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver, leaving insufficient blood flow to the milk stomach to digest colostrum or milk. If you put colostrum or milk into a chilled kid, you will kill it. See my article entitled Health Problems of Newborn Kids on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.
27) Abortions: Abortion diseases in goats kill after 42 days from date of infection by cutting off the placental food supply to the fetus. Read my article on abortion diseases on www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.
The single most prevalent cause of abortions and other kidding issues in does is that you have let her get TOO FAT. Goats layer fat, including around the uterus, making it impossible for the uterus to expand as the fetuses grow in utero. The result is major kidding problems and too often dead kids and dams.
28) Necropsy: If a doe aborts or has a dead kid inside her, you may decide to have a necropsy done on the dead kid to find out why. An organism may exist within your herd which could affect other pregnant does and the health of your entire herd. Refrigerate (do not freeze) the kid's body and the afterbirth and deliver it to your vet for immediate examination and analysis.
The contents of this article are just the beginning of your journey to learn about kidding. There are so many variations of what might happen that you can only learn kidding by being there when your does give birth and confronting the problems as they occur. Kidding knowledge is best acquired through on-the-job learning.
Suzanne W. Gasparotto ONION CREEK RANCH, Texas 2.1.24
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All information provided in these articles is based either on personal experience or information provided by others whose treatments and practices have been discussed fully with a vet for accuracy and effectiveness before passing them on to readers.
In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Suzanne Gasparotto is not a veterinarian.Neither tennesseemeatgoats.com nor any of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.
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