When I was pregnant with my first, it never occurred to me that there would be complications and that I would end up having a cesarean. I’m strong. I’m healthy. I ate healthily and only gained baby weight. No problemo! Push that baby right out! 

Nope. Didn’t happen. 

And several years later, as I rushed to help my panting, laboring doe, I realized that we had a kid who was backward and quite large, and thought, “Oh, girl! Push that baby right out!” But we ended up pulling two out of three of her kids. The first and last kids were backwards. 

In all the years we’ve kidded, we’ve never had any problems. But it only takes one problem to realize how unprepared you are, right?

What You Need to Know About Nutrition During all the Stages of a Goat’s Pregnancy

So now I’m prepared with a “Kidding Kit” for any goat birth. 

When putting your kit together, there are four main areas that you need to be thinking about:

• The prepared goat owner…YOU! 
• When your goat is in labor 
• The kid(s) after birth
• The doe after birth

You excited goat owner, you! You need to get all of these items ordered, delivered and gathered before your goat goes into labor.

The prepared goat owner

• Prepare your barn, goat shelters and goat pen
  1. Is there clean straw available?
  2. Is there light available? These are great options!
  3. Headlamp
  4. Lantern
• Vet’s number in phone or a handy location
• Kidding kit assembled
• Read up on Hypocalcemia, Ketosis and Pregnancy Toxemia so you know the signs and symptoms that might appear, so you can act quickly. They affect pregnant does and are not something to mess with!

You can find a lot of articles here on A Life of Heritage that will teach you about goat care and be sure to check out The Goat Health, Information and Profit Bundle–it’s full of to-do lists, checklists, record keeping sheets, and resource pages that will get your new (or old) goat herd off to a terrific start!

What you need to know about “Hypocalcemia” in Goats

 

What you need to know about “Ketosis” in Goat’s

 

Treatment for “Pregnancy Toxemia”

 

Download your free Kidding Kit printable below: 

Here are a few items you should put in your kit to be prepared for when a goat birth. 

When your goat is in labor.

• Flashlight
  1. The flashlight will help you see if the kid is in the correct position. If you shine the light into the “bubble”, you should see two feet! 
• Standard medical gloves
  1. These will keep your hands clean as you work around your goat and your hands will be clean if you do need to help her out in any way.
• Warm water
  1. If you need to go in, you will be prepared to wash up.
• Surgical scrub
  1. This scrub will get you clean and sterile in the event you have to go in
• OB Lube and Betadine
  1. Your goat will thank you for the lube and the betadine will give the antiseptic properties. 
• Obstetric (OB) Gloves
  1. You will use these gloves if you need to go into the doe to help re-position a kid or pull one. 
• Leg snare and kid puller
  1.  A leg snare will help keep the legs in the proper position 
  2. And the kid puller will help in more severe cases
• Empty feed sacks
  1. The doe can deliver on these
  2. And they are great garbage bags for the messy process
• Scissors
  1. It never hurts to have scissors handy but they can be used to pop the bubble, only if necessary! 
• 7% Iodine Tincture
  1. Used to sterilize any of your equipment
  2. You may be able to buy this solution from your veterinarian 
  3. If not, watering down iodine will work
• Thermometer
  1. A doe with a high temperature may indicate infection
  2. A doe with low temperature may indicate hypocalcemia
• Drench Gun
  1. You can administer medication with a drench gun. Keep an eye on the health of your goat. It is very serious if she were to go into ketosis. Read up on the pregnancy problems in the above links.
• Twine
  1. Twine is an abundant resource when you have animals, so it just seems fitting to include it on the list
  2. Use the twine to braid a beautiful rope while you impatiently wait for the kids to appear. 

After mama goat has valiantly made the last push, you can attend to her kids.

The kid(s) after birth. 

**We generally take the hands-off approach. Our does are very good mothers and we kid in the later spring to avoid extreme temperatures. We allow the doe to take on the cleaning process and only step in if there is an apparent problem. But, if you are kidding in colder temperatures and climates you will want to have the necessary supplies ready to get your kids up, clean and dry as quickly as possible. 

• Bulb syringe
  1. You will use this to suck out the mouth and nose of any of the amniotic fluid
  2. *Be choosy in the bulb syringe you purchase. From experience with my kids, there are some bulb syringes that are pointless because they are too stiff to squeeze and the hole is too small to suck.
• Puppy training pads
  1. After the birth, the kid can be placed on the pads.
  2. They absorb so well and the kids can more easily stand on them. 
• Paper towels/Rags
  1. They help with the clean-up process
• Towels
  1. In cold weather, and depending on when you kid, these will be a blessing! You will want to get them cleaned off and dry as quickly as possible.
• Floss or clamps
  1. To tie the umbilical cord if necessary
• Scissors
  1. To cut the umbilical cord if necessary
• Small container
  1. To fill with 7% Iodine Tincture to dip the umbilical cord
• Iodine 7% Iodine Tincture
  1. To dip the kid’s umbilical cord
  2. You may be able to buy this solution from your veterinarian 
  3. If not, watering down iodine will work
• Kid Colostrum Replacement
  1. Hopefully, you will never have to use this, but in the case that the doe or kid is unable to nurse, you will be glad to have this handy. 
  2. Kids need colostrum within 2 hours of being born
  3. A newborn’s mouth should be warm to the touch, never cold. And should have a good sucking reflex when you put your finger in its mouth.
• Bottle and nipple
  1. Used in the case that the kid is weak but can still nurse
  2. Clean pop bottle and nipple can be used
  3. A baby bottle can be used as well. Make the hole a bit bigger by cutting an X on the top
• Weak lamb syringe
  1. This is used when the kid is too weak to nurse
• Thermometer
  1. A kid with a low temperature indicates it’s been chilled or is having trouble regulating its temperature in cold temperatures
• Warming Hut
  1. If you have kidded in cold temperatures, the kids need to be able to get out of the cold

Your wonderful doe, has put a lot of work into this whole process. Treat her well now 🙂

Your goat after birth

• Molasses
  1. Add molasses to some warm water and give to the doe. This will be a nutritious pick-me-up for her as she recovers her strength. Not only do the vitamins and minerals present in the molasses help her but the water helps replenish the fluids she has lost. 
• Grain
  1. Offer her grain. Good job mamma!

And how could I forget the camera?? Although that’s probably a moot suggestion…you’ve already snapped a couple hundred photos by the time its head appears, am I right? 😉

You and your doe got this! It’s going to be a great year for kidding and you will be so relieved that you are prepared for anything!

You can also read more about goat kidding supplies here and here and here, Get Ready!, Birthing Supplies

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I also would love to know what would help you. What can we add to our resource page to make your life that much easier? Email me your ideas: delci@alifeofheritage.com

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I am not a doctor or veterinarian. The information herein is my opinion only and is not meant to replace professional, veterinary, or medical opinion. Any products mentioned here are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. Statements made on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA.