Raising domestic animals requires knowledge of their reproduction. Childbirth is the most crucial moment in their lives, on which the future productivity of the cubs and queens depends. Healthy goats require minimal assistance from the breeder during lambing. But the creation of comfortable living conditions and how the animal is prepared for delivery depends on the person.
How to start a goat before lambing
In order for the goat to become properly milked, a start is made 45-60 days before the onset of lambing, which means the milking stops.With milk, she loses some of the nutrients produced in her body. By stopping milking, the owner gives the goats the opportunity to fully develop. A normal pregnancy lasts 150 days. The breeder must be sure of the date of conception in order to accurately calculate when to prepare for lambing. For each goat, the start time is individual. Its onset depends on the fatness of the animals: thin animals are stopped milking after 1.5-2 months, and well-fed ones within a month.
The frequency of milking and the amount of milk given are reduced gradually so as not to harm the health of the goat and not reduce milk yield in the future.
Milk yield reduction table.
| Launch week | Milking frequency | Volume of milk per milking |
| 1
2 3 4 |
1/day
1/1.5 days 1/2 days periodically |
1 liter
0.5 liters 0.3 liters 0.2 liters |
With a longer period of preparation for childbirth, the schedule changes. In some goats, milk production naturally decreases before lambing. During launch, you should monitor the condition of the udder so as not to cause mastitis. If it becomes stone, it is necessary to massage and remove the accumulated colostrum.
During the pre-calf period, changes are made to the goat's diet:
- In the first 7 days of launch, the proportion of succulent feed, concentrates, and greens is reduced.
- 14 days before lambing, the volume of concentrated feed is reduced by 2 times.
- With the cessation of milking, concentrates are given 2 times more than before the start.
- Vegetables are stopped 3-4 days before giving birth.
Rotten or moldy vegetables should not be given to a goat. Potatoes, beets, and carrots should be added to the diet boiled. The water should be warm, with wheat bran. Turnips, cabbage and juicy tops, which cause fermentation in the intestines, are excluded.
How many days before lambing does a goat's udder fill?
The catness of a goat is not always noticeable by the size of the belly and over a long period of time, especially in long-haired and downy breeds. They check whether the goat is covered by the pattern of the reproductive loop. A clear sign of pregnancy is an enlarged udder.
Colostrum production and udder swelling most often become noticeable 45-60 days before birth. In dairy goats, before lambing, the udder may become so enlarged that colostrum must be milked to avoid mastitis. The swelling of the udder depends on the individual characteristics of the animal.
The first week after launch, the udder is soft and empty. After 3 months of pregnancy, the animal’s body prepares to produce milk: the glandular tissue of the udder begins to grow and produce colostrum. In re-coated goats, it fills and hardens a week before lambing, in first-calf goats - 1-2 days.
Animal behavior
To find out about the approaching birth, you need to carefully monitor the goat in the last weeks of pregnancy.
Harbingers of lambing:
- opening of the vagina, release of the mucous plug;
- the restlessness of the goat, which lies down and gets up, screams;
- finding a secluded place;
- aggressiveness towards other animals;
This state lasts about 2 hours, after which lambing occurs. In firstborns it lasts from 1 to 1.5 hours. For the second and subsequent births – about 40 minutes.
Do you need human help?
The breeder must prepare the area for lambing so that the newborns and the goat do not have postpartum complications. The room where the animals are kept is cleared of manure a week before the lambing date, and the floor is treated with lime mortar (1 kilogram per bucket of water).For the goat, choose a secluded place with a drinking bowl and feeder, fenced off from other animals, which is covered with a thick layer of straw the day before the upcoming birth.
How to deliver a baby
In the normal course of childbirth, the entire process takes place without human intervention and lasts from 2 hours to 40 minutes.
- Part of the bladder comes out of the vagina and bursts.
- The waters are receding.
- Along with the bubble, the baby goat’s head and front legs begin to “erupt.”
- The whole cub comes out.
Goats give birth lying on their side. After the baby appears, they stand up to lick it. With the onset of new contractions, they again lie on their side to give birth to another baby. By taking part in lambing, breeders help the animals save strength for labor: they remove the kid from under their feet and move it to the mother’s face. Taking into account the number of cubs, the release of the placenta, lambing takes up to 3-5 hours. Remains of mucus and water are washed off from the animals’ croup and thighs with a 4% solution of baking soda. Dirty litter is replaced with fresh litter.
Post-lambing care
The cubs that are born and the lambing goat need human intervention. For kids, the first minutes of their independent life are important, and for goats, postpartum recovery is important.
For the goat
Immediately after lambing, the goat is given sweetened water. After 1.5 hours - give hay and fresh water. The next portions of water are offered to the goat every 3-4 hours. The first week after giving birth, the goat is milked 4 times a day, trying to express the milk completely.To facilitate the process, the udder is first massaged with soft, circular movements towards the milking. For the first 4 days, food is given in small portions 3-4 times a day. Be sure to include 300 grams of bran in your diet to restore digestion.
Starting from 5 days, the feed includes:
- hay (2 kilograms);
- root vegetables (3 kilograms);
- bran (400 grams);
- concentrates (0.5 kilograms);
- salt (10 grams);
- twig food (1 kilogram).
After the cubs are switched to pasture, the animal is transferred to a regular diet.
For the young
A newborn goat's nose and mouth are cleared of mucus. If the baby is released in the amniotic sac, the film is torn to prevent asphyxia. The baby goat must cry at birth in order to take air into its lungs and begin to breathe on its own. If he is silent, you need to blow into his nose or his slightly open mouth. If there is no breathing, the kid is placed on its back and, bending and unbending its legs, is forced to open its lungs.
The goat must lick the kid, after which it must be wiped dry with a rag or straw. The umbilical cord is tied with a thread soaked in iodine at a distance of 2-3 centimeters from the abdomen. They retreat 1 centimeter from the sling, cut off the umbilical cord, and treat the cut with iodine. If it is assumed that the goat will feed, then you should make sure whether she will allow the baby to approach the udder.
When feeding with expressed milk, the kids are separated from the uterus and taken into the house. The first portions of colostrum can be infected, so before the first feeding of the kids, part of the colostrum is expressed and discarded. If the kids are breastfed, then they are constantly with their mother. Dairy goat breeders have a tradition of feeding their babies with expressed milk to preserve milk yield.Caring for healthy offspring is not difficult. Kids should have enough space in the goat's coop or pen for frolic games.
What to do if a goat cannot give birth
Goats have pathological births, when human assistance is required to speed up the birth and prevent the death of the baby and lambing. For this reason, it is necessary to observe how the lambing process proceeds in order to intervene in a timely manner. In what cases is it necessary to help with lambing:
- if the baby's head does not come out;
- the baby goat walks with its legs;
- the afterbirth is not separated.
If labor is weak, the firstborn is inexperienced, or the fetus is large, the baby gets stuck in the birth canal and may suffocate. To help him be born, you should thoroughly wash and wipe your hands with alcohol. Lubricate the vaginal walls with boric Vaseline. With each push, when the goat begins to scream, carefully pull the fetus towards the udder until it comes out completely.
If the fetus is not presented correctly, you should call a veterinarian, otherwise both the uterus and the baby may die. Breeders are concerned when lambing is delayed. Passing may be associated with intrauterine fetal death or weak labor, especially if it is a firstborn. Veterinarians recommend not to rush to administer oxytocin until the due date exceeds 10 days.
Other problems
A pregnant goat must be observed in order to notice pathological abnormalities in time. For example, when her mucus comes out before her due date. This means that lambing will begin earlier and the kids will be born premature. The animal should be shown to a veterinarian, who will give recommendations on what the breeder should do in case of premature birth.
Mistakes during milking lead to an inflammatory process in the mammary gland, mastitis. The udder hardens and the animal experiences pain during milking.Milk becomes unsuitable for feeding kids and eating. To solve the problem, you should contact your veterinarian.
