Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
quantities of hair. Brush her regularly. Over the two weeks following the birth, gradually in-
crease the doe's grain ration until she is back on her regular milking diet.
COLOSTRUM
Colostrum, the thick yellow substance secreted by a doe's udder after birth, is essential to a
newborn's well-being. It contains antibodies that strengthen the kid's immune system against
disease and helps to clear and condition the newborn's digestive system. Does produce co-
lostrum for one to four days after the birth. Kids should be fed exclusively on colostrum for the
first two days of life. If you are hand feeding your kids, milk the colostrum, and give it to them in
bottles.
The viruses that cause Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Syndrome (CAE) and Johne's disease
pass from mother to newborn in the doe's colostrum. Heating the colostrum to 131 degrees F
(55 degrees C) for one hour destroys these viruses. Do not heat it above 140 degrees F (60 de-
grees C) because all the antibodies will be destroyed. Bottle-feed kids colostrum that has been
heated and then cooled to body temperature. Extra colostrum can be fed back to the mother or
frozen for future use.
To avoid scorching the colostrum, heat it in a double boiler or slow cooker for an hour, or heat it
to 135 degrees F (57.2 degrees C), and keep it in a thermos for one hour. If a newborn kid
nurses from its infected mother even once, all of your efforts will have been wasted. When you
are not able to be present at the birth, buy special tape from a goat supplier to seal the goat's
teats so the newborn cannot nurse.
If you cannot obtain colostrum from the mother, you may be able to get frozen colostrum
from another goat breeder. If fresh or frozen goat colostrum is not available, you can substitu-
te cow or sheep colostrum. You also can purchase colostrum replacements from a goat suppli-
er.
Keeping kids warm
Occasionally, a kid is born unexpectedly when you are not there to supervise. You may arrive
at the barn to find a cold, shivering newborn. Place it in a draft-free box or pen lined with a
blanket, and if necessary, use a heat lamp to warm it up. Do not let it get too hot; overheating
is just as harmful as being too cold. Kids are generally comfortable at temperatures 50 degrees
F (10 degrees C) or higher.
A kid that is severely chilled, still wet, and almost lifeless can be revived by placing it up to
its nose in a bath of water at 104 degrees F, the temperature of the womb it just exited. When
it has recovered, dry it well, wrap it in a blanket or towel, place it in a sheltered place, and
