Goat's lambing: signs and what to do next, postpartum care and problems

Breeding pets requires knowledge of their reproduction. Childbirth is the most crucial moment in their life, on which the future productivity of cubs and queens depends. He althy goats require minimal assistance from the breeder during lambing. But the creation of comfortable conditions of detention and how the animal is prepared for delivery depends on the person.

How to run a goat before lambing

In order for a goat to grow up normally, 45-60 days before the onset of lambing, they make a start, which means stopping milking. With milk, she loses some of the nutrients produced in her body.Having ceased to milk, the owner gives an opportunity for the full development of the kids. 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 launch time is individual. Its beginning depends on the fatness of the animals: the thin ones stop milking for 1.5-2 months, the well-fed - for a month.

The frequency of milking and the amount of milk delivered are reduced gradually so as not to harm the he alth of the goat and not reduce milk yield in the future.

Production reduction table.

Milk volume per 1 milk yield1 1/night 1 liter

Launch week	Milking frequency
2 3 4	1/1.5 days 1/2 nights periodically	0.5 liters 0.3 liters 0.2 liters

For a longer period of preparation for childbirth, the schedule changes. In some goats, milk yield naturally decreases before lambing. During start-up, you should monitor the condition of the udder so as not to cause mastitis. In case it becomes stony, it is necessary to massage and remove the accumulated colostrum.

During the pre-maternity period, changes are made to the goat's diet:

1. In the first 7 days of launch, the share of succulent feed, concentrates, greens is reduced.
2. 14 days before lambing, the volume of concentrated feed is reduced by 2 times.
3. With the cessation of milking concentrates give 2 times more than before the launch.
4. 3-4 days before delivery stop giving vegetables.

Goat should not be given rotten, moldy vegetables. Potatoes, beets, carrots should be added to the diet boiled. The water should be warm, with wheat bran. Eliminate turnips, cabbage and juicy leaves that cause fermentation in the intestines.

How many days before lambing the goat's udder is filled

Kitness of a goat is not always noticeable by the size of the belly and for a long time, especially in long-haired and downy breeds. Check if the goat is covered by the pattern of the genital loop. A clear sign of pregnancy is an increase in the udder.

Colostrum production and udder swelling most often become noticeable 45-60 days before delivery. In dairy goats, before lambing, the udder can increase so much that colostrum has to 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 recurrent goats, it pours and hardens a week before lambing, in primary goats - in 1-2 days.

Animal behavior

To find out about the upcoming birth, you need to carefully observe the goat in the last weeks of pregnancy.

Harbingers of lambing:

• opening the vagina, exiting the mucous plug;
• anxiety of a goat that either lies down or gets up, screaming;
• search for a secluded place;
• aggressiveness towards other animals;

This state lasts about 2 hours, after which lambing begins. In primogeniture, it lasts from 1 to 1.5 hours. On the second and subsequent births - about 40 minutes.

Do you need human help?

The breeder must prepare a place 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 date of lambing, the floor is treated with lime mortar (1 kilogram per bucket of water). For a goat, they choose a secluded place with a drinking bowl and a feeder, fenced off from other animals, which is covered with a thick layer of straw the day before the upcoming birth.

Goat's rue should be dry, without drafts, the optimum air temperature is 10-15 degrees (in winter). The presence of the breeder during lambing is necessary to help to give birth, if necessary, to take cubs in multiple pregnancy.

How to have a baby

During the normal course of childbirth, the whole process takes place without human intervention and lasts from 2 hours to 40 minutes.

1. Part of the bubble comes out of the vagina, bursts.
2. The waters break.
3. Together with the bubble, the goat's head and front legs begin to "cut through".
4. The whole cub comes out.

Goats give birth lying on their side. After the baby goat appears, they get up to lick it. With the onset of new contractions, they again lie on their side to give birth to another cub. Taking part in the lambing, breeders help the animals save their strength for labor activity: they remove the goat from under their feet, shift it to the muzzle of the mother. Taking into account the number of cubs, the release of the placenta, lambing takes up to 3-5 hours in time. From the croup and thighs of animals, the remnants of mucus and water are washed off with a 4% solution of baking soda. Dirty bedding is replaced with fresh one.

Care after lambing

The cubs born and the lambing goat need human participation. For goats, the first minutes of their independent life are important, and for goats, postpartum recovery.

For the goat

Immediately after lambing goats are given sweetened water. After 1.5 hours - give hay and fresh water.The following 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 drain the milk completely. To facilitate the process, the udder is pre-massaged with soft, circular movements towards the milkings. The first 4 days, food is given in small portions 3-4 times a day. Be sure to include 300 grams of bran in the diet to restore digestion.

Starting from 5 days, the feed includes:

• hay (2 kilograms);
• root vegetables (3 kilograms);
• bran (400 grams);
• concentrates (0.5 kg);
• s alt (10 grams);
• branch food (1 kilogram).

After the transfer of cubs to pasture, the animal is transferred to a normal diet.

For young growth

A newborn goat is cleared of mucus from the nose and mouth. If the baby came out in the amniotic sac, then the film is torn to prevent asphyxia. A baby goat needs to scream at birth in order to take air into its lungs and begin to breathe on its own. If he is silent, blow into his nose or open mouth. In the absence of breathing, the goat is placed on its back and, bending and unbending its legs, they make the lungs work.

The goat must lick the kid, after which it is necessary to wipe it 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 from the bandage by 1 centimeter, cut off the umbilical cord, the cut is treated with iodine. If a goat is supposed to feed, then you should make sure that she will let the cub to the udder.

When feeding with expressed milk, the kids are weaned from the uterus and taken into the house. The first portions of colostrum can be infected, therefore, before the first feeding of the kids, part of the colostrum is decanted and poured out. If the kids are breastfed, then they are constantly with their mother. Feeding the young with expressed milk has been introduced by dairy goat breeders to preserve milk yield. Caring for he althy offspring is easy. Babies should have enough space in the goat house or paddock for frisky play.

What to do if a goat can't give birth

Goats have pathological births, when human help is needed to speed up the birth and prevent the death of the cub and lambing. For this reason, you should observe how the lambing process goes in order to intervene in a timely manner. In what cases you need help with lambing:

• if the baby's head doesn't come out;
• goat goes with legs;
• does not separate seq.

With weak labor activity, inexperience of the primogeniture, a large fetus, the cub gets stuck in the birth canal and can suffocate. To help him be born, you should thoroughly wash and wipe your hands with alcohol. Lubricate the walls of the vagina with boron vaseline. With each push, when the goat starts screaming, gently pull the fetus towards the udder until it is all out.

If the fetus is not presented correctly, a veterinarian should be called, otherwise both the uterus and the calf may die. Breeders are concerned about delays in lambing. Walking may be associated with intrauterine fetal death or weak labor activity, especially if it is a primogeniture. Veterinarians recommend not to rush to put oxytocin until the term of labor does not exceed 10 days.

Other problems

A pregnant goat must be observed in order to notice pathological abnormalities in time. For example, when before the term of birth she leaves the mucus. This means that lambing will begin earlier, and the kids will be born prematurely. The animal should be shown to a veterinarian who will give advice on how to proceed with a premature birth.

Mistakes in milking lead to an inflammatory process in the mammary gland, mastitis. The udder hardens, the animal experiences pain during milking. Milk becomes unsuitable for feeding goats and eating. To solve the problem, you should contact your veterinarian.

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