Breeding and Kidding Management

Linda I. Spahr
York County Extension Agent

In the competitive world of market goats, good management cannot be stressed enough. A few does here or there not getting bred may not seem like an issue, but keep in mind that an open doe represents money spent without any return. There are several factors that will affect the breeding status of your does. There will always be those few does that you never see in heat or that never seem to get bred. They need to be culled; no excuses. In this section we have discussed buck goat soundness, a very important part of the

breeding equation. Lame or sick bucks don't breed does. It's time to look at factors that affect breeding from the female side of the equation.

Breeding Management

Doe goats of breeding age should be considered production units. Costs incurred by maintaining or supplementing this unit must be balanced by a return in the form of live, salable product. In other words if you have to feed more feed, call the vet more often or give more medicine, you have to be able to produce more live kids to balance the check book. Flushing your does is one supplemental cost that should balance by producing more live kids.

Female goats are for the most part, easy to spot when they are in heat. An observant manager should be able to identify most does in heat by observing the females a few times a day. There are does that are nearly silent in their heat periods. Even the most observant managers may not be able to identify does in "silent" heat. Goats are for the most part seasonal breeders. This means that they do not exhibit heat or periods of estrus year round. Most goats are fall breeders and will come into heat during the months of September thru February. Does experience estrus or come into heat about every 18-22 days during that period.

Does in heat will usually display several signs to let you and the buck know that they are ready to breed. The doe will bleat as if hungry or in pain, driving your close neighbors crazy. She will usually wag her tail from side to side constantly. In most does the vulva will swell slightly and appear reddened. Some does will have a discharge from the vulva that can make the tail look wet or dirty. Does will often refuse feed or will decrease their consumption of feed. You may notice your nannies urinating more frequently as they try to let the buck know they are interested.

If you have a group of nannies that don't seem to show many signs of heat, it may be necessary to bring an old, smelly buck into fence line contact to force them to display. When a buck has been introduced into the pasture next door the does will tend to pace back and forth along the fence or stand backed up to the fence, allowing the buck to smell them. Many times one doe in heat will cause other does to exhibit heat as well. Most folks who don't observe signs of heat in their nannies usually only have one or two does. These small producers will need to be very observant of any display of heat their nannies may exhibit. I like to mark the calendar when I observe a doe displaying unusual behavior. Eighteen to twenty-two days later, I can usually count on a repeat of the behavior, a good indication she is in heat.

In addition to observing nannies, you can also observe the buck's behavior to identify nannies in heat.

The period of estrus or heat in your goats will usually last between 12 and 48 hours. This period is referred to as "standing heat". Ovulation in the female occurs 12 to 36 hours after the onset of standing heat. If there is a discharge from the doe's vulva during the heat period, it will begin as a clear, sticky substance and become white toward the end of the heat period.

It is not a good idea to leave the buck in with the does for the entire breeding season. When the newness of a buck in the pasture has worn off the does become so familiar with the buck that they will not allow him to mount. As the newness wears off the buck tends to get lazy and the manager assumes all of the does are bred. Turning your buck in with your does for about 45 days will cover two complete heat cycles and should be long enough to settle your does. Bucks in good condition should be able to service 20 to 30 does.

Prepare for breeding season by trimming feet, deworming, and vaccinating.

You will need to make sure that your does are ready for the breeding season by worming them, trimming hooves and vaccinating the females. Vaccinations should be done before the start of breeding season and then again 4 to 6 weeks before the first expected kidding date. If you are planning to give your does one booster vaccination, it's best to wait until 4 to 6 weeks before kidding. The vaccination before kidding will allow some immunity to be passed to the newborn kid. Most producers use Clostridium Perfringens Types C & D + Tetanus toxoid vaccine. This vaccine is marketed by a variety of companies and each company calls the vaccine something different. One common brand name is Bar Vac CD/T. This particular vaccine sells for about $8.00 for a 50 ml bottle. This 50 ml bottle will give you 25/2 cc doses of vaccine. This vaccine is a fairly inexpensive way to provide protection for your herd.

Feet should be trimmed on the nannies as well as the buck before breeding season. Check for any sores or infections in the feet and legs. Nannies with sore feet may not stand for a buck or may get pushed away from feed at a critical time. Goats should also be wormed before they are bred. Nannies with a high worm load will not gain the weight necessary to make the flushing process effective. Goats should be wormed before the flushing begins.

One last thing you need to keep in mind as you plan your breeding season is general goat behavior. Goats establish a pecking order. If this order is disrupted by moving or regrouping, you will need to allow enough time for a new pecking order to be established before beginning breeding season. Pecking orders usually take 2 to 3 weeks to establish and may vary with the number and temperament of individual does.

Young nannies should weigh 70 to 75% of their mature weight before breeding.

Production managers need to be sure they do not breed does at too young an age. There are two schools of thought on this subject. There are those who will breed a female goat as soon as she is 7 to 10 months old, regardless of size and weight. A better practice is to use the mature estimated body weight as a guide when deciding to breed. A doe kid should be at 70 to 75% of her mature weight before breeding. In other words if you expect a doe to mature at 100 pounds you could breed her if she weighed between 70 and 75 pounds. Small doe kids tend to be less productive and they will never reach their potential weight if bred too early.

Kidding Management

There is no time of the year that I enjoy more than the kidding season. I love the smells, the excitement, the sore muscles and the sight of doe and kids resting together in the straw. There are those who would say it is the most stressful time of the year for them, but with some good management and preparation it can become an enjoyable time for you as well.

There are numerous management techniques used by production mangers. My advice is that you read research articles from universities doing research in the area of kidding management. Talk to other goat people and see what works for them and then develop your own style. Your management style will vary with the size of your operation, with the breed of goat you have and with individual human personalities. In the following text, I'll try to give you some basic guidelines to follow. They will help you get through the first kidding season after which you can begin to develop your personal style.

Previously we discussed grouping nannies for breeding. I like to do the grouping before breeding by size and body condition. Try to leave the groups in place until they kid. This will eliminate abortions due to the trauma of reestablishing the pecking order. Your goal as a manager is to introduce the least amount of stress as possible during the gestation period. The gestation period for goats is 146-155 days. If you know exactly when the doe was bred, you can eliminate a lot of the watching stage, but if you have a group of 20 does in with a buck it is nearly impossible to be precise about the breeding date. Be prepared to start your kidding season one or two days before the first possible date any of the does could be bred.

A few weeks before you expect to begin kidding you need to run a check on supplies and get them to a clean, closed container in the kidding area, so you are within reach of anything you need. Your kidding box should contain either paper towels, a roll not one or two towels, 7% tincture of iodine, a dipping cup, lubricating gel, a small box for jewelry, a flashlight, an aspirator for a child, scissors, OB loop and the local vet's phone number.

You will want the pen where the doe will kid to be draft free, but yet have a supply of fresh air. Make sure the floor is well drained and put in a pack of clean, dry straw. If you plan to kid out large groups of nannies you may want to invest in some movable panels that can be used to make single pens or rearranged to group nannies and kids as they age. Before the blessed event you will notice the doe start to bag up or udder up. Some nannies will udder up weeks before while other does will only give you a day to two notice. In rare cases, a doe will kid without ever developing an udder. When you notice the nanny's udder start to look glossy rather than dull, you should be prepared for her to kid in a few days.

As the time of kidding approaches, the doe's udder will become tight and her vulva will become flabby.

Managers need to understand the stages of labor that a nanny will labor through before they can be successful in the barn. There are generally three stages of labor that may vary in length and intensity, depending on the doe and doe's age. First stage labor may begin 24 hours before delivery. Signs of first stage labor include pawing the bedding, nesting, restlessness, looking back at her sides, white discharge from the vulva, vulva becomes flabby, doe hollows out, lifts tail and becomes vocal. The doe will become soft around the tail head as the muscles relax to allow delivery. If you have been diligent in your daily observations, you will notice nannies that have hollowed out or dropped the kid into the birth canal. Rather than looking like a barrel they will now have very pronounced hip bones. This stage of labor may last for only a few hours or it may last for 12 to 24 hours. There is no need to get excited unless you notice the color of the discharge changing to bright red.

The beginning of second stage labor is signaled by labor pains and pushing. You may notice a water bag presenting. This is normal. The water bag may break or remain intact. A second bag may appear with darker fluid. Again, this is normal. Following the presentation of the water bags, the doe will normally get down to business. She will usually lay down to strain and may bleat loudly. The doe may stand, turn around several times and paw the bedding, then lay back down again to push. This routine may happen several times. You should begin to see, as the doe strains, a glimpse of the tip of the nose or tips of the kid's toes. If you see a nose on top of toes that are pointed up, you are in for a normal delivery. If you notice a nose but no toes or toes and no nose you may have to offer assistance to the doe. This is where the jewelry box comes in handy. Remove all jewelry from both hands and both arms. Lubricate your "reaching" hand and arm well with lubricating jelly. Don't use dish soap as it dries out the doe's normal lubrication. Lubricating jelly is inexpensive and can be a great aid in delivery. Assuming a normal delivery, the nanny should deliver a kid in less than an hour after beginning to push. Sometimes the doe may need a little help to just get the head delivered. Never pull while the doe is resting. Always work with the doe by pulling at the same time she is having a contraction. If you need to correct an abnormal position you should try to do the correction during a resting period. When pulling, be sure to pull down toward the doe's feet.

Clear the kid's nose with towels and lay the kid by the doe's nose if she doesn't get up to clean it off. If your doe doesn't seem to be cleaning the kid jump in and briskly rub the kid as dry as you can get it. You may need to use the child's aspirator to clean the mucus out of the kid's nose, although most times cleaning it just with a towel is sufficient. Using your clean scissors, trim the navel to about 3 inches and dip it in the 7% iodine. Do not trim the navel too short or it may begin to bleed.

This doe and her twin kids were moved to a small pen to allow them to bond. The doe should lick each kid to clean and dry it off.

Once the doe has completely finished having her kids, you can then move them to a smaller pen to allow her time to bond with her kids and to allow the kids to bond with their mother. Do not move them to a smaller pen before the doe is finished kidding as you increase the risk of her laying on the first kid as she delivers the next one.

Stage three labor is the delivery of the afterbirth. This may take several hours. Don't hurry the process by pulling on the afterbirth. When the afterbirth is passed, remove it from the pen. Does may try to eat the cleanings so always try to remove them when you notice they have been dropped. If you think your doe has not cleaned, you will need to call a vet to manually clean her. You will notice a bloody discharge from the doe's vulva for 2 to 3 weeks. The discharge should become less bloody and more clear as time passes. If you notice the doe smelling bad or if the discharge becomes pus colored or increases in volume, your doe may have an infection. Call your vet for a check up if this happens.

Now that you have those sweet little kids on the ground, take good care of them. The most important thing you can do to insure healthy kids is to make sure they receive colostrum within the first ½ hour to hour after birth. When the doe has kidded and is standing, strip each teat of a stream or two of milk to make sure her teats are not clogged. Most kids will get around to nursing but occasional a doe will not stand. You may need to restrain the doe in a head lock or have a second person hold her while you help the kid find the teat. If you are not sure the kid has nursed, milk some colostrum out into a baby bottle and hand feed it. That precious first meal of colostrum can make the difference between a healthy kid and a kid that barely manages to hang on.

I like to group similar does about a week after kidding. I make groups of 10 to 15 does with similar size kids. There will be some fighting as the does establish a pecking order. Make a "creep" area in the pen in a warm corner. Arrange panels in such a way that the kids can get into the creep area but the does can not. This creep area will allow the kids to escape or rest without the risk of being tramped or butted by another doe. Once you have a creep area, it is the perfect place to put a little feed trough with a little good quality grass hay and some grain.

You should dis-bud your kids at 1 to 2 weeks of age depending on the horn growth. There are dis-budding boxes that can make the job a lot less stressful for you and for the kid. If you only have a goat kid or two you may want to make arrangements with a local breeder to dis-bud your kids. I like to tattoo at the same time. It seems stressing the kid all at once and getting it over with is easier for them to handle than 2 or 3 days of one stressor after another.

Kids should be vaccinated for Clostridium and tetanus at about 30 days. The Clostridium prevents the two most common types of overeating disease, types C and C. Follow the label instructions for the vaccine, making sure you give the second dose on time, for the best results.

Kidding can become your favorite season if you can train yourself and your employees to be observant and clean.

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