Care and management of newborn kids You have your facilities clean and your toolkits are ready. Now, the wait begins. When your kids begin to arrive, you will also need to know how to care for them to reduce any potential losses. First, make sure the newborns are breathing. While a doe should clean up her own kid, she may become busy with a twin birth, so it is important that you are ready to remove any material from around the mouth and nose. Clean and dry the newborn kids with a clean towel from your kit. A piece of straw gently inserted up the nasal passage will stimulate breathing in a weak newborn. Keep newborns in a warm, dry location. Providing a clean, dry and soft bedding area will ensure that kids are warm and dry. If the bedding gets wet, change it or add more to keep it warm and dry. If kids are in a pen, a heating lamp can be installed, but be sure to secure it safely and correctly; do not let animals chew the cord. Cut the umbilicus (naval cord) to 1.5 inches in length and spray it with tincture of 7 percent iodine to lower the chance of infection getting into the body. Make sure that you keep newborns with their mothers so there is adequate opportunity to develop a maternal bond. This bond between kids and their mother is extremely important. Newborns should nurse within 1.5 to 2 hours after birth to get adequate colostrum. If the newborn is not interested in nursing or the dam is not interested in the kid, supplementation of colostrum may be required.
Bottle feed colostrum to kids if does are not producing enough or nursing is hindered. If kids are not able to stand up and nurse, the does should be milked and the kids tubed or bottle fed. Kids should receive colostrum equal to 10% of their body weight during the first 24 hours of life. For example a six pound kid (96 ounces) should receive 10 ounces (roughly 300 ml) of colostrum within 24 hours of birth. Extra colostrum can be refrigerated and fed later by warming (100-102 degrees F or 38-39 C) it just before feeding. Clean the bottle and nipple before and after each feeding. Colostrum feeding must start quickly after kids are born and repeated four to five times for the first 24-hour period. Kids will get enough immunoglobulin if 2.2 – 2.8 ounces per lb live weight (140 – 175 g colostrum per kg of live weight) is fed within 24 hours of birth. Avoid overfeeding because it may overwhelm the kids’ digestive system and cause diarrhea. The best thing to do is to satisfy kids’ appetite but not to force them to drink. Lastly, keep the premises clean, well lighted, and ventilated. This will minimize the chance of infection.
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