How does goat lambing at home?

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Goat lambing is a complex process in which the farmer must show all his knowledge and skills. Breeding and keeping goats is in demand, both in private households and on specialized farms. These animals are distinguished by delicious milk, meat and, importantly, unpretentious care. But there is still a period during which the goats need to pay more attention.

Goat lamb at home

We are talking about the lambing of a goat, so you need to know certain nuances in order for the pregnancy to pass easily, and as a result, you get healthy offspring. You need to know how a goat behaves before lambing. Basically, many farmers keep a lambing calendar, then in this case it is easier to determine the beginning of lambing in a goat. Signs of lambing in a goat can be different, it largely depends on what kind of genera the goat has, as well as on the characteristics of the animal itself.

A pregnant goat can bear cubs for 5 months. With a singleton pregnancy, it takes longer for the fetus to fully mature. Whereas the development of two cubs simultaneously reduces the gestation period to 147-150 days. As for the number of offspring at a time, it is mainly one or two kids. Sometimes a goat can produce up to five offspring, but this is rather an exception.

How to tell if a goat is pregnant?

The very first sign of pregnancy in a goat is a lack of interest in the male. It is worth remembering that sometimes such behavior can indicate an animal's illness. The most reliable way to determine pregnancy is ultrasound diagnostics. This method is characterized by a quick establishment of the result and harmlessness. With the help of ultrasound, it is additionally possible to determine the number of embryos, the gestational age and, in general, to assess the physical condition of the female. The only drawback is that such diagnostics are carried out in a veterinary clinic, but you can find a doctor who uses mobile equipment.

Sometimes laboratory tests are used to establish pregnancy. In this case, the animal's blood is taken to a laboratory, where an analysis is performed to determine the level of progesterone. An increased concentration of this hormone indicates pregnancy. Due to the complexity and availability, this method is not very popular among livestock breeders.

Feeling the cubs in the womb

You can independently determine the pregnancy of a goat by palpating the abdomen. Harbingers are present if probing through the right half of the abdomen allows you to feel the fetus and its location. True, it will be possible to do this only after 3 months from the last mating, and by this time half of the entire gestation period has passed and the female may not allow it to be done.Farmers recommend several methods of getting pregnant. To do this, watch the female - if she begins to stretch, then expect replenishment soon.

In this way, the female prepares her musculoskeletal system for childbirth. Take a closer look at the changes in external signs; in a pregnant goat, the belly begins to increase, and with the manifestation of its asymmetry. The vagina, loop and mammary glands also enlarge. Be sure to monitor the level of milk yield, because when preparing for mating, their level drops, but when pregnancy occurs, it actively increases. Cervical mucus can be checked without the help of a veterinarian - a large amount of it confirms pregnancy. For this method, it is worth purchasing a special gynecological mirror.

Rules for caring for a pregnant goat

You need proper nutrition

For an easy pregnancy, a number of conditions must be provided. It is worth adjusting and revising the regime, as well as the diet. Moldy, frozen food is best avoided during this period. It is necessary to be careful about feeding with various concentrates, and during the period of active development of the fetus, it is generally better to exclude them. Develop a diet according to the scheme. You should not feed the female with exclusively roughage, diluted with water and give tops.

In pursuit of economy, adverse consequences are possible in the form of fetal dystrophy, and in the most extreme case, a miscarriage may occur. As for the frequency of feeding, food is given 3-4 times a day, observing the diet at the same time.

It is better for a pregnant goat to limit access to cold water and create conditions with a minimum temperature difference. When the goat is a month before lambing, the room needs to be kept at the optimum temperature and humidity. You can take the goat out for walks only after the dew has subsided so that it does not freeze. In winter, such walks should be abandoned altogether. Keep in mind that in the last weeks of pregnancy, the animal is even more active and prone to aggression. In this case, it is better to take it out on a leash to avoid injury.

Running and feeding a goat before lambing

Few farmers know how to properly run a goat before lambing, and the whole process largely depends on these actions. During the feeding of the offspring, the loads and stresses for the animal increase. To minimize their influence, the female is launched. How to run a goat before lambing? The start-up process involves a series of steps to stop milk production 3 months before lambing. A month before lambing, the goat should not have secretions. To stop lactation, change the usual diet and gradually abandon milking.

Running a goat before lambing is important because it prepares the animal for childbirth, and then helps to increase milk yield. During the start-up period of the goat, it is necessary to exclude feeding with juicy feed and vegetables with a gradual transition to reduced amounts of food. Roughage is added to the diet and the swill (water with nutritional supplements) is replaced with clean water. In the summer, the consumption of green food is halved. All nutritional adjustments are made in order to reduce the nutritional value of the diet by 30%.

An important part of preparing a goat for launch is to reduce the number of milkings until lactation is complete. In the first week of launch, the goat is milked once every 2 days, and starting from the fourth week, it is looked at as needed. Compliance with all start-up rules is necessary to increase the quality and quantity of milk after childbirth. Often, if the basic requirements are not met, milk yield decreases significantly, which does not allow the goat to fully feed its offspring.

Feeding the female after launch

After starting it is necessary to change the female's diet again. This is done in order to prevent fetal obesity. Juicy feed should be returned to the diet, but at the same time, their amount should be limited to avoid swelling of the extremities.During the second half of pregnancy, the fetal skeleton is actively formed, so calcium should be given. You can get it by adding bone meal and chalk to the main food.

Ideally, the post-launch diet should consist of compound feed (0.3 kg), root crops (up to 0.5 kg), chalk or bone meal (20 grams), hay and herbs (2 kg). This combination will be enough to satisfy the needs of both the goat and the fetus. With insufficient nutrition, nutrients are not supplied in sufficient quantities, and the fetus begins to take the necessary vitamins from the liver, muscles, bone tissue, subcutaneous fat of its mother.

Signs of approaching labor

The behavior of a pregnant goat is different

First, before any important event, the behavior of goats before lambing changes accordingly.

• Among the earliest signs of lambing in goats are the rapid enlargement of the udder and the release of fluid mucus from the genitals. Usually, such changes are observed about two days before delivery. You can watch the first sign of lambing in goats on video on all kinds of forums or ask to participate personally in such a business if there are friends of farmers. Also, many farmers have a sample goat lambing chart on hand to be prepared a little.
• It is necessary to observe the temperature of the female - 50 hours before the start of labor, she drops by 0.4-1.5 degrees.
• The day before lambing, noticeable dimples appear in the area of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe root of the tail. Literally after that, the opening of the vagina begins - usually this process takes 2-4 hours.
• Before giving birth, the goat becomes anxious, looks at its stomach, bleats. She begins to look for the best position for childbirth. Do not worry if you notice that she tears the litter with her hooves - thus, the goat instinctively tries to equip her nest.

It is better to prepare the place for birth in advance and allow the female to get comfortable in order to minimize the stressful situation. The room should have good air circulation, but no drafts. It is good if it is possible to adjust the optimal temperature mode - 15 degrees with an air humidity of 75%. It is advisable to disinfect all surfaces - for these purposes, a 5% solution of soda ash or 2% sodium hydroxide is suitable. A straw bedding is made on the floor.

We accept childbirth from a goat on our own

If the animal carries cubs and does not walk, actively walks, then the female is able to give birth without outside interference. But this is only if the pregnancy was proceeding normally and without complications. In the firstborn, or as it is also called the first flow, it is more and more difficult, for example, the goat is sick or has diarrhea and other symptoms, then in this case, you need to invite a specialist. It will not be superfluous to prepare for the delivery if something does not go as planned.

You need to have an iodine solution, clean towels, a thread for tying the umbilical cord with you. At the beginning of labor, the animal takes a comfortable position for it. After this, the appearance of a translucent bladder from the genitals begins, which later opens. The cub is born with its limbs forward and thus breaks the bubble.

After their appearance in the goat, immediately after lambing, the afterbirth leaves for several more hours. Time may pass between the birth of the second and the subsequent cub. Sometimes a goat cannot give birth for several days and in this case oxytocin is injected. This hormone, oxytocin, is also administered to animals after childbirth to produce prolactin. At the very end of labor, it is necessary to take care of the female and lubricate her thighs with a prepared 4% soda solution. You also need to look at the condition of the female as a whole.

Possible complications during childbirth

Goat and kids need extra care

During childbirth, and even a few days after, as well as between births, complications occur, and it is not always possible to foresee them and what to do after lambing a goat in this case? There is no exact instruction, so a person should be nearby at this moment in order to provide timely assistance if necessary. Among the very common difficulties is poor patency of the fetal head. Lubrication of the genitals with boric petroleum jelly helps to solve this problem, and during contractions they sometimes resort to removing the kid. How long it may take is unknown.

He can cope with this on his own or invite two assistants.For help, the veterinarian is immediately consulted with presentation and prolapse of the uterus. It is useful for livestock breeders to know about the reasons that lead to various complications, when the female does not have the prescribed weight and the appetite has disappeared, it is necessary to increase the diet and give more favorite foods. Even if all these reasons are excluded, complications may arise if this is the first lambing of a goat - this is also influenced only by the natural characteristics of each individual female.

Proper handling of newborn kids

What to do after lambing a goat? First of all, you need to take care of and take care of the kids, and also make sure that the afterbirth comes out. If during their birth the amniotic sac remains intact, then it is necessary to break it to extract the cubs. After that, they begin to clean the airways and check the respiratory system. If the cub does not stand up and difficulty breathing is found, it is necessary to blow into the mouth. If these measures do not bring results and there was a premature lambing, then the kid is turned over on its back and the legs are bent-unbend to develop breathing. It is important to calculate the correct pressure.

When vital functions are restored, the goat stays with the cubs so that the female can eat the afterbirth and lick the babies. It is necessary to let the goat stay with all the kids after lambing, while the animals do not need to be covered with anything else. Do not forget that you should never wash newborns. Next, the umbilical cord is ligated. The thread is pretreated with iodine, and then the umbilical cord is tied, retreating 2-3 cm from the abdomen. After cutting the umbilical cord, moxibustion with iodine is done. It is necessary to conduct an initial examination of newborns, especially if they will be used to replenish the herd in the future. In a young female, the afterbirth should completely come out some time after lambing.

Breeding goats

The kid needs mother's milk

The preparation of the goat and its maintenance for shearing is carried out one month before the start of labor. Breeding the domestic goat after lambing must be done correctly. Lambing and the gradual distribution of the goat are interrelated. The animal must get used to the closeness of a person under stressful conditions. If the udder is firm and does not bleed, then you can start with simple strokes and use a cloth soaked in warm water. If massage is done, then with extreme care so as not to cause unnecessary discomfort to the animal. The distribution of goats is done in two main ways.

In the first case, the goat itself is handed out by the kids themselves, even if the udder is hard, this is the treatment. For this, it is necessary soon to ensure their cohabitation with their mother in the same room. In such conditions, the cubs often come into contact with the mother, come into contact with the udder up to 15 times a day. There are several significant drawbacks to such a simple method. With constant interaction with the offspring, the goat does not get enough time to rest. As a result, lactation decreases, and the kids do not receive sufficient nutrition. They can also inadvertently damage the udder and teats.

Manual beating

It is safer to do it manually. The first milking, as treatment begins within an hour after the placenta leaves. Such a rush is due to the need for feeding the offspring and the prevention of mastitis. After lambing, a goat begins to hunt after a while, when the animal can recover normally. After lambing for the first week, the goat is milked once a day. This period looks like with abundant lactation and swelling of the udder, but after that they switch to milking 4-5 times a day.

During the very first milking, you need to know how long these milk yields last - in the future, this affects the amount. First, the udder is washed with warm water, so the udder is cleaned and, if necessary, greased with cream. Well suited "Baby cream" or any other, but it should consist of natural ingredients. Pat the udder before milking and then give it a gentle massage.The first jet should be run into a separate container.

If the goat behaves calmly and does not show excessive anxiety, milking is carried out vigorously, but first you need to find out how you feel. At the end of the process, wash the udder and wipe it dry. The first milking and milk is of great importance for the offspring. Such milk is rich in important bacteria for the intestines and immunoglobulins, which provide natural immunity and protection for newborns. During the first week, all the goat's milk is given to the kids until they gain enough strength. The protective functions of the body last for a long time.

Goat feeding after lambing

Post-lambing goat care and maintenance includes a properly formulated diet at an interval or schedule. After lambing, the goat should eat well and balanced. The female is given bran water at frequent intervals, about every 4 hours. If the female refuses to eat, has lost weight, the goat's lamb has passed and what to do? In this case, you need to wait a little time, perhaps the animal comes to life after giving birth. It is recommended to give the female more water.

At this time, the goats immediately after lambing are rather weak and the digestive system should not be overloaded. When the goat first lambed, it is allowed to give chopped root crops, hay, but it is better to avoid concentrates and other indigestible food. As a rule, goats recover rather quickly and after 3-4 days they are added succulent feed and fresh hay. Adequate food is calculated based on the number of pups. The scheme is quite simple - to increase the mass of a kid by 1 kg, 5 liters of mother's milk are spent. To get 1 liter, a goat eats about 0.4 units of feed and 60 grams of protein.

False pregnancy of a female

Some breeders consider false pregnancy in goats safe, but this is not the case. Preparing a goat for lambing and childbirth may not be superfluous. But this phenomenon is often found in these animals, so do not worry if you had to face such a situation. In a false pregnancy, the behavior of goats corresponds to pregnant individuals. Udder enlargement, uterine cramps, and other primary signs are observed.

Laboratory tests can show the presence of pregnancy, even in the absence of a fetus. This happens if the amount of progesterone in the body rises. Most often, the term of such a "pregnancy" lasts 5 months and ends with the exit of the placenta without a fetus. If the lambing of a goat has not passed within the timeframe established by the veterinarian, then perhaps this is a false pregnancy.

If you want to regularly receive healthy offspring from a goat, then pay attention to it during such an exciting period of pregnancy. You also need to know how the lambing of a goat occurs correctly. If there is a week left before the expected lambing of a goat, then you need to invite a specialist to confirm the birth. Calculate all the nuances to minimize risks and then the newborn kids will be healthy and active. Remember to milk your goat regularly after lambing.