I ALWAYS look forward to this time of year – spring is nearly here and the birth of new animals is so uplifting - the icing on the cake as far as I am concerned after a long winter. Whether you have one house goat or a whole herd (which can be exhausting if you are kidding alone), the joy of this time of renewal is hard to beat in my opinion. This year, I have no goats to kid but twelve Ryeland ewes which I am certain will need less assistance than the goats even though it will be their first experience of giving birth.

With the change in our weather patterns, more and more goat keepers will be kidding much earlier in the year, some in December and January even and to those of you that have been there and done it already, I hope all went well but for those of you who are still waiting, I offer some advice from my own experiences of around 150 kiddings in five years of commercial goat keeping.

Preparation for Kidding
Approximately two weeks before the expected date of kidding, the doe should be established in her kidding pen. If she is free range with access to a shelter (a must for all goats) it is possible to create a corner for her using sheep hurdles and screening them with straw bales. Clean out all old bedding and disinfect solid floors and walls or use a preparation such as Stalosan disinfectant powder if the structure is of an organic nature. Keep her warm and draft free and allow her out during the day if the weather allows.

Her concentrate ration should be kept low. No more than 0.5kgs per day, but she should be given ad lib forage (hay/straw) which should be fed above ground, preferably in a hayrack. The importance of acclimatising her to a confined area is to allow her to build up colostral anti-bodies which will pass on to her kids and keep them safe in those first few days after birth. Make sure that you have your own “kidding kit” .This should comprise a clean lidded bucket containing essentials such as a bar of soap, a pair of nail scissors, some iodine or “purple” spray, your vets telephone number, a clean towel and a pair of clean over trousers. Now some might think” That’s a funny sort of kidding kit!” Well, yes it is, but believe me, it really is all you need! (Plus a mobile phone of course at the last minute) You can get your long lambing gloves and obstetric jelly, stomach tubes etc etc. but the reality is that unless you are a REALLY experienced stock person, you won’t actually use them, and if you are a really experienced stock person it is unlikely that you will be reading this guide anyway! As we go along in the kidding process, you will see the relevance of all these objects.

Imminent Kidding, the signs are:
1. A full udder (although she may have bagged up several days earlier)However full that udder is do not under any circumstances milk anything off. It’s early contents are colostrum which is a vital first boost to the newborn kids for the first few days of life.

2. A swollen vulva which becomes elongated and slack and a desire to stay in her pen that morning.

3. Hollows will appear at the base of her tail and she will elevate her tail in a hooked fashion.

4. She will circle her pen with increasing regularity and dig her bedding up (another good reason for a clean pen!)It is a good idea to give her plenty of clean straw while she continues with this which could go on for several hours.

Make sure she has her supply of clean hay, although she will only pick at it, if at all. Put her water bucket high enough so that she can drink it but not so low that there is any chance of her dropping a kid into it. As with humans, although there is a pattern to labour, the time the various stages take varies hugely from person to person/goat to goat so there are no hard and fast rules to how long this procedure will take. In my experience, first staging can take from two to twelve hours, so don’t get too excited too early if this is you first birthing or you will be exhausted by the end when perhaps you might need your wits about you. (All you dads out there will be familiar with this scenario I’m sure!) The goat will manage this stage of labour very nicely on her own and the best thing you can do is to get on with your other jobs and check on her every 30 minutes or so. You will know when things are progressing as she will have a mucous discharge and her breathing will become more rapid with a typical flare to her nostrils. If you are able, offer her some warm water to drink. This is often appreciated, but don’t worry if she goes on food and drink strike. Keep strangers away from her. Whilst she will appreciate her owner’s quiet attention she will definitely not appreciate the next door neighbour’s children or yours or other people’s dogs.

Remember that abnormal disturbance can protract the labour and possibly jeopardise an otherwise safe and successful kidding.

Get the kettle on and fill a flask with hot water and leave in the kit bucket.

Also put your mobile phone in the bucket too. There you see, you always knew there was a reason for boiling water at imminent births.

Next month, the birth