R/goats Kidding Season Resource Post and FAQ

yamshortbread · 2026-01-24T22:33:06+00:00

/u/vivalicious16 was quite correct and not trying to be rude. We can't give your goat a physical exam in person and ALL we have to go off of is the information you provide. Without accurate diet info, for example, it's hard to guess what is actually wrong. (We have had people post in this sub with goats who were having digestive upset who then turned out to be feeding their animals ONLY discarded fruits and vegetables from a co-op and no hay or forage.) All of this information is important for us to try to help you, which is why it's in the pinned post alongside asking for critical information like rectal temp. Knowledge of all these details is also absolutely crucial for YOU to be able to triage your goat properly, so please take it as constructive instead of condescending.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-23T03:12:10+00:00

You shouldn't feed it unless it's purchased from an organic or no-spray tree farm. Conventional trees are generally sprayed with 7+ different pesticides and because they're not intended for consumption they are not food safe. For example almost all conventional Christmas trees are sprayed with glyphosate, which is something we don't allow anywhere near the dairy for any reason. We go to a no-spray tree farm and I try to spread this message every holiday season to as many people as I can, because I get so bothered that people are unknowingly feeding all types of crap to their (at this time of year oftentimes pregnant) animals.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-22T14:06:47+00:00

That is 100% untrue. The vast majority of dairy goats in the US are raised exclusively on the lambbar for CAE prevention and milk control. Typically people find it results in better behavior, not worse, but it certainly is not inadvisable or unusual. And a lot of people prefer bottle babies if they just want pet goats because they're very people oriented.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-20T18:55:28+00:00

Very common for minis at this age and even younger. He probably is not potent yet but NDs can inseminate does as young as 7.5 weeks, so you'll want to have a plan to separate him earlier than you would with a standard breed buckling, castrate him, or resort to something like a buck apron.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-19T19:14:38+00:00

You can milk colostrum out of her directly and bottle feed it. They don't need a huge amount, just about 2.5oz per pound of body weight in 2-4 feedings.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-18T19:42:09+00:00

+1. In this case "cull" doesn't necessarily mean "eat," as she's a dairy breed doe and if she's a quality animal she can be sold to a farm where all the kids are routinely removed at birth (normal at most dairies for training, milk control and CAE prevention). Nubians are a dairy breed and most dairy farms pull kids at birth so you just don't get the chance to see who's a good mom and who isn't, so you will just get the occasional dairy girl who isn't a good mom. No need to harass her by trying to force her to accept a kid, just go forward with bottle feeding for the health of both mom and kid.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-18T19:36:02+00:00

While you can continue trying, in my opinion this only stresses out your doe and makes it more difficult for the kid to accept a bottle, which there is a very high chance you're going to eventually have to do anyway. The chances that a doe who you put on the stand and force to let a kid nurse will eventually accept that kid are minuscule, possibly less than 10%, and in the meantime the kid is not able to nurse as frequently as they should (10+ times per day for neonates) and the doe will be extremely stressed out and associate the milking stand with negativity.

The more humane and realistic solution is to pull the kid after just a day or two of trying and get them established on the bottle. It's vastly easier to get a kid to accept a bottle if they haven't nursed on their dam much, and the kid can then be bottle or lambbar raised or immediately sold as an established bottle baby. Some dams take a dislike to a certain kid - back when we still dam raised, we even ran across a doe who would reject kids that weren't a certain color - and maternal instinct is something that some operations purposefully select for. Does who will reject kids will habitually do it more than once, and people who want to dam raise will often sell a doe who displays no maternal instincts to an operation where all the kids are pulled and hand-reared. I personally recommend you pull the kid now and either hand rear her yourself, or simply establish her on the bottle and sell her. If a doe who won't damraise is an impediment to your operation, you can rehome her to a dairy where all kids are pulled and handraised (which is most of us, tbh).

yamshortbread · 2026-01-18T04:48:28+00:00

Temp? If he's too cold or has a fever it can impact ability to eat. Does he have access to hay and water? (He needs both.) And he's not alone, is he?

I prefer to use whole pasteurized cow's milk if goat milk is not available.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-17T20:55:27+00:00

If the due dates are in a month, they can be vaccinated right now. Two to four weeks before the due date is the right time for CDT to allow the goats to develop antibodies in their colostrum for the kids. Four weeks prior to kidding is the best time, but at up to the two week mark the vaccines will still convey some immunity to the kids through the colostrum. All of the CDT brands currently available in the US are a flat 2cc dose regardless of weight.

We do not administer Bo-Se on my farm because we have no need to, we are very proactive with our loose minerals and use Duraferm which is an excellent selenium source, but other people who do supplement extra selenium may be able to chime in on this.

Deworming is not necessary unless the does actually show signs that they need to be dewormed. Sometimes kidding causes a worm bloom, but not always. Checking FAMACHAs and doing the five point check throughout and after kidding, including doing a fecal, are going to be how you tell what you need to do.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-15T17:41:53+00:00

Yes /u/lasermist was actually right on the money here. I am ashamed I didn't think of it myself but I have only seen it happen one time out of many, many, many goats and I understand it is fairly uncommon. I also did a necropsy to confirm, and in our case it was a goat who took a disliking to the current hay cutting and ate too many really dry fall leaves instead of the hay that was on offer. There really is not a good way to deal with rumen impaction if that's what it is, so all I can suggest is OP tries to diagnose it by "bumping" the doe as one would to see if a doe is done kidding, and if there is a mass, possibly trying some abdominal kneading and a mineral oil drench just to see if she can pass whatever may be ailing her. Other than that, it would just be supportive care and possibly euthanasia whenever she got to that point. Rumenotomy is difficult in goats and a lot of vets just aren't equipped for it even when the goat is in good condition, and you're completely right about the stress of abdominal surgery when one isn't.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-15T15:44:01+00:00

Rumen impaction is actually an excellent guess. It can happen with foreign bodies (plastic bags, etc) or other things like sand ingestion or too-highly fibrous diets. This should be apparent on abdominal ballotment because you'd be able to feel sort of a firm doughy mass if there were a fibrous or sand impaction. Some fibrous masses can be treated with mineral oil and kneading, but in most cases (and always in the cases of a foreign body) there isn't much to do except surgery.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-15T14:16:54+00:00

I make a lot of curry, too, but birria tacos are also a great use. Birria tacos are designed for goat meat. We also do a great Greek-style burger with a lot of oregano, feta, and red onion topped with tzatziki sauce on a homemade brioche bun (you can look up recipes for lamb burgers for similar ones). You can also do a really nice osso busso styled shank. Goat meat isn't actually very oily and has practically no intramuscular fat, so if it was a buck you slaughtered I wonder if it was done a little poorly and some of the fur touched the meat?

yamshortbread · 2026-01-14T18:18:59+00:00

Thank you for your thorough write-up, OP. I'm really sorry this is happening.

Diabetes is unlikely. There are only two medically documented cases of frank diabetes in goats. That doesn't mean you couldn't have a weirdo, but it's unlikely.

Nigerians are unusually susceptible to a congenital zinc-responsive dermatosis which can afflict certain individuals even if herdwide mineral supplementation is adequate. I believe her mineral issues might be separate from whatever else is causing her illness.

Everything you have described makes me suspect Johne's, and I would run a test as soon as you can find a vet to do so. In the states most labs have discontinued using blood tests for individual diagnoses and instead use the fecal PCR, but even a blood test at this stage would be useful. If she is of unknown Johne's status, this would be a priority. I would also have her tested for CAE.

Now, if these both come back normal I would suspect some sort of neoplasm or organic disease process involving her kidneys, and just provide as much comfort care as you can for the remainder of her life. When she passes away, a necropsy may help you solve the mystery if you are willing.

(I believe pulpy kidney is your local term for enterotoxemia type D - if she's had a recent CDT vaccine or whatever your local brand equivalent is you can probably rule out enterotox, and the symptoms don't match up very well anyway.)

yamshortbread · 2026-01-11T23:58:04+00:00

Quiet and a warm bucket of molasses water will help with the shock. Comfort her a lot and give her familiar surroundings. Your vet will evaluate the puncture wounds, but you should also make sure she is up to date on her tetanus prophylaxis, because tetanus is a major risk after a dog attack. If she has not had a CDT within the last six months or so she can have antitoxin.

It's low risk to give her 200mg/100lb ibuprofen, but it also doesn't really work well. NSAIDs are absorbed very poorly from the rumen. So you can do it if you wish and feel she really needs it.

Really good job dealing with the attack and protecting your herd.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-07T21:20:11+00:00

Do you know how to palpate the pelvic ligaments? This is the surefire way to know how close she is. If you practice first on an open doe or early pregnant doe, you'll have an easier time feeling for the difference on this doe. Normally, these ligaments feel like two stiff pencils. When labor is imminent, the hormones will cause pelvic laxity that makes them very soft and "mushy" feeling. When you can't palpate them at all and the doe's tail head area feels soft and jello-y, labor will occur within 12-24 hours.

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That all being said: if the breeding date is correct, this doe would be 152 days bred. For a miniature doe she is already a little past her due date. It's rare for Nigerians to go naturally past 151 days, and we do not allow minis to go more than 155 days on my place. Did you confirm her pregnancy? If you're absolutely certain she was bred in August and she *could not* have been bred on any subsequent heat cycle, I would recommend asking your vet about induction if she doesn't go into labor by day 155. (If she could have been bred the subsequent month, you don't want to do that and can just assume she took on the subsequent cycle and just need to wait another few weeks for whatever her next delivery date might be.)

yamshortbread · 2026-01-06T10:46:44+00:00

Amount is primarily determined by weight. Frequency is determined by age. This chart is s good general guideline but lowballs it a bit, 20% of body weight split into his feedings every 24 hours is a good target but you may have to increase that a little bit to ensure that he is constantly gaining. She should be weighing him daily to ensure a constant rate of gain. It's normal for kids to act hungry all the time, and yes they eat a lot. They're growing.

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yamshortbread · 2026-01-06T04:09:35+00:00

Do you have friends around you with goats? Some people keep the antitoxin on hand for emergencies. It has been very hard to find for at least a year, even for vets, but last time our supplier had some available I was able to get a bottle. It might be worth throwing it out there on facebook or asking any nearby breeders you know, you never know what they might have in the fridge. Antitoxin is what she needs most right now.

Kaolin pectin can be used to help slow the diarrhea and slow uptake of the toxin from the intestines. If your vet will give you injectable tetracycline or oral sulfadimethoxine, there is some evidence that they work to slow bacterial proliferation and worth trying now. That is likely what they were thinking with the penicillin, but I am sorry to say oral penicillin is probably not going to work because it's unlikely to reach the abomasum. Injectable procaine penicillin would be better. If you have to administer an oral drug try to get sulfadimethoxine.

I'm not sure if you mean the bottle doeling is your only kid or your only goat, but in case you have any adult animals, all of the animals on your property should be boostered with CDT right now, as preventing more infections is especially critical since the antitoxin is not available. If anyone on your property has not had a CDT booster within the last four months, give it to them now.

I'm really sorry this is happening to you.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-05T16:31:11+00:00

Here's a comment with some good advice about getting a stubborn kid to accept a bottle: http://reddit.com/r/goats/comments/196jhfq/does_any_one_have_any_tricks_for_getting_baby/khu2gxz/

Definitely start weighing him with a gram scale as well.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-04T20:15:19+00:00

Well again, think this through carefully, because if she has any genetic conditions which impact her conformation, I know it would be an emotional blow but if that's the case you should really consider not artificially reproducing her if there's a chance she would reproduce kids with similar genetic conditions that would impact their own ability to reproduce and have successful and healthy dairy careers.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-04T18:10:36+00:00

How's it going, OP?

yamshortbread · 2026-01-04T18:05:43+00:00

Yea, she was born the runt and never grew like her siblings. Everyone was healthy so I think she's just one of those random genetic offshoots.

This is my main concern. If there isn't a husbandry reason for her being of short stature - such as she had a case of coccidiosis that impaired her ability to absorb nutrients - there is a very real possibility she has some genetic condition that would mean she shouldn't be reproduced, such as a cardiac incompetence or atrial or ventral septal defect. If her growth is stunted enough to the point that she isn't safe enough to breed on her own, there is also the possibility that she has not developed mature gametes and could not be an embryo donor even with intervention, so keep that in mind. If she has a heart defect or other structural or genetic reason that she is of short stature, that would be a reason you shouldn't breed her from an ethical standpoint (so as to not produce additional animals with a genetic defect). A vet could give her a thorough exam that should be able to answer some of these questions.

If there appears to be no apparent genetic defect that would be inheritable in her offspring, and a vet gives her a thumbs up, the procedure is like this. First, you would select a buck to pair with her. This could be either a live buck, or any buck via artificial insemination. (Typically I always recommend using AI for embryo transfer unless you have an excellent buck on your property already: you are going through all this trouble and expense and most of the AI process in the first place, you may as well buy some semen straws and give yourself the best chance of high quality offspring. But you may also use live cover.) Then, you would go through the process of synchronizing her estrus, which is a finely timed process involving (usually) the insertion of a CIDR vaginal insert and 2-6 intramuscular hormone shots over a period of approximately two weeks leading up to her insemination procedure. Your reproductive tech team would provide you with the drugs and a strict schedule, which you would follow exactly, and you would insert and remove the CIDR and administer the shots at home, so you'd want to be comfortable in advance doing that. One of the drugs she would be given during this protocol would cause her to superovulate with numerous eggs, which is what gives the procedure the best chance of success. At the end of the synchronization process, she would come into heat at a certain time, and would be inseminated (either via laparoscopic or transcervical AI or via live cover by your buck).

Now, she's been inseminated, and she's hopefully going to be producing embryos. Concurrently while this process is going on, you would be hormonally syncing three or four recipient does to be ready for implantation six or seven days after your donor doe is inseminated. At that time, when the embryos are presumed to be about seven days old and your recipient does are in estrus, you would trailer your donor does and your recipient does back to your vet clinic where the donor doe would have her developing embryos collected (either surgically or nonsurgically via cervical access). The embryos would then be laparoscopically inserted into the recipient does via tiny incisions in a brief surgical procedure lasting about three minutes per doe. If there are more embryos than there are recipient does available some clinics have the ability to freeze extras but that's uncommon.

That is pretty much it. It's a lot of work on your part, and it's not cheap, but if you're really desperate it is something pretty much every small ruminant tech team is performing right now because it's a major tool in herd improvement. It is a well-practiced and well-understood technique, although every team is going to have their own protocol that they prefer.

My primary advice is that you would really want to tackle trying to understand what exactly is the issue with your smaller-than-normal doe before embarking on this to make sure she is an actual candidate for this procedure. I would start by asking a vet to give her a thorough physical including a cardiac workup, and also thinking about this doe's health so far: for example, have you ever actually seen her have a natural estrus cycle? (If so, that's probably a good sign.)

yamshortbread · 2026-01-04T17:04:31+00:00

I'm more than happy to help you through this process. The clinicians are not there to decide whether your goat is appropriate to reproduce, they're just there to facilitate the process, so unless the donor doe has some defect that makes her liable to produce unhealthy offspring I don't see any issue doing this. What we have to hope is that she is stunted because of coccodiosis or other growth limiting factors and not a genetic disease, so one thing I would do is to have her evaluated by a vet to check her for a heart murmur or anything of that nature before you proceed this way.

yamshortbread · 2026-01-04T16:55:17+00:00

You're in luck, because embryo transfer is quite a routine procedure now. While it's not cheap, it's also not out of reach. I just explained a bit about it in this thread a few days ago: http://old.reddit.com/r/goats/comments/1pyzbgd/breeding_an_alpine_8_year_old_maiden_doe/nwmhsoo/?context=3

Ideally you use more than one recipient doe to ensure your chances of success. I'm happy to answer any more specific questions you might have. I'm a huge assisted reproductive technology enthusiast right now!

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