Skip to main content

Featured

Kids: Coccidia

Coccidia are a protozoan internal parasite, that most goats have, in small numbers. In adults, this is generally not a problem, but if kids get an overload of coccidia, it can cause diarrhea, intestinal scarring, and ultimately death, if not treated.  The first line of prevention for coccidia in kids is to keep their areas clean. This may seem like an unreasonable expectation--it's a barn, for all love--but what this means is essentially making sure the kids have minimal access to poop--they pick up coccidia from mouthing poop, soiled straw, etc. This can mean cleaning out the pen every day, or it can mean adding a new layer of straw once or twice a day, or even both. A good criteria (picked up from Deborah at the Thrifty Homesteader) is that you should be willing to sit down in the stall. Then, it's clean enough for kids. If you're not willing to sit down (while wearing "barn" pants. Not wearing a fancy dress, for instance) it's not clean enough for kids.  In...
2 comments
Read more

Kidding: The Kidding Kit

While our first kidding isn't going to be until mid-March, it's definitely time to start thinking about restocking the kidding kit! 

I like to separate what we keep in the kidding kit into tiers--what we need for every birth, what's nice for every birth, what we'd need in an emergency, what we need later, and what we might need if there's a later problem. That means I can keep things where I need them (house or shed, depending on when we might need them) and not clutter up the goat shed with unnecessary equipment. :)

What We Need for Every Birth

-Towels (To dry the babies off! Some people use chux pads, but we like to be able to reuse the towels. You'll probably need around 2 towels per baby, but it's good to have a few extras)
-Bulb syringe (To clean out the kids' airways. This needs to be sterilized after every birth)
-Nosefrida (This can be found on Amazon...we love it for clearing the goats' throats, whereas the bulb syringe works best on their noses)
-Gloves--short (cuz really, do you want amniotic fluid, blood, and other goop on your hands? No. No, you do not)
-Wipes (These are useful for a variety of things...but not completely necessary)
-Molasses (Give a few tbsp in hot water to the mom after birth)
-Baby monitors (We use these to listen for labor during the night...this year we might upgrade to a $30 camera from Amazon. Haven't decided yet.)
-Iodine (To dip the kids' umbilical cords. Some people also tie them off with floss...we haven't found that necessary. Some people also use sterile scissors to cut them...we find they usually tear off fine, and it's really, really hard to keep scissors sterile in the barn)

Nice to Have for Every Birth

-Camera 
-Heating Pad (depending on the season)
-Blow Dryer (also depending on the season) 

What We'd Need In An Emergency

-Vitamin E gel capsules (give these to weak kids...it helps to free up available selenium to help make them stronger)
-Obstetric gloves--shoulder length (in case you need to go in and assist)
-Lubricant (put this on your hand if you need to assist. We use olive oil...KY Jelly also works, as does J-Lube) 
-Shepherd's Purse extract (this helps stop hemorrhaging. We don't always have it...but I feel better when we do, even though we've never had to use it)
-Phone #s of vet & local goat friends (in case you need help)

What We Need Later

-Scale & sling (to check baby weights--much easier than trying to use a kitchen scale! The sling can be made at home, from fleece or similar things)
-Kid coats (Made by cutting the arms off a fleece or sweatshirt. We don't always need these, but in cold weather, it's nice for keeping kids, especially small kids, warm. Only use them if the babies are shivering)

What We Might Need Later

-Bottle nipples and bottles (in case a baby needs to be supplemented or bottle fed)
-Mom coat (this would only be needed in a case where it was a really tough labor and the mom was extremely stressed and shivering. You can use the leftover sweatshirt/fleece from making kid coats)
-Feeding tube (for extremely weak kids, to feed them and keep them alive)
-Heat lamp (in case it's very cold--this needs to be used with extreme caution. Also, it ruins pictures. XD So we prefer just using coats, if we can get away with just that)

I'm sure I've forgotten something, since this was all off the top of my head, so if I remember something I missed, I'll add it. :) But this is at least most of what we have for our kidding kit! 

Comments

Post a Comment