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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
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Kids: Routine Tasks

There is a set of tasks that need to be considered with new kids, that need to happen at certain times.

Disbudding
If a kid is horned (i.e. not polled), you'll probably be able to feel horn buds not long after birth (especially on bucks)--they feel like little chocolate chips. A few days after birth (3-5ish days for bucks, 5-10ish days for does), if you don't want the kids to grow horns (which most people don't) you'll need to disbud them. This means burning the horn buds so that they won't grow. This is not a procedure that should be done by beginners. We take our kids out to our goat mentors, who have been raising goats for many years. If you would like to learn more, check out THIS page. 

Deworming
We like to start deworming our kids not long after birth, because they can pick up worms from the surroundings, even if the surroundings are kept very clean. (We can't pick up every single poop right after the goat defecates...and in those poops, there can be worm eggs, so if the kid curiously mouths the poop, they can end up with worms.) We use the Land of Havilah Herbal Dewormer Formula, and give a very small amount (a pinch to 1/8 tsp depending on how old the kid is) every couple of days. 

CDT vaccines
If you're planning on having your goats have the CDT vaccine (which protects against enterotoxemia and tetanus), kids will need a vaccine at five weeks, and another dose three to four weeks later. Regardless of size, each goat gets 2 ml subcutaneously. 

Registration & Tattooing
If you're planning on registering goats with the ADGA (which we do), they need to be tattooed for identification purposes, and their registration applications sent in. We like to wait until the kids are fairly large (around six to eight weeks) to tattoo, so that their ears are big enough. But at the same time, we like to have registration papers in hand by the time we sell them, and that requires doing registration at five or six weeks...so it's a little bit of a balancing act. HERE's a good explanation of both the ADGA's tattoo policies, and the tattooing process. If you'd like a video, THIS one give a fairly good overview (plus it's very entertaining. :)). 
If you owned the buck at time of breeding, registration is an easy online process. If not, there are two possibilities: you got an electronic service memo, or you got a paper service memo. With an electronic one, you can register the kids online, but with the paper one, you must fill out the paper registration application.

Castration
If you don't want to keep male kids intact (and only the best male kids should be kept intact) you'll need to neuter them. This is best done as late as possible, so that their urinary tract has time to develop, to avoid urinary calculi issues in the future. We generally do it a few days before eight weeks. We use the banding method. I would prefer to use the Burdizzo method, but so far I have not found a way to learn this method adequately. Someday! HERE's a link to the banding method, and HERE's a link to the Burdizzo method. Even if you're using the banding method, this is something you want to learn from an experienced person before you try it yourself.

Copper supplements
Kids can be copper deficient! And it's good to correct this. We like to give a copper bolus appropriate for kid size (either a specific "kid" bolus, or a portion of an adult bolus) to the kid at eight weeks, if not a bit earlier. It's not necessary to keep the bolus intact...simply tip the copper wire particles into their mouth, and make sure they swallow. 

Hoof trimming
Kids also need to have their hooves trimmed. It's important to get them off on the right hoof for good maintenance in the future. We like to trim at 4 and 8 weeks. 

Weaning/sale
Kids are generally weaned and/or sold at eight weeks. If the kid is getting sold, that's an automatic weaning--they're not with their mom anymore, so they can't nurse. If you're keeping a kid, some people will let the kid nurse almost as long as they want, which can have health benefits, but can lead to problems if the kid is still nursing when they're over a year! In this case, using teat tape (or paper surgical tape) to cover the doe's teats so the kid(s) can't nurse after around 12 weeks generally works pretty well.

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