Another Day with the Goats, Part 4- Early Care of Newborns

A newborn kid's first needs are fairly simple, if it is healthy and strong. It basically just needs to be dried off, kept warm, and receive milk as soon as possible. If it is born on a hot/ warm day, then you probably don't need to worry about warming it up, and the mother usually does a great job cleaning it off. Getting in there and handling it right away can be helpful though, so that it learns to accept human interaction more easily. This also helps the doe learn to accept you messing with her baby. (Hopefully, she will already be tame and not mind, but you never can tell until you've been through a kidding or two with her.)

Quick checklist:

Warm and dry kids

Bottle-feed, or make sure they get hold of a teat and are nursing

Dip umbilical cords in povidone iodine, and/or goldenseal

Check for obvious defects (extra teats, bad mouths, etc.)

Give doe 1 quart or more of warm molasses water

Below is the video I took of our first care of Nelly's 2014 litter of triplets. The weather was in the high 30's, which is very chilly for Florida, especially in the afternoon. Enjoy!

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