For the first three months, the animal will have enough hay and green mass, but in the last 60 days it is necessary to reduce bulk feed so that the rumen is not compressed by the uterus. Intensive growth of the fetus requires the consumption of nutrients, and therefore the goat must receive a sufficient amount of concentrates.
What diet should be provided to pregnant goats?
Feeding animals is very important point in the life of any farm, and providing the correct diet for pregnant animals is even more so. Stale low-quality food combined with cold water have negative influence on the fetus and can cause miscarriage or untimely lambing.
IN summer time goats should receive the following types of feed in the required quantities:
- green mass;
- feed;
- grain mixtures.
One animal must be allocated at least 0.8 kg of feed and 0.7 kg of grain per day. You can additionally diversify your diet with root vegetables, but beets should be excluded (in some cases they can cause miscarriage).
In winter, the green mass is replaced with hay or straw. As additional nutrition, branch food is prepared by cutting off green branches and then drying them. Animals also eat very well coniferous branches containing large quantities vitamins and essential oils, which are valuable sources of nutrients for the body of a pregnant goat.
In the second month, it is imperative to include mineral supplements in the diet in the form of the following ingredients:
- feed chalk;
- bone meal;
- crushed egg shells.
Such components will be necessary because At this moment, the active formation of skeletal bones in the fetus is underway, and therefore the need for calcium increases. Veterinary pharmacies offer an analogue to all these components in the form of mineral and vitamin supplements, which contain calcium in large quantities.
In the fourth month, goats slowly begin to remove feed and grain from their diet so that the fetus does not reach too high a level. large size. Otherwise, the birth process may occur with serious difficulties. 21 days before the expected lambing, the feed should be completely removed.
If the goat gains excessive weight, 30 days before giving birth, reduce the feeding rate and remove all food that contains a large amount of calories.
You should know that during this period the goat must be protected from dampness and drafts. When grazing, you should avoid steep slopes and hills. It is necessary to give preference to flat terrain. If the animal jumps a lot, then such active movements can cause miscarriage.
Diet depending on the stage of pregnancy
The diet of a pregnant goat, depending on the period, has its own characteristics. The first half of the term involves the division of animals into two groups: milking and dry.
Traditional goat breeding involves preparing for mating, weaning the kids, and phasing out milking. By the time of planned mating, females should be dry. This approach is most often practiced by animal owners of the following types:
- meat;
- downy;
- woolen
For dairy direction this technique used much less frequently.
In the first half of pregnancy, animals are very rarely fed differently in order to increase nutritional value. This is due to the fact that at this stage the body of females does not change significantly.
As a rule, the end of grazing and the beginning of the stall period coincide with the breeding period, which begins in September. At this point, they begin to change their diet:
- in the morning the animals receive hay;
- during the day they go out to pasture;
- in the evening – hay and straw cutting.
Happy ending summer period the grass significantly loses its nutritional value, and therefore the goats will need additional feeding, but only if the animals are poorly fed.
On dairy farms, animals do not stop milking during the breeding period, and therefore you can receive the main products from them for another 90 days. They begin to launch the uterus at the moment when pregnancy flows into the second phase. The dry period is necessary for the animal’s body to accumulate useful substances, which will be used in the future for the formation of milk.
If there is a lack of nutrients needed for lactation period and fetal growth, the mother’s body reserves can be used. This is fraught with exhaustion of the animal itself, miscarriage, postpartum complications, as well as diseases of the skeletal bones and internal organs.
You can get acquainted with the approximate diet of a goat in winter with a milk yield of up to 2 kg of dairy products per day in table No. 1:
The diet is regulated by the owner, who takes into account the fatness of the animals and the amount of milk yield. A gradual reduction in feeds high in protein and carbohydrates is recommended to prepare the animal for the dry period.
What should goats receive in the second half of pregnancy?
With a properly formulated diet, the owner will no longer have several problems:
- providing the fetus with sufficient nutrition in connection with increased growth;
- preventing excess weight gain;
- preparing the female for the lactation period.
Straw, which has low nutritional value, should be excluded from feeding mated goats, or given in large quantities to saturate the animal. In the second half of pregnancy, goats cannot eat unlimited amounts of food. The fact is that the scar shrinks significantly due to the enlarged uterus.
The goats are no longer given sour silage and concentrates at the usual rate. These types of feed cause pathologies in metabolic processes and digestion. Spoiled vegetables, grain with pests and broken hay also have no place in the feeders of pregnant goats. At this time, females should receive exclusively high-quality food. To prevent swelling of the limbs, the amount of vegetables and succulent food in the diet is regulated.
30 days before the planned lambing date, animals should receive the following types of feed (you can see them in table No. 2):
7 days before lambing, animals with good fatness change their diet again, reducing concentrates in order to reduce the amount of protein and energy value.
What to feed the animal after the birth of a kid
Immediately after lambing, the uterus is given diluted liquid bran, hay itself best quality and a small amount of chopped vegetables (carrots or beets). Bran is quite nutritious and is well absorbed by the body of goats, so this food is well suited for animals that have just given birth.
Due to the birth process in animals, the digestive system, and therefore concentrates will be too heavy food for the animal, especially during the first three days. Goats are transferred to their usual diet after 6-8 days.
Goats are very popular pets. They are valued not only for their nutritious and tasty milk and meat, excellent wool, but also for their ease of care. Lambing of a goat proceeds easily, and therefore there is no need for strict and constant control on the part of the farmer. However, this does not mean that a pregnant individual can be left without care. In this article, we tried to answer all the questions that the owner of a pregnant goat may have.
Pregnancy lasts on average 5 months, most often from September to March. The length of pregnancy depends on the number of embryos. Two kids appear 147-150 days after conception. If there is only one kid, then it should be expected later, and with multiple pregnancies, birth occurs earlier. Active development the fetus begins from the second month. A female can give birth to up to five kids, but usually it is one or two kids.
Basic methods for determining pregnancy
Take note! Experienced goat breeders recommend using several at home at once. accessible ways: palpation, observation of the condition and behavior of the animal, etc. This is the only way to confirm pregnancy with a high degree of probability.
How to care for a pregnant goat?
A “heavy” goat needs special care. First of all, the diet and diet are adjusted. Feeding moldy and frozen food should be avoided, the supply of concentrates should be limited, and during some periods of pregnancy they are completely excluded from the diet. You need to feed 3-4 times a day, strictly according to the schedule.
The main principle is that the diet should be optimal, that is, contain vitamins and minerals in required quantities. Sometimes the owners keep the female dog exclusively on roughage and water, feeding it with peelings and tops. Typically, this approach is dictated by the desire to save money. However, most often this leads to undesirable results - miscarriages, fetal dystrophy, and deterioration of the goat’s condition.
A pregnant goat must be separated from aggressive fellow tribesmen. Hitting with horns can cause miscarriage.
The animal is also protected from sudden changes in weather and contact with cold water. That is why the animal is taken out for a walk only after the dew has subsided, and in winter it is better to completely abandon grazing. Recommended walks fresh air and active movement. If even in the last weeks of pregnancy the individual behaves too actively, then walks on a leash are recommended to avoid miscarriage.
Launching and feeding before lambing
During the period of feeding the offspring, the goat's body experiences serious stress and stress. Starting will prepare the animal and help achieve high milk yield after birth. Starting refers to actions aimed at stopping lactation 3 months before lambing. This is achieved by changing the diet and gradually giving up milking.
During the start-up period, goats exclude succulent feed (beets, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin cabbage) and concentrates from the goats’ menu, stop giving swill (water with added nutritional supplements), and reduce the total amount of food. Preference is given to clean water and roughage. In summer, the supply of green mass is reduced by half. As a result, the nutritional value of the diet should decrease by 30%.
In parallel with the change in diet, they begin to gradually reduce the number of milkings until lactation completely disappears.
Gradual reduction in milking
The quantity and quality of goat milk directly depends on how correctly the goat is started before lambing. This is one of the main problems of decreasing milk yield. What is a launch and why is it needed, we will consider in.
Feeding after launch
After the launch, the diet of the pregnant female is adjusted again. The menu is designed so that: the fetus receives the necessary nutrition, prevents fetal obesity, and prepares the individual for lactation. In this case, small amounts of food are desirable. Juicy food is reintroduced into the diet, but in limited quantities to avoid swelling of the limbs. To build the skeleton of the fetus, crushed chalk or bone meal must be given.
Feeding goats after launch
The diet after launch may look like this:
- compound feed – 0.3 kg;
- hay, forbs – 2 kg;
- crushed chalk or bone meal – 20 g;
- root vegetables – up to 0.5 kg;
- brooms – 0.3 kg.
Concentrates are included in the “menu” for a reason. After starting, the fetus begins to actively develop; nutrients are needed to maintain this process. If they are not in the feed, then a mechanism will be launched through which the fetus will begin to receive everything it needs from the mother’s body: muscles, bone tissue, liver, subcutaneous fat.
At the same time, in order to maximize lactation, it is not recommended to feed feed in large quantities (800 grams or more). A similar method is practiced in large farms where milk is produced in industrial scale. In small farms it's ineffective.
Common version of the mixture (100 g):
- barley – 30 g;
- feed wheat – 12 g;
- herbal flour – 7 g;
- yeast for livestock – 3 g;
- sunflower meal – 3 g;
- salt – 1 g;
- wheat bran – 20 g;
- cotton meal – 8 g;
- oats – 13 g;
- phosphate – 3 g;
- vitamin-mineral premix – 1 g.
Signs of impending birth and behavior of the female before lambing
Udder swelling is the earliest sign of impending lambing. Two days before lambing, a viscous mucus is released from the genitals - a leash. Around this time, the nipples swell and become hot. 50 hours before lambing, the animal’s body temperature drops by 0.4-1.2 degrees. Within a day, dimples appear in the area of the tail root, which indicates a divergence of the pelvic bones. The vagina opens within 2-4 hours.
The behavior of the animal changes dramatically just before lambing. The goat is worried, bleats, and may look at its stomach. Constantly lies down on the mat and jumps up to find the best position for birth. Sometimes she tears up the litter with her hooves in an attempt to create something like a nest. The animal will persistently search for a secluded place if the owner does not take care of it.
To provide competent assistance to an animal, you need to learn to identify the signs of impending lambing. From here you will learn how many days it takes for a goat’s udder to fill, as well as about changes in the genitals before lambing.
How to give birth yourself?
If the above-described signs appear and behavior changes, the animal is transferred to a separate room with good air circulation, but without drafts. Optimum temperature – 15°C, humidity – 75%. It is advisable to disinfect surfaces with a 2% hot solution of sodium hydroxide or a 5% solution of soda ash. The floor is covered with clean straw.
Necessary things:
- paper bags for placenta and other waste;
- clean rags;
- scissors;
- a bottle of iodine solution;
- magnifying glass;
- thread for tying the umbilical cord.
When lambing proceeds normally, the animal does not need active human assistance. Well-known goat breeders strongly recommend observing and not touching the goat without good reason. A normal birth goes something like this:
- the goat takes a position that is comfortable for it;
- a translucent bladder emerges from the external genitalia and opens;
- the cub enters the bladder rupture with its forelimbs forward;
- Within a few hours after lambing, the placenta comes out.
At the end of such birth, the goat's croup and thighs are washed with a 4% baking soda solution.
Video - Lambing of a goat
What to do if complications arise?
In case of complications, human intervention in the lambing process is necessary. If the head does not come out, then the external genitalia are lubricated with boric vaseline and during contractions the kid is gently pulled in the right direction. If the afterbirth does not come out, then the woman in labor is given flaxseed solution. But in case of presentation, you cannot do without a veterinarian.
A farmer may also experience uterine prolapse. In this case, you need to contact a specialist. If this is not possible, then the livestock breeder is obliged to help the goat himself. It is recommended to water the uterus with water at room temperature from a watering can. This is often enough for the organ to retract. Sometimes you have to insert internal organ hands. Do this with sterile hands, using extreme caution. For several days after the procedure, the animal is kept on a leash to avoid recurrent uterine prolapse.
Main causes of complications:
- improper feeding and, as a result, abnormally high fetal weight;
- infections and diseases;
- first lambing;
- violation of living conditions during pregnancy.
Handling kids
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | First, we rupture the amniotic sac if the baby comes out in it. |
| 2 | Clearing the airways of mucus. |
| 3 | If there is no or difficulty breathing, we blow into the mouth. If it doesn’t help, then we put him on his back and alternately bend and unbend his legs. |
| 4 | Let the mother lick the offspring. |
| 5 | Wipe the goat's skin with a dry cloth. Under no circumstances should you wash it! |
| 6 | At a distance of 2-3 cm from the abdomen, we tie the umbilical cord with a thread soaked in iodine solution. We cut off the umbilical cord (at a distance of 1 cm from the place of the sling) and cauterize it with iodine. |
| 7 | We allow the offspring to approach the mother. If you do not plan to keep the cubs under the goat, then they need to be placed in a separate enclosure, but so that they can see the mother. |
Important! If you plan to use the offspring for breeding, make sure there are no defects. Particular attention to the genitals. Insufficient or extra nipples, lack of testicles, irregularly shaped vulva - all these are reasons for rejection.
Correct milk yield is the key to high milk yields
The animal should be prepared for milking after lambing about a month before giving birth (otherwise the first milking will turn into torture: the udder will be hard, and the goat will not be easy to handle). To do this, you need to stroke the udder every day so that the individual gets used to the sensations and proximity of a person. You can use a soft cloth soaked in warm water. You need to do the massage carefully and be patient - during pregnancy, the animal does not make good contact with humans. There are two main ways of milking.
A goat is milked by kids
To use this method, the kids are kept under the goat, that is, in the same enclosure. The mechanism is simple. In the first days of life, they will disturb her up to 15 times a day. The animal will not have enough time to sleep and eat, and lactation will probably decrease. All this will affect the condition of the offspring. Another real danger is damage to the udder and teats.
Advice! If selling goat milk is a business for you, then keep the young animals in a separate pen, but in such a way that the kids can see their mother.
Digging manually
The first milking should begin in the first hour after lambing, before the placenta comes out. This is necessary for two reasons: for feeding the offspring and for the prevention of mastitis. In the first week after giving birth, the goat has increased lactation, so 6 milkings per day for 6 days are recommended. When swelling decreases, you can switch to a five-time or four-time regimen.
Optimal first milking schedule:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | We wash the udder drinking water, wipe dry with a towel. You can also lubricate the udder thick cream on a natural basis (“Children’s” is suitable). |
| 2 | Gently stroke the udder several times. |
| 3 | Express the first stream of milk into a separate container. |
| 4 | We milk vigorously to make room in the udder for new portions of milk. |
| 5 | At the end we beat the udder so as not to leave any milk residues. |
| 6 | Wipe the udder dry. |
The meaning of the first milking for offspring
The first milk contains bacteria and immunoglobulins necessary for his intestines, without which he simply cannot survive. It is also an excellent laxative and ideal nutrition. It also promotes the smooth and gentle passage of feces. Usually, within 5-7 days after birth, all the milk produced is given to the kids.
Nutrition after lambing
After lambing, the goat is given water with bran and molasses every 4 hours, legumes or any other suitable hay, and a small amount of chopped root vegetables. The goat's digestive system is weakened at this time. That is why in the first three to four days they refrain from giving concentrates and anything that is difficult to digest.
Goats need to drink
After the digestive system has become stronger, the diet becomes more varied. The recommended basis of the diet for queens is fresh hay and succulent feed. They also provide brooms, because the goat itself is not able to graze.
Possible menu after 3-5 days from the date of birth:
- up to 2 kg of selected hay;
- branch component – up to 1 kg;
- juicy food – up to 3 kg;
- bran – up to 400 g;
- concentrates – 500 g;
- salt – up to 10 g.
When calculating food volumes, the number of offspring is taken into account. They start from the fact that 5 liters of milk give 1 kg of weight gain in a kid. To produce 1 liter of milk, an individual should receive an additional 0.4 feed units and up to 60 grams. protein.
False pregnancy
A common phenomenon in goats. During a false pregnancy, the animal's udder increases, milk yield is possible, and uterine spasms are observed. Even a laboratory test can show pregnancy.
Error explained a large number progesterone in the body. In most cases, the phenomenon is triggered by a uterine infection. Usually the “false pregnancy” lasts 5 months (like a real pregnancy) and ends with the release of water and the placenta without offspring.
Well-known livestock breeder Smith considers the phenomenon not very dangerous. It frustrates farmers rather than causing any real harm.
Premature lambing followed by miscarriage
A common phenomenon. The factors that cause it are varied. Most often these are blows, falls, pushes, jumps caused by fights and games with other goats. Among them are the consumption of low-quality food, poisoning, and infections. That is, all the reasons can be put under one capacious phrase - improper care.
The main signs of this negative phenomenon: changes in behavior, weakening of the pulse, depressed appearance. After a miscarriage, the goat should receive proper care. You should wait a bit with a new mating.
Sometimes the condition is accompanied and complicated by sepsis. Sepsis is indicated by rapid pulse, trembling, changes in temperature, heavy breathing, changes in the skin, etc. In this case, treatment is carried out with oxytetracycline.
After premature lambing, the first step is to rule out infections. To do this, the blood is sent for testing to a specialized laboratory.
Infections develop due to improper or insufficient nutrition, contact with a sick animal, and poor hygiene in the stall. Treatment includes a set of measures: quarantine, taking antibiotics, improving diet. Any infection during pregnancy is undesirable, so preventive measures are taken after mating.
Pregnancy and childbirth lead to exhaustion and exhaustion of the animal's body. Feeding goats after lambing is aimed at speedy recovery of their entire body, including reproductive organs.
Why change your diet?
Even before lambing, the goat’s feeding diet changes. The baby grows rapidly, consumes more vitamins and substances, which can lead the goat to illness or exhaustion. Therefore, they begin to be given preservatives, concentrated feed, and are almost completely excluded from silage, stillage, straw, and root crops.
After childbirth, the diet changes again. If before birth the goal was to provide the norm of nutrients to the animal and the baby, then feeding the goat after lambing is aimed at restoring the young mother. After lambing, the goat is weak and may begin to get sick or refuse to eat for several days. She needs recovery. But, in addition, postpartum feeding is aimed at improving milk production. The more milk, the better for the kid and its owners.
What to give in the first hours after lambing?
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Lambing takes a lot of strength and energy from a young goat. Therefore, food and water must be prepared in the stall. Most goats will refuse to eat after giving birth, but there are exceptions, so it's better to be on the safe side. The food given is hay from legumes and cereals, a mixture of bran and root vegetables.
Experienced breeders recommend giving the goat a drink made from brewed bran, water and sugar after lambing. This drink contains a sufficient amount of carbohydrates and proteins, which will not only help restore the animal’s strength, but will also promote active milk production.
If the goat refuses to eat, it must at least be given something to drink. She is unlikely to refuse this. You can offer plain water or amniotic fluid. The latter are much more nutritious and better for the body. It has been noted that they can contribute to faster recovery, as well as contribute to the reverse development of the uterus.
What is a goat's diet after lambing?
After a day or two, the goat gradually returns to normal - her appetite returns. But you don’t need to feed her everything - a certain diet is established!
Feeding a goat after lambing includes:
- 100 g wheat bran;
- 200 g rolled barley or oats;
- 0.5-1 kg of vegetables and root vegetables (pre-chopped);
- 0.5-3 kg of hay.
The given menu is designed for one day. As you can see most of The diet consists of hay. It should be useful and high quality. You can even purchase more expensive hay for the recovery period from selected herbs that are beneficial for goats.
Great benefit during feeding goats after lambing , brings added glucose to food. Instead, you can safely use molasses, sugar or sugar beets. They are rich in easily digestible carbohydrates, which, quickly absorbed into the blood, help restore the animal’s body.
To increase milk yield, you need to create a slightly different diet. Its basis is feed: barley, oats, wheat, bran, corn, premix, grass flour, feed yeast. In the first 3 days after birth, 300 grams of this mixture are given. Then the amount is increased weekly by 100 grams until milk yield stabilizes. Later, despite feeding, it will still shrink, but this is how it should be - this is a normal process.
In addition to feed, dairy products are added to the diet to increase milk yield: silage, root vegetables and vegetables. Possible in veterinary clinic buy special vitamin supplements that will increase milk yield and have a positive effect on the goat’s recovery.
- Before giving birth, it is important not to overfeed the goat. Obesity can lead to difficult births. After birth, obesity can worsen lactation or the health of the animal.
- A goat can handle childbirth on its own, but there should be several people in the stall. While some will deal with the newborn, others can deal with the goat.
- If the birth was difficult, the goat began to get sick after it or did not eat for several days, it is recommended to administer a solution of glucose and calcium borogluconate intravenously. But only a veterinarian should prescribe such procedures.
- After giving birth, the goat should not be released into the field or meadow. During the recovery period, she should be in a pen. The fact is that the fresh grass that she will eat can ruin her digestion. So it is excluded from the diet, but you can give dried cut grass instead.
The health and performance of a buck or goat depends on how they were fed from the first days of life. This period is considered the most responsible. Therefore, feeding goat kids from the first days of life should be strictly controlled by breeders.
What is special about the first feeding?
No more than 1 hour should pass from the birth of the goat to its first feeding. The fact is that there are practically no antibodies in the baby’s body that can fight bacteria and viruses. The animal is weakened and has a weak immune system. His mother’s colostrum contains all those useful substances, antibodies and vitamins that are so necessary for him. Therefore, the faster he eats, the healthier he will be and the higher his chance of survival.
But before feeding, some important procedures must be carried out, which is why the first feeding differs from subsequent ones.
- After lambing, it is necessary to cut the umbilical cord, wash the udder and begin expressing colostrum. The first streams should be poured out, as they contain a lot of bacteria, and the next streams should be poured into a clean bowl or bucket.
- Colostrum is given to the kid warm, so in order not to warm it up, it is necessary to prepare it for feeding while the goat is milking (this is done by a second person). To begin with, they wipe it with a clean rag, free the nose and mouth from mucus so that it does not get into the baby’s lungs or esophagus. It is also recommended to wrap it in a warm blanket or blanket or take it indoors.
- After completing the above steps, you can give the kid colostrum.
How to choose a feeding method?
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You can feed the baby goat after lambing the goat using any of the following methods. Both of them are possible, and the choice usually depends on the purpose of the goat on the farm.
- Under the uterus. This method is the simplest, since kids until 3-4 months of age remain in the care of their mother. They suck the udder as much as they need at any time of the day. All excess colostrum that has accumulated during the day and is not sucked by the babies is milked so that the animal does not develop mastitis.
From the 3rd week, in addition to milk, 5 g of salt, 5 g of bone meal or chalk are added to the daily diet. At 3 months this amount is doubled. Around the same time, concentrated feeds are introduced into the diet: sunflower cake, oats, and a mixture of bran. At 3-4 months, weaning from the mother occurs over the course of a week. This is a difficult period, but it is important not to suddenly switch them to a different (adult) diet - this is done gradually.
- The “queenless” method is used most often when it is necessary to subsequently obtain goats with high milk yields. It is difficult and requires regular human attention. After lambing, the baby is immediately taken away from the mother and fed warm colostrum from a bottle with a nipple. The detailed feeding of goat kids from the first days of life will be described below.
Regardless of which feeding method is chosen, it is important that warm, clean water is always available in the stall.
How to feed during the milk period?
Feeding newborn kids after lambing is not an easy task. The diet should contain everything they need for health, active growth and development.
- By the second month, oatmeal is removed from the diet. The same 450 ml of milk is given, the amount of root vegetables and concentrates is increased by 150 g each.
- In order for the animal to have strong immunity, fish oil, salt, bone meal or chalk in the amount of 4-8 g are included in the feeding of goat kids from the first days of life.
- At 5 months, the young animals are ready to live independently in a stall. The daily diet at this point consists of 1.5 kg of hay, 1 kg of root vegetables, 300 g of concentrates.
Goat breeders who have been breeding small goats for a long time cattle, know well how important it is to properly prepare their wards for the birth of offspring. This concerns the creation of proper care conditions, preparation of the barn, etc. But first of all, a change in the nutritional diet of pregnant animals will be required, as well as during the subsequent feeding of the lactating goat and its babies. We will tell you in this article how to feed a goat at different stages of gestation.
A properly selected diet is important during the subsequent feeding of a lactating goat and her babies.
If the mating with the goat was successful, you can easily determine when exactly the goat will give birth to little ones. Pregnancy in these animals lasts five months (21 - 22 weeks, or 148 days). When there are about ten days left before lambing, the room in which everything will take place needs to be prepared. In this case:
- the barn is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with a lime solution;
- allocate a separate stall where the goat and her cubs will be kept.
All five months for the female create the maximum comfortable conditions. This assumes:
- mandatory daily walking in the fresh air: in spring and summer on the street, in winter - in a special walking pen;
- organizing continuous access to fresh and non-cold drinking water;
- introduction into the diet of feed and mineral supplements in the amount necessary to maintain her body in good shape and the successful formation of the fetus. The menu must include spruce branches, birch brooms, aspen and cherry branches.
It is necessary to ensure that goats, especially young ones, behave calmly during pregnancy and do not try to jump over fences or ravines. All such measures increase the animal’s chances of lambing successfully.
A specially equipped separate barn is allocated for a pregnant goat.
Changing your diet
The menu of a pregnant goat is changed several times before lambing.
- When a goat becomes pregnant, she must be given concentrates, gradually increasing the daily intake. In the third month, 150 g of feed is given, and by the end of pregnancy the amount is increased to 600 g. It is better to include barley and rolled oats in the feed; you can add crushed wheat and corn, but not more than 40% of all grain crops. Silage, straw, and stillage are removed from the diet. Root crops are fed up to one kilo per day.
- About a week or 10 days before the approximate date of birth, the pregnant female is transferred to water, hay and root vegetables. Grain crops, mash and crushed feed are completely excluded from the menu. If the goat is too thin, then it can be switched to a light diet later, in just three days. Vegetables should be limited to only those that will not cause bloating. They exclude rutabaga and white cabbage, but leave pumpkin, potatoes, red beets, zucchini and kohlrabi cabbage.
- Three days before lambing, vegetables are also removed, leaving only high-quality hay and water on the menu. Thanks to such procedures, it is possible to naturally rid the goat’s body of excess fluid and mucus.
During pregnancy, and even taking into account the birth itself, the goat undergoes a lot of stress, its health significantly deteriorates under the influence of such stress. In order for fattening after childbirth to be successful, it is important to take care of your diet in the last two months of pregnancy, when the body’s stress becomes maximum. The fetus develops actively, consuming everything more energy, taking almost all nutrients from the uterus.
If food is insufficient, " building material" will begin to be removed from bone tissue, fatty tissue, liver and muscle system. If a pregnant female is brought to the point of severe exhaustion, a miscarriage may occur, or the offspring may be born weak and not adapted to life.
Signs of lambing
You can understand that lambing is about to begin by the behavior and condition of the female:
- the animal begins to behave restlessly, often lies down and gets up. At the same time, it behaves carefully, choosing a suitable place for a successful birth;
- the udder clearly grows in size, a day before lambing it loses elasticity, hardens, its temperature increases;
- the pelvic ligaments become softer and lengthen;
- the sacrum sinks;
- the genitals become enlarged, secreting thick mucus.
If you notice these symptoms, it's time to monitor your goat for special attention and care.
Signs of restless behavior in a pregnant goat warn of imminent labor.
Postpartum feeding
Immediately after kidding (and lambing lasts from one to three hours), the female feels very thirsty. To help her recover as quickly as possible, warm water is prepared in advance. In this capacity, decoctions are used:
- bran;
- flaxseed.
You cannot feed the goat right away; let it pass at least an hour and a half after the babies appear. It is much more important to provide the animal with plenty of water, adding fresh water every few hours. But make sure that the female does not drink more than two liters at a time, otherwise her udder will swell.
This is what experts advise feeding a goat after lambing:
- first of all, give her a piece of black bread, spread with a thick layer of melted lard or butter;
- then feed warm flour soup with added flaxseed oil.
The further diet should, firstly, help the animal regain strength and normalize digestion, and, secondly, stimulate milk production. To make the goat stronger, the following should be mixed into its food:
- coarse oats, from 200 to 300 g;
- finely chopped carrots;
- some high-quality hay, cut during the flowering period of the grass;
- 10 - 20 grams of table salt.
All foods are given in small portions.
To enhance milk production, warm soups are prepared for the animal, adding juniper berries to them.
Often a goat does not eat at all after giving birth. Be sure to try to give her water to drink. Experts advise allowing the animal to drink amniotic fluid to strengthen the reproductive system - the placenta will pass sooner and the uterus will return to its original state. If the goat continues to refuse to eat, intravenous infusions of a solution of glucose, calcium chloride, and calcium gluconate will be needed.
First feeding order
One and a half to two hours after lambing, the woman in labor needs to make mash according to the recipe:
- one or two handfuls of oatmeal are diluted in two liters of boiling water and brewed;
- add a tablespoon of sugar.
Then after another couple of hours they make a new mash. This time it is recommended to follow the following recipe:
- boil two tablespoons of flaxseeds;
- boil a couple of handfuls of flour in boiling water;
- Mix everything in two liters of water.
On the second day, the animal should only be given clean, warm water to drink.
Also, after lambing, goats eagerly eat bran mash mixed with finely chopped root vegetables. Similar food domestic goat after lambing, it helps the body replenish fluid and promotes accelerated separation of the placenta. Daily norm products should be approximately the following:
- grass hay: 2.5 – 3 kilos;
- barley and rolled oats: 200 g;
- finely chopped root vegetables: half a kilo - a kilogram;
- wheat bran: 100 g.
Proper feeding after lambing will help the goat regain its strength faster.
Possible problems
Let's try to explain why feeding a lambing goat is so strikingly different from the usual. Childbirth is accompanied by a general weakening of the body; as a result, the animal’s digestive system is not yet able to “work” as it should, and it requires a gentle regime. In the first three days, the goat should not be given heavy feed at all - the body simply will not be able to digest it, the animal will not receive the nutrients that are so important for it, and therefore will weaken even more.
If you have nothing to replace the feed with, then at least try to sift it thoroughly, removing large particles. But it’s still much better to feed:
- flour;
- warm milk soup.
In other words, the first few days after the first lambing, until the body and digestive system are stronger, all the food of the horned pet should be as liquid as possible. It is advisable to limit even fresh hay or give it in small portions.
If the owners do not feed their ward correctly, but begin to feed her concentrated food out of habit, this will cause digestive upset, which will be accompanied by diarrhea. There is also a threat of disruption of the proventriculus.
Return to daily diet
If you follow all the listed norms for feeding a goat after lambing, by the end of the third day its body will be sufficiently strong, and the digestive system will gradually return to normal. But you should still gradually return to the diet on which the goat was kept before giving birth.
You need to start with half the usual portion of the combined feed. On the fourth or fifth day, the approximate diet should be as follows:
- root vegetables - 3 kilos;
- twig food - 1 kilo;
- meadow hay - 2 kilos;
- bran - 0.4 kilo;
- concentrated feed - 0.5 kilo.
There is no need to worry that your goat will remain hungry during the first days on a liquid diet. Firstly, three days of such a diet will not harm her, and, secondly, thanks to a gentle diet, the body will be able to digest the mucus that the female licked from her cubs as soon as they were born.
Features of care
Immediately after the birth of the offspring, the weakened female will need your help. You will need:
- help her get back on her feet as soon as the birth is completed safely. Help her stand for a few minutes, then lay her down again to rest. This must be done to prevent uterine prolapse - if the animal gets up, the uterus will naturally return to its place;
- After half an hour, the animal needs to be milked a little. This will help reduce the risk of mastitis. You should not completely express the udder.
If the goat does not have enough milk to feed the kids, changes are made to its diet. Milk soups and tea with milk will be a good help.
After lambing, the goat needs human help and attention.
Feeding for milk production
Now it’s time to tell you what to do in order to bring your pet to the maximum level in terms of milk yield. To enhance lactation, you can milk the goat yourself. Milking lasts 90 - 100 days, milk yield will gradually increase and then remain at a high level. At the same time, goats receive improved feeding and care, i.e., the nutritional value of the feed should be slightly higher than they need, taking into account their body weight and productivity. Such “advance” food quickly gives good results.
In order for an individual to milk well after lambing, concentrates should play the main role in its diet. The ratio of products in the feed is selected as follows:
- 20% each of barley and oats;
- 15% feed wheat;
- 11% wheat bran;
- 10% each of corn and sunflower meal;
- 5% each of feed yeast and grass flour;
- 4% premix (to compensate for the lack of vitamins and minerals).
For the first three to five days, feed the goat this food in a volume of 300–400 g. After that, increase the portion by 100 g every week. When the milk yield becomes constant, the norm is kept at the same level until the amount of milk begins to decrease. Following the milk yield, begin to reduce the daily norm, otherwise you risk overfeeding the cattle.
To increase milk yield, you can introduce dairy feeds containing a lot of moisture into the diet.
These include:
- silage: up to four to five kilos per day. Goats eat it with pleasure, but you should not feed them sour or spoiled product to avoid milk loss;
- root vegetables, tubers and other vegetables containing not only moisture, but also vitamins, carbohydrates, and mineral components. The daily norm is two to three kilos of the mixture. It is advisable to chop root vegetables (beets, carrots), and boil the potatoes.
For dairy goats, high-quality hay is selected - forb or grass-legume. A goat is given about three kilos of hay per day.
Straw is also suitable, but only in processed form. To do this:
- it is finely chopped;
- pour boiling water;
- leave to swell for 12 hours;
- yeast is added to increase nutritional value.
Resume
We tried to answer in detail the questions about what feeding should be for domestic goats after lambing, and what to do if the goat is not eating well. As you can see, at first the animal needs to go out, give it time to return to normal, and therefore the food on the first day should be liquid.
Then the calorie content of the food is gradually increased, bringing it to the usual feeding norm.
If a goat refuses to eat after giving birth, so as not to lose the already weakened animal, intravenous injections will have to be given. But for this it is better to invite a specialist and clarify the required treatment with him.
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