Managing multiple births in goats

26 Mar, 2017 - 00:03 0 Views

The Sunday News

THE other week I had a discussion with a school teacher at Kamativi Primary in Hwange District regarding his goat which had given birth to four kids. The teacher is an enthusiastic goat producer with a decent flock. The import of the discussion was on how to nurse the four kids into maturity and avoid mortalities. Having your doe that gives you multiple births is every farmer’s dream.

However, it can also turn out to be your source of pain if you do not institute proper management practices and you lose some or all of the kids. This week’s installment therefore, seeks to assist farmers on how to manage multiple births from your does or ewes.

The most important component in managing does be they single or multiple births does, is ensuring that they receive proper and adequate nutrition.

The plane of nutrition in the flock has to be increased at about four weeks before kidding to provide enough energy and nutrients for the does to produce a well-grown kid.

I am sure those that have observed their does during the last trimester will have noticed that they become so heavy that even walking becomes very difficult for them especially when they are carrying more than one kid.

This means proper care is needed at that point so that your doe is not stressed by trying to move around looking for food and water.

Where possible, a suitable paddock has to be set aside to feed goats during the last weeks of pregnancy so as to sustain a rising plane of nutrition.

Goats that are not kept on a rising plane of nutrition generally are in danger of developing pregnancy toxaemia or ketosis.

This refers to the incomplete break down of fats which results in the production and deposition of ketones in the body.

This happens as the doe tries to mobilise its required energy by breaking down its own body fat. An adequate plane of nutrition during the last four weeks of pregnancy helps in udder development prior to kidding and milk production starts on a high level.

Does with good milk production have less tendency to abandon and poorly mother their kids.

Kids of normal birthweight are more active, and they cause less difficult births than undersized weak kids.

Kids of normal weight also stimulate the udder with their vigorous suckling and this leads to sustenance of high milk production, provided nutrition does not decrease after kidding.

Linked to nutrition is the aspect of deworming your does. It is a no brainer that does with heavy internal parasite infestation are basically unhealthy.

It is therefore important to adopt a proper deworming schedule for your does so that they maintain a good health throughout the term of the pregnancy.

At minimum a farmer should deworm his/her does a month before kidding. This is the same time you are expected to put your doe on a rising good plane of nutrition.

Providing a good plane of nutrition during the last month before kidding is called flushing. This diet should contain adequate energy provision to avoid pregnancy toxaemia. In addition to deworming does have to be vaccinated against pulpy kidney and tetanus at least four weeks before kidding. On a general scale your doe should be in utmost health during pregnancy and most importantly towards kidding.

A sickly doe will not produce adequate milk which is important especially for multiple births. In addition to the general health of the doe, the kidding environment should be clean and warm. Some farmers let their does kid in muddy kraals and the doe fails to properly lick the kid soon after kidding due to the dung. This can affect the bond between the doe and the kid and the doe can even abandon the kid. Also licking from the doe helps to control the temperature changes for the kid which has just come out of the womb.

Lastly, another important aspect of managing multiple births is to ensure that all the kids are suckling and getting milk more so the colostrum which is important for the immunity of the kids.

The tendency with some farmers is just to let the doe deal with its kids and this can result in mortalities as some kids fail to have adequate ration.

You have to remember that a doe has two teats and hence it can be a complication to equitably suckle all the four kids without some help from the farmer especially during the first days when the kids are still weak. Uyabonga umntaka maKhumalo.

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