Goat and Kid Health

Key Steps to Raising Healthy Goat Kids

Raising healthy, fast-growing goat kids is key to not only building strong replacements and productive milking does that will hit your productivity goals.  In addition, healthy goat kids will help hit growth and performance targets to maximize your return on goat kids destined to provide protein and nutrition for the consumer’s dinner table. 

  1. Always select quality inputs going into the animals, including feed ingredients, vaccines, digestive support, animal health products and the farm labor that is caring for your goat kids.
  2. Provide proper nutrition for the pregnant ewe to ensure she has the proper fuel to gestate the goat kids, maintain proper body condition and provide high quality colostrum for the goat kids at birth.
  3. Implement vaccination protocols for the nanny and goat kid that helps drive a high level of immunity for diseases they will be exposed to in their lifetime.  Especially important is for Clostridium perfringens Type C, D and T.
  4. Ensure proper sanitation and biosecurity for the facilities (pastures and kidding pens) through weaning (including feeding equipment) and beyond tailored to how you raise your goat kids.
  5. Be sure your kidding pens have plenty of warm, dry bedding, especially during the cold winter months.
  6. Dip navel in 7% iodine suspension immediately after birth.
  7. Tag and/or tattoo each goat kid to ensure identification and proper record keeping.
  8. Monitor the goat kid to make sure it nurses early, within the first 4 hours, to ensure it receives adequate quantities of colostrum.  If nursing is an issue, obtain high-quality colostrum and feed directly to the goat kid.
  9. Incorporate eubiotics (probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids, essential oils and other novel technologies), to help maintain normal digestive health and support a healthy, functioning immune system during the first few days after birth and have on hand for any goat kid needing a rapid response.
  10. Utilize key partners in assessing, developing and implementing your goat kid raising protocols, including veterinarians, nutritionists, and allied industry experts.

While this list is meant to share high level discussion points that help you develop a sound goat kid raising program, here are a couple of resources that provide more in-depth information for your consideration.

  1. Goat Production-Care & Management of Newborn Kids (Tuskegee University)

DBC Ag Products® Helps You Raise Healthy, Fast-Growing Goat Kids

DBC Ag Products offers multiple products, including First Arrival® Lamb & Kid Paste, that deliver the broadest combination of eubiotics (probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids and essential oils) and other novel technologies that are helping goat producers raise healthy, fast-growing goat kids.  They are designed to help maintain normal digestive health and support a healthy, functioning immune system in newborn goat kids after birth, through weaning and beyond.  Maintaining normal can go a long way to helping your goat kids reach their genetic potential and help drive future profitability.