This is what you work all year for. This is where your money comes from. It only makes sense that this is one important area where a little extra effort and attention pays off.

If you are looking for livestock to throw out in the pasture and forget about, then come back in eight months and harvest a crop read no further. A successful kids crop takes your attention.

The beginning of a profitable kid crop starts a few months prior to the breeding of the Does This article will deal with the kids after they are born, or in 'goat lingo' - ON THE GROUND !

We make it a practice and a priory to be present at every birth possible. Sometimes a Doe will fool us and have her baby without our being there and 'usually' everything is just fine, however, problems can arise and we always feel our presence is an important beginning to 'harvesting' that bumper crop. Occasionally there are problems during the birthing process and that is addressed in (Birthing).

Assuming that the Doe gives birth without incident the first thing we do is to be sure that the Kid's nose and mouth are clear of mucus, etc. Do this by simply by wiping the Kids face with a piece of paper towel. We prefer paper towels to a cloth since it is a single use item and therefore more sanitary.

We then let the Doe clean the Kid up for herself. This helps to establish a bond between the Dam and her Kid and the licking also stimulates the Kid to stand and nurse. We have seen vigorous Boer Kids crawl over to the Doe's teats while she is still laying down (usually awaiting the arrival of the next Kid) and nurse the Dam, just like a puppy !

NOTE: we always squeeze a squirt or two of milk from each teat to be sure that all systems are working , making sure that the natural plug that is in the end of the teat to protect the udder from outside bacteria is flushed out. True 'in the natural' the Kids will suck out the plug and usually both teats are working fine; however, if there is a problem with one or both of the teats function you will find it right then rather than finding a Kid that has starved to death the next day.

Make sure that the navel cord has detached properly, which simply means that it is not bleeding - if blood is flowing through the cord we tie it off with a piece of dental floss close to the belly.

We have found that if the cord is tied off further down on the cord rather than close to the body often blood will pool in the cord and it will ëbulgeí with blood and not dry up properly. A damp cord is inviting infection. We always spray the navel with 7% ítiodine - don't be stingy - cover it well. This will help to dry up the cord and also stave off bacteria. True, ëin the ínatural Kids do not get their navel sprayed. True- ëin the ínatural Kids die from navel ill.

Most of the time the Kids will get up within minutes and nurse. Be sure that they do get 'on the teat' and drink. The sooner they get colostrum in their belly the better - as the Kids system can only absorb the antibodies in the colostrum for 8-12 hours after birth. However, if a kid is a little exhausted from the delivery process let it rest and dry off for bit and gain some strength. We do make sure that every Kid nurses by 30 minutes after birth. If per chance the Kid, for some reason, is to weak to nurse than we will milk out some of the Dams colostrum and feed it to the Kid in a bottle. If the Kid is to weak to suck from a bottle we may have to 'tube feed' the Kid in order to save its life. (See Drenching and Tube Feeding).

It is a good idea to keep an adjustable dog collar and a double ended snap handy for those Does that refuse to hold still for you or the Kids. This way we can just snap the Doe to the panel (our jugs are usually made of combination cattle panels).

If our kids are born during the cold of Winter we do use heat lamps to help dry them off and keep them comfortable for the first 24-48 hours of life, using the infer red lamps (yes they cost more that the white lamps, but the white lamps are hard on the Kid's eyes).

If you are concerned that the Kids will not feel any warmth from a lamp hung this high over head just put your hand on the Kid for a minute and you will begin to feel the warmth of the lamp. The lamp does not heat the air but rather the 'object' be it a Kid or a wooden box. (There is a scientific explanation for this but I don't recall the exact reasoning and it is really not important here.

Be sure that all lamps are secured so that the Doe can not knock them into the bedding, causing a barn fire.

As soon as the Kid is dry and stable we place an ear tag in the appropriate ear to identify the Kid. (see Identification). If it is a Buck Kid and we do not intent to keep or sell it as a breeding Buck we put an elastacator band on the kid when it is 24 hours old.

We have found that the sooner the Kid is banded the less stress and discomfort the Kid experiences. We have NOT found that banding the male Kids at this early age effects their growth into a good well developed meat wether.

Some breeders prefer to allow the Kid to grow and castrate with a knife or to use a Burdizzo. We have never used the 'knife method' so we can not comment on that. We have used the Burdizzo on two to three month old Kids and even though the procedure was done according to instructions we have experienced less than satisfactory results.

Therefore, yes, we run the risk of banding a Kid that could turn out to be a quality breeding Buck. We would rather band a good one than let an inferior male Kid remain viable.

If Kids are born during cold weather we build what we call ëhay ícaves for the Kids to snuggle into. Kids like the security of a closed in 'hiding place'. The closeness of the hay cave helps to conserve their body heat, thus allowing the Kid to put its energy into growing rather than keeping warm. Several Kids will crowd into a hay cave so care must be taken not to make the cave to big or you will run the risk of smaller Kids being squashed or other wise suffocated.
Kids in 'hay cave'

Our hay caves are made using poor quality hay or straw. (The better quality the hay the sooner the Kids and the Does will try to EAT the cave - so this is a case where less (quality) is definitely more (longer lasting).

Place one bale down for the back of the cave, place the two side bales just to the out sides of (and touching) the back bale. Have the ends of the side bales in a straight line with the back of the 'back' bale . Be sure that all bales have the strings facing up, and place a piece of plywood across the top, sliding it under the strings of the side bales to keep it in place.

As the Kids grow, they along with the adults will jump and climb on the hay cave so it is important to secure the top on by sliding it under the strings. By using only three bales per cave you keep the cave to the ideal size - remember to big is not a good thing, several small caves will serve much better.

By the time the caves begin to fall apart the Kids are big enough and usually the weather is warm enough that we remove the plywood and break up the bales for bedding.

We have built what we call bonding jugs. This is a pen that is about 4 ft by 8 ft . We have seen them made half this size, but the larger pen give us room to 'work' if the Doe has problems birthing.

We will often place the Doe in the jug just prior to giving birth and allow her to stay in the jug with her Kids for about three days. This allows time for her to bond well with her off spring, remember the Kids identify their Dam by her voice - a sound they have heard for the past several months - in utero. The Doe, however, must learn to recognize her Kids, and she does this by smell.

In two or three days the Doe has established a tight bond with her Kids and the risk of her misplacing them in the crowd is quite slim. True, 'in the natural' Does do not have bonding jugs, however, they do go off by themselves to kid and they keep their Kids away from the herd for a few days, thus establishing this bond. Does that are made to give birth and remain in a 'mob' often become confused as to which Kid, if any, belong to them.

If we were going to require the Does to kid in a communal group, and we do know breeders who will kid in a several acre trap during Spring, we would be sure that it was a large enough area, that the Doe could get away from the mob with her Kids. But remember, when kidding in Missouri in the Winter, bonding jugs are important to a successful Kid crop.

Be sure that watering tubs are high enough that a Kid can not jump into the water and drowned. We place a concrete foundation block in each tub while the Kids are small so that if they should get into the water they can get up on the block and either jump out or at least keep their head above water until we arrive and rescue them.

If this all sounds like a lot of work - your are right - IT IS! Even the South African breeders that we have had the opportunity to visit with say that with the hundreds of head of producing Does that they kid out each season, they make every effort to have the Does up in a large pasture for about the first three weeks. Making sure that the Kids nurse at birth, and that they are strong and bonded to the Dam before they open the gates and allow the Dams to take the Kids out into the thousands of acres that they pasture.

Because our Does are vaccinated for CD/T thirty days prior to kidding (See Vaccinations) we begin our vaccination program with the Kids at 30 days of age.

If we are planning to disbud any of the Kids it is done within the first week of birth. (See Disbudding).

Fullblood Buck Kids are weaned at about 60 days - percentage Buck Kids are weaned no later than 90 days. Wether Kids and Doe Kids are weaned according to our next breeding schedule and the condition of the Dam. If the Dam is 'milking down' (losing body weight as she pulls fat reserves from herself to make the milk) readily and looking quite thin we will take the Kids off earlier than if the Dam is in better flesh. All Kids are weaned by five months of age.

We do creep feed our Kids. A sixteen - eighteen percent feed is offered and we often place good quality alfalfa hay in the creep area. We also place a low pail of water in the creep area, low enough that the Kids can drink from it, shallow enough that they can jump out if they jump in, yet tall enough that they won't foul the water. We find a ten quart bucket works well for this. We secure the pail to in the creep area so they will not tip it over by using a double ended snap. If the bucket is put out in the main area the adult Does will drink it down in a minute - so it must be placed in the creep area. in doing this we have noticed that Kids will begin to drink water by the time they are two weeks old. Salt and minerals are also placed in the creep area in appropriate containers.

A good creep arrangement is to use combination cattle panels to cordon off an area. Cut out two of the rods with a bolt cutter. We cut the two just below the first larger opening. if this 'baby door' is made to large a yearling size goat will squeeze her way in. We know some breeders that use calf creep feeders and attach cattle panels around the bottom of them - however, this does not allow a place for salt, mineral, hay and water.