What is colostrum and what do i do to get ready for kidding?

[AnimalIAm]

What is colostrum and what do I do to get ready to kid goats? I know its a ways away but I like to plan. Do I need a separate area for them to kid in? or will the little sleeping area my goats have work?

 

[Latestarter]

Colostrum is the very first milk produced. It is loaded with all of the doe's antibodies to give the kid its initial protection from disease. It's important that the kid get it as soon as possible after birth. After 4-6 hours, the kid's rumen will start changing to where the colostrum can no longer be absorbed. After 24 hours, it's too late for the most part. The doe will produce the colostrum changing over to milk over the first week-10 days or so. maybe a bit longer... There are lots of kidding threads here and you have time to read to your heart's content.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Great advice from LS - with one tiny correction. When a kid nurses the milk doesn't go into the rumen. The rumen doesn't kick in until the kid starts consuming roughage.

Good article here: http://goat-link.com/content/view/99/86/#.WgMU9I-cHct

Here's an excerpt:
Digestion of the Kid Goat
When a goat kid is born, its rumen, reticulum and omasum are very tiny and not useful. The goat kid depends on a liquid, milk, not roughage for its feed source. When the kid swallows milk, the milk goes directly to the abomasum through the esophageal groove. Everytime the kid swallows, a flap of skin at the entrance to the rumen folds over to form a grove that bypasses the rumen and sends the milk straight to the abomasum to be digested by stomach acid. As the kid gets older, he starts trying to consume roughage. The rumen becomes active and starts to enlarge. Its population of micro-organisms increases. The reticulum and omasum also respond to the changes in diet by getting bigger. By the time the kid is an adult goat, roughage is his main source of food and his rumen is far larger than his abomasum.

 

[Southern by choice]

Most people that have dairy goats do have a kidding pen or stall.

I think I asked but not sure- are you planning on dam raising or bottle feeding?

I will continue his in a bit after your feedback.

Edited to add- when are they due?

 

[AnimalIAm]

we are planning to dam raise them also they are due in early april

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks FEM, good catch... As is common, I wasn't specific enough...I guess if I'm going to be simple/non specific I should have said stomach rather than rumen... IME, the entire stomach (in general conversation) is often referred to as the rumen (which carries the load in adult goats)... "The ruminant stomach is composed of 4 separate compartments. Food passes first into the rumen, then reticulum, omasum and finally into the abomasum before entering the duodenum." https://en.wikivet.net/Ruminant_Stomach_-_Anatomy_&_Physiology

 

[RathdrumGal]

What is colostrum and what do I do to get ready to kid goats? I know its a ways away but I like to plan. Do I need a separate area for them to kid in? or will the little sleeping area my goats have work?

I know this is an old thread but perhaps this will help another reader. We do not have a big barn -- only a small shed for goats and sheep. So, when the does are near due, we set up temporary birthing pens in our garage. The pens are made out of 4 foot high chain link panels that bolt together with reusable bolts. You can do any configuration you need, but we do back to back squares. We place a tarp under the panels, add clean straw, a bucket for water and dollar store laundry baskets are zip tied to the one side of the panels to make temporary hay feeders. We keep the moms and babies there for a week. We are able to get in the pens daily to hug and kiss babies for the first week of their lives, and monitor horn bud growth. We disbud at about 7 days, then the babies and moms are put into the buck pen with the kids. The buck is out with the larger herd at this time, because by now all the girls are pregnant. The buck pen has a smaller shelter.

My husband has also made plywood baby boxes for the babies. These are simple 3 sided boxes that the babies can snuggle in and get out of the way of the adult goats. They also make handy seats for humans during baby socializing time. We have them in the birthing pens and then place them out in the larger goat pen, so the babies can get away from adults that might not be friendly.

Those chain link panels have come in handy in so many ways. When it is time to sell the goats, we set up the panels as a creep feeder to give the babies grain. That allows us to easily catch the babies when people come to look at them. I have used them to corral my sheep for the shearer. When not needed, they easily stack along side our garage.