Goat Midwifery 101

Alright - so I am not an "expert" (as in I have no formal college training) BUT I would say I have attended enough births of baby goats (and other critters and even a few people with some of my closer friends) that at this point I have a decent set of midwife skills under my belt.  I'm confident, I am prepared and even if I wasn't I have baby goats due again any day so I don't have an option but to be ready!

Enter the "birthing kit" as pictured above.....the big green rubber maid tub has been sterilized and filled with pine shavings (just a few inches worth).  Since we pull at birth and bottle raise all of our kids here following CAE prevention practices (even as a CAE negative herd it helps to keep up these practices "just in case"...adds a sense of security for buyers and my own soul) I need to have a place to put them as they are born. It keeps the kids in a clean spot until I can dip those umbilical cords in iodine, keeps them from getting stepped on by an anxious new mom, and makes it easy to carry them in to clean them up if I get more than one!  Yes, a bucket full of babies is easier to cart around than several kids in my arms if I get more than one LOL! Plus if I am REALLY lucky they will stay put in there for the first 24 hours...making it easy to keep an eye on them and get that colostrum in them in small, frequent bottles - right by my side.  Over protective much? Not me...noooo.....

Under that black deal but still inside my tub there is a box full of clean towels and "wee pads/doggy training pads".  I use the disposable pads to place under my dams so I can catch as much as the "goop/juice" from birth as possible - makes it super easy to roll them up and toss them and VOILA clean pen post birth.  It also provides a nice clean spot for the babies to land on and something to give them a quick rub down with to remove all the "ick" before I towel them off.  LOVE that disposable stuff!  Still...nothing is like a nice fluffy towel to get them REALLY clean and dried off...so I have those too :)

Then, on top of that is ALL the "bonus stuff" - CMPK, BoSe gel, iodine, something to dip umbilical cords with, lube, chlorexidine wash and spray, a scale to weigh kids with, a marker and pens for notes if I need to make any, just all sorts of stuff....made a video actually...it's easier to take about everything I keep on hand "just in case":

So I would say we are ready - any minute now...well, maybe not that soon, but with any luck before the weekend is over I will have baby goats running around again :) I'm almost giddy now waiting on them to get here!