By Erin Link, EB Ranch, LLC
It's better to be prepared early rather than last minute scrambling when it comes to animals giving birth on the farm. Over the years I have been put into different situations where I had to make emergency trips of 60 miles round trip to buy antibiotics or even just syringes. Because we can't always be prepared for everything, it's always good to find and get to know a local vet before bringing livestock to your farm.
Just a few days ago I cleaned up and re-organized my goat medicine shelf. I went so far as to label plastic totes and list what the contents were in each one. I have specifically a "kidding tub," a "health check tub" and a "ear and hoof" tub. In some emergencies I can just ask my partner to grab the kidding tub for me in case of an emergency. Listing items in each tub and taking stock of what is on the shelves let's me know if I need to replenish supplies. I'm happy to say I seem to have everything I need in stock.
Admittedly, when I first started raising goats about 10 years ago I didn't have a great back stock of medical and supplies for my goats. I often shrugged off getting extra items thinking I would never encounter an issue requiring that item to be necessary. And oftentimes, I regretted not buying those items due to that unheard of circumstance actually happening.
Not always, but it's assumed that when you own goats you are probably living out in a rural environment, and you need to stock up on emergency items that may not be easily accessible. For myself, I'm thankful to have a local hardware store just 5 miles away, though they close early on Saturdays and are closed all day on Sundays. As emergencies seem to happen on weekends, the only other option is to drive 30 miles one way to get supplies I need. It not only takes valuable time if you are dealing with an emergency, it's also an extra cost on fuel and added stress. It may also be valuable to know people in your area that might have extra supplies on hand in case of livestock emergencies.
This brings me to finding a mentor to help out. There are many valuable online resources and communities. But sometimes, being able to have a person there with you physically is important. Or, help out a mentor when their own goats kid or maybe when they are dealing with an issue so you can learn.
There are many different ways to set up kidding for your own goats. It often depends on your region, and what kind of season you decide to kid in. Many people try to have their goats kid on pasture, but that just isn't always an option for some. For me, I try to kid in the early spring, and it's too wet and cold outside in western WI for pasture births. Though if I'm able to breed goats to kid in the early fall season, I would opt for pasture births as it's usually dry and the temperatures are mild.
What's in Erin's kidding tub?
Strictly for "normal" or low emergency kidding items:
Clean towels
Triodine/iodine
Measuring tape
Hanging scales or just a platform scale
Tube feeding equipment
Glass bottles with a couple pritchard nipples
Rubber hot water bottle
4 digital thermometers (backups in case of malfunction)
Scissors