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PREGNANT AND LACTATING DOES' HEALTH PROBLEMS

Nutritional Deficiencies: Feeding improperly can result in multiple health problems for pregnant and lactating does. A fat doe can produce kids too big to be delivered easily. Too much fat around the doe's heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys causes health issues. Layers of fat around her uterus prevent its expansion as the fetuses grow. On the other hand, underfeeding the doe results in fetuses that starve or are underweight. Improper feeding can be either too much, too little, or the wrong formulation. Improper feeding causes the pregnancy diseases Ketosis, Pregnancy Toxemia, and Hypocalcemia, as well as ruminal acidosis. Weak labor can result from nutritional deficiencies. Incorrect feeding is the most common cause of abortions. The hardest thing to get right when raising goats in any managed herd is proper nutrition.

Mastitis: Bacteria enter through the teat orifice, infecting the udder and affecting her ability to produce milk. If any milk comes out, it will be stringy, chunky, and/or blood-tainted. The outside of the udder can be hot (fever and infection) or cold (dead udder). Mastitis can develop at any time during the pregnancy, during lactation, or in an open (unbred) doe. Visual examination is misleading; you must manually examine the udder. If mastitis exists, the only way to find out the cause is to have a culture done to determine appropriate medical treatment. Mastitis tends to be chronic (recurring).

Congested Udder: The udder may initially seem mastitic, but it can be over-filled, too tight, and so uncomfortable that the dam won't let the newborns nurse. A congested udder isn't infected. Hot compresses should allow milk to come out. If it is congested and not mastitic, the milk will be good. You must put “hands on” to try to milk out the udder to diagnose the problem properly. Visual evaluation is misleading. An udder that "looks full" may be edema rather than milk.

No Milk: Milk let-down hasn't occurred. This can be hormonal or nutritional. Prescription Oxytocin injectable may help with hormonal issues, but an under-fed (starving) doe cannot produce milk.

Fish Teats: While not technically a health problem, extra teats beyond the doe’s normal two teats may exist, some of which are connected to the milk duct and some aren’t. Examine the doe’s teats for Fish Teats and make sure the kids are suckling functioning teats.

Retained Placenta: A placenta is not considered "retained" for 24 hours after birth. Do not pull it out of the doe. Pulling can result in internal tearing that can cause her to bleed out and die. She must pass the placenta on her own. Prescription Oxytocin injectable may be appropriate to use.

Abortions: Abortions have many possible causes -- heavy worm load, doe is too fat, bacterial or viral infections, poor quality nutrition (starving doe), certain medications and dewormers, malformation or interrupted development of the fetus (spontaneous abortion), and physical injuries. Sudden onset of multiple abortions is an "abortion storm." Abortion diseases include but are not limited to chlamydia, herpes, neospora canum, toxoplasmosis, listeriosis, salmonellosis, Q fever, akabane virus, leptospirosis, and campylobacterosis. Some diseases are zoonotic (humans can catch them). Dewormers Valbazen, Synanthic, and Levamisole can cause abortions at certain stages of pregnancy. Abortion vaccines for other species (including sheep) do NOT work with goats.

Failure to Deliver Kids: The doe's water has broken but kids aren't coming out. Possible causes include improperly positioned kids, dead kids, weak labor, and cervix not dilated. Figure out what is wrong and take appropriate action. Attending Kidding Internship at Onion Creek Ranch in Texas in the Spring is the best (hands-on) way of learning the nuances of kidding.

Delivers Single Kid but Normally Produces Multiple Kids: If I have a doe that normally delivers twins or triplets and she has only one kid, I put on disposable gloves, apply OB lube, and go inside to find out if there are more kids. When in doubt, I go in manually and carefully feel for broken placental sac. If the sac has broken, I pull the kids.

Prolapses: If either the vagina or the rectum is outside the body, the goat has prolapsed. Prolapses in pregnant does usually happen during the final 30 days of pregnancy, when most fetal growth occurs. Rectal prolapses are usually the result of the doe's being too fat (over-feeding). Vaginal prolapses are sometimes hereditary. In my herd, does that prolapse more than once are culled.

Periparturient Edema: Appears late in pregnancy in does heavy with multiple kids. Fluid (edema) builds up in the lower legs. Usually indicates a heavy worm load. There is no cure . Supportive care is required until the doe delivers the kids, at which time it should disappear IF the worm load has been eliminated.

False Pregnancy: A doe can go through a five-month pregnancy, develop an udder full of milk, have her water break, and deliver nothing but fluid. Also known as a cloud-burst pregnancy. Occurs occasionally.

Superfetation: A doe can be bred on two heat cycles and even by two different bucks, delivering kids and then more kids again in 21 days. Not common.

Dystocia: The entire range of kidding difficulties, including improper/abnormal presentation of kids in the birth canal that require manual assistance. Dead kid in front of live kid is one example of Dystocia.

Metritis: Uterine infection.

Pyometra: Pus in the uterus.

Ringwomb: Failure of cervix to dilate.

Uterine Torsion: Twisted uterus. Vet assistance required.

Pregnancy Diseases:

a) Pregnancy Toxemia: Can occur within the last six weeks of pregnancy and is caused either by underfeeding (starvation toxemia equals an energy shortage) or overfeeding. A doe's nutritional balance is especially critical during this timeframe. Feeding too much grain or feeding the wrong kinds of grain is usually the culprit.

During the last four to five weeks of pregnancy, growing fetuses take up additional abdominal space, leaving less room for the rumen to expand. This results in the doe’s being unable to eat enough hay to maintain proper rumen function. Too much grain and too little grass hay (roughage) will cause a goat to go off-feed. Huge stores of body fat plus a uterus full of fetuses set the stage for Pregnancy Toxemia.

Symptoms of Pregnancy Toxemia include off-feed, dull eyes, slow moving, general weakness, tremors, teeth grinding, stargazing, leg swelling, and coma. When fetuses die, toxemia results from the decaying bodies inside the doe and she also dies.

b) Ketosis: Symptoms similar to Pregnancy Toxemia that occur very close to kidding or once kidding has taken place. If the pregnant female does not receive adequate amounts of proper nutrition to feed both herself and her unborn kids, when she begins the kidding process or has just completed kidding, her body will draw upon stored fat reserves in order to produce milk to feed her babies. Her own body tissues go into starvation mode and deadly ketones are released.

A doe with sweet-smelling urine is usually ketotic. A ketotic doe's urine will turn purple when added to KetoCheck powder or strip.

c) Hypocalcemia: "Milk Fever" is not fever but a calcium imbalance in the doe's body. Hypocalcemia occurs near kidding time. She will become uninterested in eating (go off-feed), may be mildly bloated or constipated, have a cold dry mouth, difficulty walking and/or rising from a sitting position, sub-normal body temperature (under 100*F), cold rear legs and drag them, and may have weak labor contractions. Sometimes the only symptom is hind-leg dragging. Rear body parts feel cold to the touch.

Hypocalcemia is a complex process involving hormonal changes that occur as the doe's body mobilizes calcium in the production of milk. Feeds rich in calcium, as well as alfalfa and peanut (legume) hay, are the culprits. These products contain calcium in excess of what the doe needs at kidding time. This excess calcium sets off a chain reaction, causing calcium to be deposited in the doe's bones when her body needs to be releasing it from the bones for milk production. Hypocalcemia is a failure of the body to mobilize calcium properly. It is not a deficiency of calcium reserves. Because they are too high in calcium, don't feed legume hay (alfalfa or peanut) during the last 30 days of pregnancy. After the doe has delivered and is nursing her kids, legume hay (alfalfa and peanut hay) is fine to feed.

Worms: The single biggest health problem with all goats in general and pregnant does in particular is Haemonchus contortus (barberpole worm) infestation. In addition to being a huge health problem for pregnant does because their immune systems are under enormous strain, worms go into Hypobiosis (like a hibernating bear) and “wake up” when the doe goes into labor, arriving at the point in their life cycle where they are waiting to infect her kids when they start eating plant materials. The goat's overall health depends upon minimizing the number of blood-sucking stomach worms. Do fecal counts using an MSK-01 microscope and McMasters slides randomly at least once each month. Keep the population density low; no amount of deworming can overcome the worm load that comes from over-crowding. Read my article entitled DOING YOUR OWN FECALS IS EASY.

The variety and complexity of problems that pregnant and lactating does can experience make it vital that appropriate supplies and medications should be on hand at least 60 days before the first doe is scheduled to go into labor. Not every problem can be solved nor every kid or doe saved, but being prepared will make a huge difference in whether or not you are successful in your goat-raising business.

Detailed articles on how to handle the many problems that can affect pregnant and lactating does can be found on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com and in MeatGoatMania archives.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas revised 3.2.26