Clean Kidding for Disease Prevention
“CLEANLINESS IS NEXT to godliness,” is the adage. For young animals, cleanliness can be the difference between life and death.
As kidding season approaches, it’s imperative to have a plan in place to reduce the risk of disease. Kids and other neonatal ruminants are born with limited immune systems. Reducing their exposure to viruses and bacteria can reduce the likelihood of infection.
Having a clean environment for kidding is the first part of ensuring kid health. The area set aside should be warm and dry but well-ventilated. Prior to kidding season, the area should be thoroughly cleaned of all bedding.
Neutralizers, such as those with a limestone base, can be used for drying the area and reducing the growth of bacteria. Most disinfectants don’t work well if organic material (i.e., dirt, straw) is present, but can be used on fencing and a solid base such as concrete. Speak with your veterinarian or extension agent for available products to use.
Thoroughly clean the area, then add fresh bedding. If multiple animals are to kid in the same pens, the pens should be cleaned, dried, and fresh bedding laid before a new doe is admitted. All equipment used in kidding should be cleaned thoroughly and disinfected prior to kidding and between each use.
In addition to a clean environment, it’s important to dip the navel of newborn kids. The navel is the site of placental attachment and has large vessels that lead to the liver and abdomen of the kid. In newborns, these vessels provide easy access for bacteria. Using an antiseptic solution to dip the external portions of these vessels (the navel) directly after birth and again several hours later can significantly reduce the risk of bacteria moving into the abdomen and causing navel infection.
It’s recommended to use 7% iodine to dip the navel. Clean the dipping container frequently between animals to ensure no reduction in efficacy. If 7% iodine is unavailable, use chlorhexidine solution mixed with alcohol.
Kids are born with limited immune systems. Reducing their exposure to viruses and bacteria can reduce the likelihood of infection.
While reducing exposure to infection is necessary, providing the kid with appropriate immune support is essential. Kids are born with no immune protection. Colostrum provides antibodies that protect kids from infection, and ensuring adequate colostrum intake is vital.
If a kid is too weak to nurse, colostrum can be provided by an orogastric tube. If the doe doesn’t have any, then providing frozen or colostrum from another doe is recommended. Colostrum replacers in goats have less efficacy than colostrum from healthy does.
A plan for a successful kidding that accounts for when things go wrong can ensure problems are resolved quickly and, hopefully, without escalating into disasters.
Prior to kidding, abortions can be a risk of infection and disease transfer. If a doe has aborted, she should be quickly separated from the herd. Birthing fluids can be heavily contaminated with abortive agents if infection is the cause.
While not all abortions are due to infection, treating them with care can help prevent disaster. Isolating and cleaning can reduce the risk of spreading infectious agents. If possible, the area associated with the abortion should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. If cleaning isn’t possible, moving the herd out of the area is recommended.
To determine the cause of abortion, the fetus and the placenta should be collected and preserved for your veterinarian. Due to the risk of infection to other goats and people from certain infectious agents, great care should be taken when collecting these items. Your veterinarian can also pull blood from the doe to help with the investigation.
Work closely with your veterinarian when an abortion is noted to ensure diagnostics are performed quickly and treatment can be initiated.
In the first week of life, kids are particularly vulnerable to infections that can spread quickly if appropriate hygiene isn’t observed.
In addition to navel infections, kids are at risk of developing scours or infectious diarrhea. Common causes of scours in neonatal kids include agents such as E. coli, Salmonella, rotavirus, and Cryptosporidium parvum (a parasite). Kids with diarrhea should be assessed quickly and thoroughly to ensure appropriate care is pursued. Your veterinarian can assess feces to help determine the cause of diarrhea. The feces can also be sent out for advanced testing. Feces from scouring animals can be highly contagious, depending upon the nature of the infection. Any area where a scouring kid has been present should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before admitting healthy animals. Infections from the parasite Cryptosporidium can also cause infection in people, so practice good hygiene for yourself when handling animals.
A tidy kidding area with appropriate cleaning and disinfecting protocols can help ensure a smooth kidding season. While illness is never desired, having a plan in place should it occur can improve outcomes for kids and does alike.
To ensure that appropriate diagnostics and treatment can be obtained in a timely fashion, having a relationship with your herd veterinarian is always recommended.
DR. KATIE ESTILL DVM is a veterinarian consultant for Goat Journal, Countryside & Small Stock Journal, and Countryside online. She works with goats and other large livestock at Desert Trails Veterinary Services in Winnemucca, Nevada
