If you supplement your does with a concentrate or hay, feed it at night. Somehow late feeding delays birthing toward the early morning hours in the majority of animals. It is a good idea to have some kidding pens ready for weak kids. Following birth, the navel of newborn kids should be dipped in iodine. Nutrition of Newborn Kids Colostrum is the first milk produced after parturition .
Antibodies are proteins which help the goat kid fight diseases.
The ability of kids to resist diseases is greatly affected by the timing of colostrum intake and the quantity and quality of the colostrum fed. In cases of extremely weak kids, they should be tube-fed. It is crucial that the antibodies in colostrum be consumed before the kids suck on dirty, pathogen-loaded parts of its mother or stall. In addition, the ability of the newborn kid to absorb antibodies also decreases rapidly 24 hours after birth. The extra colostrum produced by high lactating does during the first 24 hours following kidding can be frozen for later use when needed.