The reasons for the lack of goat milk after lambing

Small cattle, including goats, are bred for milk and meat. Lambing in goats usually takes place without any problems or complications if the breeder has correctly led the animal to this stage. But it happens that a goat does not have milk after lambing.

Content
  1. Pregnancy goats
  2. Goat lamb
  3. Causes of lack of milk in the goat after lambing
  4. How to properly milk the goat after childbirth
  5. Correct start goats before childbirth
  6. Conclusion <

Отсутствия у козы молока после окота

No goat milk after lambing

No goat milk after lambing becomes real a problem, as a person will have to feed offspring on his own. oh, if you know its causes.

Pregnancy of the goats

The female carries the kids 150 days or 21.5 weeks. In the normal course of pregnancy, lambing is accurate to one day. Sometimes the animal can overshoot the fetus. If this happens, then you can not do without consulting a veterinarian.

The case is produced in the period from September to March. At this time, the chance of conception is higher. In summer, due to the heat, goat hunting may be completely absent. For mating, choose a female who has reached the age of 12-17 months and weighs at least 35-40 kilograms. Puberty in these animals begins much earlier, but letting the female into the first hunt is not advisable. In the future, this will affect milk yield, as well as the health of the goat itself.

For inexperienced breeders, find out whether there has been fertilization and whether the pregnancy is quite difficult. But there are a number of factors that make it possible to understand this:

  • the resumption of good milk yield after hunting;
  • the hunt does not appear for at least three weeks after mating;
  • the appearance of asymmetry of the abdomen (the longer the period, the stronger it is noticeable);
  • the increase in the external labia, the folds around them are smoothed out;
  • the expansion of the pelvis.

By the middle of the term, it is already possible to detect an enlarged uterus and fetus by palpation. Also, a distinctive feature of goats during pregnancy is their calm and lack of mobility. The appetite only increases.

At the first lambing, the female can bear 1-2 kids. In subsequent pregnancies, the number of fetuses can vary from 2 to 4. Very rarely, a goat can bear five babies. This does not affect the health of the mother and her offspring very well. A multiple pregnancy is also dangerous because weaker kids can be injured in the womb by strong ones.

Okot goats

Коза мать очень заботливая

Goat mother is very caring

The date of lambing is calculated based on the date of fertilization of the female.You can also be guided by external factors that indicate an early birth:

  • swelling of the udder;
  • symmetrical fossa along the wallpaper of the side of the base of the tail – divergence of the bones of the pelvis;
  • anxiety;
  • the animal constantly lies down and gets up.

With the appearance of these signs, it is necessary to take the animal under observation. If the goat already had a successful experience in childbirth, then you can leave it alone and not interfere with lambing. If the goat is first-rate, then she may need the help of the owner. So that this does not come as a surprise, it is better to show it to the veterinarian in advance.

First, the transparent mucous plug leaves, then the fetal bladder is shown. The animal bites it on its own or the person taking the birth makes it a clean, sanitized needle. Next, the legs and nose of the kid should appear. Sometimes an incorrectly presented fetus can cause birth difficulties. If the goat clamps the front legs under the stomach, then the veterinarian or the breeder himself tries to straighten these legs between contractions.

When the goat is born, the mother cuts the umbilical cord and licks the cub. Childbirth can last from 30 minutes to 2-3 hours, depending on the number of fruits. After the birth of the last kid, the last one comes out. The lambing can be considered complete at this point.

If the kids are planned to be fed separately from the mother, then they will be taken away and taken to a place where the female does not see or hear them.After 3-4 days, the so-called “oxytacin window” responsible for maternal instinct ends. Often, the goat takes the milkmaid for her cub.

Newborn goats clean their noses and mucus membranes, wipe them dry and give warm milk to drink from the nipples. If the cubs are planning to leave with their mother for the period of feeding, then the kids will find the mother’s nipple on their own. Weak cubs need help with this.

Reasons for the lack of milk in the goat after lambing

Sometimes it happens that the milk yield of the goat after lambing is too small or completely absent. This problem is often encountered by inexperienced breeders. This happens for several reasons:

  • improper swelling after lambing;
  • problems with the udder – mastitis;
  • lack of a goat before delivery;
  • lack of succulent feed in the animal’s diet;
  • low-calorie foods;
  • complications of lambing.

All these problems can be avoided by looking after for the goat properly. If the birth of the goat was successful and there are no external deviations from the norm, then you can try to milk the female.

Sometimes the milk of the goat becomes bitter and it is absolutely impossible to drink it. The kids also refuse hot milk. In this case, you need to make sure that the goat does not eat maple branches, wormwood or other bitter herbs. They can affect the palatability of milk.

How to properly milk a goat after giving birth

Козлятам должно хватать молока

Goats should have enough milk

The goat begins to be crushed after the birth of the last kid. This stimulates uterine contractions and contributes to the safe exit of the placenta.

Proper and timely milking can significantly increase milk yield. It is necessary to take into account such moments:

  1. Before the first milking (this applies to all subsequent milking), the udder is washed with warm water and wiped dry with a soft cloth. Nipples, in order to avoid cracking, are lubricated with specialized ointments and creams, which can be purchased at veterinary pharmacies. You can prepare grease for nipples at home from pork fat, sunflower oil and extracts from chamomile and yarrow.
  2. Milking should be fleeting. Delaying the process will entail a reduction in milk yield in the future. The capture of the nipples during milking should depend on their shape and length. Long nipples are milked with a fist, and short ones with two fingers. The first time after lambing is excreted colostrum. It is salty, has a thick consistency and a specific smell. Allocation of it lasts up to three days.

Maneuvering a goat is preferable to leaving the kids under it. If the kids are more than two, then they will constantly suck on the udder, not letting their mother eat and sleep calmly.

Experienced breeders are advised to feed the kids separately from the mother. Grown up kids, especially males, push the goat under the udder with such force that they can damage the udder alveoli. In this case, blood begins to get into the milk. Mastitis may develop.

Correct start of the goat before childbirth

How much the goat will produce milk directly depends on the capabilities of its body. If the animal is exhausted, does not receive enough nutrients or has a number of diseases, then good milk yield is not necessary.

It is recommended that a pregnant female give short-term rest from previous lactation. This is done so that the nurse’s body recovers and is ready for childbirth and subsequent lactation. This process is called goat launch. Well-fed goats are released two weeks later.

If you follow all the rules for starting, then in the future the goat should give a lot of milk. This amount is usually enough to feed the breeder’s offspring and household needs.

So how do I run a goat? One and a half to two months before the expected date of birth, a complete cessation of milking the goat is necessary. This is done gradually. The time between milking increases to 8 hours. As soon as the volume of milk decreases, go to milking once every 12 hours. When the milk yield is reduced to 1.5 liters, then you can start a ragged milking. This means that the time between milking is increased by 1 hour every day, until its frequency decreases to 1 time per day.After the goat is milked only once every 2 days.

Over time, the milk completely leaves. Sometimes the animal itself stops lactation. This happens during a multiple pregnancy, when the goat cannot give enough nutrients to the goats that develop in its womb.

If you do not start it, the goat will give little milk after lambing, and the cubs will be born weak and small.

It is also worth remembering that during the launch the animal needs a special diet:

  • at the start of the run, reduce the proportion of vegetables, herbs and concentrates in the goat menu, since succulent feeds provoke lactation;
  • when milk has become very small and whether it has completely disappeared, the diet is harvested, increasing the proportion of concentrates;
  • during reduction of milk yield give warm water with bran from wheat;
  • root crops give only boiled.

It should not be forgotten that preparing the animal for coating, proper care during the period of bearing the fetus and proper nutrition are the guarantee of the health of the mother and goat and offspring. If the goat does not raise problems with the launch correctly, it will not happen.

Most often, the reason that the cattle refuses to mate or is worse than that is the abnormal development of the animal. If the goat is weakened before and after the mating, it may even die during lambing.

Conclusion

In order for the goat to not lose milk after lambing, it is necessary to provide it with full-calorie nutrition, clean shed and caress. it wouldn’t sound strange, but light stroking and massage of the udder during milking will benefit the goat by increasing milk yield.

Sire and peace will not hinder the female before giving birth, as stress can also reduce the amount of milk in the future. If you crush and run a goat of all the rules, in the presence of milk in it you can not survive.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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