My Goat Kit

First of all, let me say. I don't like surprises. So I've been reading and learning and talking and learning and learning and learning about goats for some time now. In the process, I've learned that there are some things you need WHEN YOU NEED THEM. The bigger the window of time  you need it and don't have it, the more likely you are to be too late. I also don't have any room or place in my goat barn to store my goat kit, so I am making a portable kit, and I thought I'd share what I've got together with you all. Keep in mind, I've been slowly gathering and getting ready for kidding in the next month, in order to spread my costs out.

 

**Continually editing this post to include the things I've added to my own kit, and to include suggestions given in the comments.**

 

BASICS:

  • Large "tool" box (it's actually like a tote with a tool boxish lid.)
  • Iodine
  • Blood stop
  • Hoof trimmers
  • Dollar Tree "grater" for feet (to use as a hoof rasp)
  • Pet Trimmers
  • Digital Thermometer
  • Ivomec Eprinex Ivermectin Wormer
  • Copper Bolus
  • Brush/De-Shedder
  • Needles/Syringes
  • Vitamin B
  • Nasal aspirator
  • Pro Biotic
  • Udder cream

 

KIDDING SPECIFIC:

  • Old "Tshirt" style sheets cut up into smaller sizes for drying off kids. (I plan to wash and reuse but a friend of mine throws them away)
  • Baby Monitor
  • Shoulder length gloves
  • Lubricant
  • Nutri Drench
  • Unsulfered Black Strap Molasses
  • Heat Lamp/hut for cold weather kidding
  • Kid Box (just a wooden box for kids to snuggle in that a friend made/gave me... the kids like them, I hear.)

 

MILKING SPECIFIC:

  • Today (medication for mastitis)
  • Peppermint Oil (also for mastitis treatment)
  • Henry Milker (great for getting some colostrum from a doe that is too exhausted to stand)

I have a cooler for daily milking. I bring hot soapy water for udder cleaning, and have ice for fast cooling in there too.

 

I'll add some photos after a while... anyone think of anything I'm missing? I know I have more... just need to get it all together. I'll add the other stuff as I remember.

 

Ideas I didn't list from you guys:

  • Selenium E gel
  • CMPK - Calcium in a tube useually given before and after kidding
  • Turkey injector- we use this without a needle to give the CMPK or when we need a large dose of something like nutri -drench for a laboring doe that's getting tired.
  • Tube feeding kit- A 30cc syringe with a little tube attached for feeding a week kid. Good to learn how to do this. I got the vet to show me but there are videos on youtube.
  • Pritchard nipple - just in case you have to bottle feed somebody ::added:: Empty soda bottles or beer bottles for the Pritchards Nipple
  • Injectable Penicillin - just in case. I used it on Indiana when she got Mastitis because I didn't have any Today.
  • Tetanus Anti-Toxin - just in case. Also good if you are going to disbud and tattoo. If you do it yourself you will need this equipment sometime in the future. (not everyone gives tetanus shots)
  • Some method of castration for the bucks that don't meet your standards.
  • Baby Wipes
  • Latex (or alternative) gloves
  • Activated Charcoal to remove toxins if you suspect poisoning
  • Epinephrine (prescription) consider it an essential to have on hand if you vaccinate. Any vaccination, at any time, regardless even of whether they have received that vac before, has the potential to cause an anaphylactic response. It is rare, but it CAN happen. Epinephrine is given IM. The dosage varies, so know your dose/concentration. The med cannot be left in the barn with all the temperature fluctuations...refrigerate it
  • For those with barns far from home for kidding and/or health watch:
    • Snacks for late overnighters
    • hot tea or coffee
    • phone numbers of local goat mentors, vets, etc. for easy access in an emergency

You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!

Join Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Thanks for posting this, being a complete newb to raising goats this will give me a place to start. I'm currently trying to source a local vet to help me when I need it.

  • I was just going to post asking what I should put together for a goat kit... so thanks very much for this.

  • I live in a selenium deficient area, and I don't give BoSe. I supplement with BOSS, a loose mineral with high selenium content, and give selenium paste as needed. 

    Donna Underwood Owens said:

    If you live in an area as I do  there is no selenium in the soil   they need thiamine or BoSe

  • To all the newbies. I sure to heck wish I had a site like this one when I first began seventeen years ago.  

    And even now after all these years I still find I am learning new things,

    Look forward to being here more often.

    I have a face book page called  Aw Shucks Goat Farm  Vermont 

    Nice to see so many new names in here

    Be back soon

     

  • If you live in an area as I do  there is no selenium in the soil   they need thiamine or BoSe

  • I added your suggestions to my main post, Joan! 

  • That is a great suggestion, Joan! I've had my husband bring me hot tea or coffee before! Phone numbers are also a good idea. I have called the vet from my barn.

  • I have my vets number and she knows when the babies are due, and I have a goat breeder that is very close by the only difference is that she raises boers.

  • This is not something that most would need, but my goats are a short drive from the house so no running back home in the middle of kidding. I  make sure i have a granola bar or some snack and juice box  in the barn for me when I do an evening check during kidding time as I don't know what I will find or how long I may be there.. Hours in a cold barn at night can really sap energy. I think this year i will also bring a thermos of tea just in case when I do evening check. A friend brought me hot tea last year  after a kidding when i was trying to get a reluctant kid to nurse and it was cold.

    Also it might be a good idea to have your vets phone number as well as helpful goat mentors or friends numbers in your goat kit, in case you need it in a hurry you won't be searching the house or internet for it.

  • Okay, thank you, just getting my kidding list together, this a lot of help.

This reply was deleted.