Nutrition equally important for does and kids

The importance of balanced nutrition

Nutrient requirements are a key factor to reducing any issues pre and post kidding. Your does requirements increase dramatically during the last six weeks of gestation due to increasing foetal growth, especially with older goats and multiple birth kids.

The does biggest demands are energy levels and the need to mobilise calcium in her body . She also needs to be in optimal health with her trace elements to be able to transfer enough nutrients for the kids to thrive after birth . Prevention is always better than treatment . One potential issue for high producing goats can be milk fever, a condition where the blood (serum) calcium levels become too low, namely hypocalcaemia . Feeding high amounts of calcium pre kidding can set off a chain reaction, causing calcium to be deposited in the goats’ bones when her body needs to be releasing it from the bones for milk production . The best way to prevent hypocalcaemia is to lower calcium intake during the last 30 days of pregnancy and increase the magnesium . Magnesium is needed to produce hormones that are important for the absorption of calcium from the gut and the mobilisation of calcium from bones . By using magnesium and calcium salts and feeding them pre-kidding, your goats are more likely to avoid milk fever due to the Dietary Cation Anion Difference (DCAD) effect . Supplementation should begin four weeks prior to kidding but optimal if you can achieve this over the last trimester . Your goat will also have an increased need for energy intake . Alternatively, your goat’s body will break down both fat and muscle tissue to use as sources of energy, if you cannot supplement her with enough . Then her own body tissues go into starvation mode and deadly ketones are released as by-products of this process resulting in ketosis . A quick way to diagnose ketosis: a goat doe with sweet-smelling urine is ketotic . To provide sufficient energy, starches are widely used as the basis of energy in most goat feeds . Feeding starches should be at a controlled level and increased slowly so not to induce acidosis . Bypass fats are a great low input, energy dense feed and around 2 .5 times greater energy value per kg than starches . Also adding molasses to water will not only increase water intake but increase her readily available energy . However, be careful not to make your pregnant goat overweight, as this can be worse than being too thin . Getting her nutritional and microbiota balance right is critical . Trace minerals and vitamins are important nutrients for the goat and the unborn kids . Some key minerals to ensure are at optimal levels pre-kidding, would be; Selenium, Cobalt, Vitamin E and Vitamin B’s . Vitamin E, a potent antioxidant, being well documented and trialled in rumen animals as an effective dietary method of reducing clinical and subclinical mastitis . Aiming to stabilise her rumen PH and microbiota, buffers and probiotics has shown to improve rumen function . A healthy and efficient rumen microbiome are essential to achieving her production and genetic potential . A healthy, mature goat rumen should be able to make all of the B vitamins that a goat needs . However, these bacteria need certain nutrients, minerals, and pH environments in the rumen in order to provide these . These elements can be less than optimal when fed high grain diets for milk production, therefore supplementation would improve this . Newly born kids do not produce their own B vitamins, as their rumen is not yet developed . It is important to receive enough from their mothers, if not, this can lead to weak and poorly growing kids, susceptible to disease . Thiamine is especially important for proper brain function as the brain relies on glucose as its major source of energy . Since the brain controls nearly all bodily functions, adequate thiamine levels in the brain are of critical importance for normal health and well-being . Milkfed lambs and kids should get thiamine supplement to their diet to meet requirements . Blue Pacific Minerals have a range of nutritional supplements to support goat does and kids through their lifetimes supporting various requirements . Their products are mixed with NZ natural zeolite in the form of Optimate™ which is an ACVM Registered toxin binder . All products are made specifically for goats or kids with their unique nutritional requirements . Stacey Cuthbert has been instrumental in the formation of this range and an upcoming Sheep and Lamb range . With over 12 years of experience in agriculture sector which developed in small ruminant speciality, she has been vital to the success of these ranges .

Stacey Cuthbert – Small Ruminants Product Manager at BPM