Kidding Season Essentials - For the Kids

I wrote this for a new series of monthly topics for the KGBA. My Kidding Kit that I take to the barn consists of a small tote with gloves and a small lube, several old towels, a few puppy pads, and a bottle of iodine with a small medicine cup for dipping. I leave this on the back porch so the iodine doesn't freeze but where it is ready to go and easy to grab on my way out. Updated 1/30/2026

Kidding season is underway for some breeders and looming for others. It is helpful to have a kidding kit that is easy to carry to the barn or shed. A simple tote, basket, or bucket can be used to hold a few essential items such as:

• Towels/puppy pads to dry kids – puppy pads work great for removing goop and towels work great for vigorous drying.

• Iodine and a small container to dip umbilical cords - use the strong stuff! 7% is good. This helps dry the cords faster

• Scissors/dental floss for trimming and/or tying off long cords

• OB sleeves/exam gloves and livestock-safe lubricant

• A flashlight or headlamp in case of nighttime kidding in a facility without electricity

• Kid puller in case of difficult delivery - I highly recommend Kellie's Kid Puller!

• Nasal aspirator or mucous sucker in case the kid has inhaled birthing fluids - look for ones for kittens or puppies - the small human bulbs only reach the nostrils.
  

Hefty Goat Holler Farm Kidding Kit

For a good explanation on using a feeding tube, check out this link. Colostrum replacer or supplement is also necessary to have pre-kidding season. This might be

saved previously from your own herd or purchased. Colostrum from your doe can be frozen for about a year or can be stored in the refrigerator up to the three days. If purchasing colostrum, be sure to understand that colostrum replacer and colostrum supplements are not the same thing – replacers work if the kid received absolutely no maternal colostrum while supplements are meant to work in addition to maternal colostrum, such as in the event the doe had multiples and the breeder wanted to be sure each kid received an adequate amount. I freeze colostrum in a glass jar or make into small batches like below, using a silicone mold I found. These are a few ounces each and can be dropped into a wide mouth glass jar for reheating in a pan of water. Do NOT rely on colostrum pastes - get the GOOD stuff. My personal favorite is Land O'Lakes brand.

Saved, frozen colostrum. Make sure to date it.

Additionally, breeders that are planning to pull kids and bottle-feed might take a towel or blanket-lined tote or basket out to put newborns into. This tote might also be helpful if your doe is prone to pawing or if she’s having multiples and the new kid(s) need somewhere safe to wait until their dam is done giving birth.

For those with electricity in their facilities, a space heater, heat lamp, or hair dryer can be useful for quickly drying and warming kids in cold weather – of course, these must be used with the utmost caution. Neither space heaters nor hair dryers should be left unattended and heat lamps need to be securely fastened. If using heat lamps, consider Premier 1 brand - they are arguably the safest on the market - and/or a heating barrel. Some producers fill the barrel with sand rather than hay or straw. For more on supplemental heat, check out this post - Goats in the Cold Part One - How Goats Keep Warm Naturally and Supplemental Heat Options

Weak Kid Syringe

If a kid is weak or premature, it might not be able to nurse and might need tubed using a weak kid syringe. When you need a weak kid syringe, you need it immediately and this item is not always easily found locally. Be sure to keep one on hand.

If a kid is found chilled, it is absolutely vital that you act quickly. Take its temperature, actively warm it up to at least 99 degrees, and after it is warmed, make sure it eats so it can maintain its internal body temperature. In this scenario, you need a few things – at least one thermometer (two is even better since one will be inevitably misplaced), a way to warm, and a way to get that kid some calories/sugar. A cold kid cannot digest milk and a warm kid without adequate blood sugar levels will not be able to maintain its body temperature for long.

Buy a thermometer for goat-use. Better yet, buy two.

Normal goat temp is 102 -104 degrees F.

A kid must be warmed up to at least 99 degrees before feeding.

As mentioned previously, ways to warm include space heaters, hair dryers, and heat lamps. Another effective method is placing the kid’s body in a plastic bag with its head out and submerging its body in warm water. Hot water bottles and emergency blankets are also options, making sure that the hot water bottles don’t burn the skin. It must be noted that newborn kids especially cannot regulate their body temperatures well yet – care must be taken not to heat the the kid too long, either. If the kid has a willing dam to nurse, that is the easiest way to feed. Make sure to have clean bottles and variety of nipples on hand before kidding season, even if if you don’t plan on bottle-feeding…sometimes, bottle babies just happen. If the kid has a suckling reflex feed it milk or colostrum once it is sufficiently warmed. If it can suckle but is reluctant, glucose powder/liquid (like Dextrose; powders are more common outside of the US but you can find some for dogs sometimes) or karo syrup rubbed on the gums can give it a boost of energy and encourage active suckling. Do not use coffee or cayenne but glucose powder or karo. Glucose powder/liquid and karo actually offer CALORIES as well as sugar boost; the other things do not. Again, for weak kids or especially stubborn kids, the weak kid syringe is an essential tool. Frequent small meals maintain blood sugar best and are an especially good idea for kids that were chilled.

A kid, especially a newborn, that is frozen down may not survive without a boost of glucose, even a intraperitoneal injection of glucose, because you're dealing with both hypothermia hypoglycemia. These two vets go into greater detail on this in their YouTube videos. Sez the Vet here and Goat Vet Oz here.

For those with many kids or kids that look quite similar, some forms of identification besides mentally recording physical appearance might be handy. A simple method is a veterinarian paper collar that can be color-coded or written on. Breeders might also keep a record book to jot down the birthing orders for tattoos, birth dates or times, and/or simple descriptions of which kids belong to which dams.

Lastly, a scale is a wonderful tool for recording birthweights and weighing milk replacer or milk in the event of bottle feeding. There are many options out there including hanging scales, livestock scales, or kitchen scales. The breeder can simply stand on a household scale and record the weight when holding the kid and subtract his or her weight when not holding the kid.

This list of supplies is not exhaustive but it covers the basics as well as items needed for some unfortunate scenarios. For more information on how newborns do regulate their body temperatures, check out the post on Vitamin A and learn all about brown adipose tissue. Next up, a list of kidding season items for does! Quick Links to Sources - http://goatdocs.ansci.cornell.edu/Resources/GoatArticles/GoatHealth/KidCare/SavingChilledNewbornKids1.pdf (Tube Feeding)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6onCQpxz7uk (Sez the Vet - Ice Cold Baby Ruminants)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vjr-9byhA (Intraperitoneal Glucose Injection in Chilled Kid)

https://www.kellieskidpuller.com/ (Kidding Snare/Puller)