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Mama goat and new baby

18 15:24:00

Question
I am an American who leaves in the country in Sicily Italy. I received a 9mo. old pygmy goat as a gift, she was pregnant. I know nothing about her history as she came from another town. She has now given birth to a baby boy, I ADORE THEM! I just don't know what I am doing,HELP! The boy is now 9 days old. Mom eats grass and hay as well as grain containing orzo and fava beans. I have no idea if Sicily is low on selenium or not. They both have terrible fleas and the vet here said no treatment while mom is nursing.I tried a apple vinegar dilution to no avail. Vet's here are hard to come by and very,oh well,live and let live. Do they need any vaccines or other treatment? Any solution for fleas? I do not want mom pregnant again! When is castration ok? Mom has been bleeding since the birth in small amounts through out the day. Is this normal? They seem healthy and happy,just want to keep them this way! Thank you in advance,Christina

Answer
Well goats don't get fleas, they get lice. Lice are not easy to kill, it takes several applications to kill all the lice. You can use a pyrethrin
based insecticide on the momma. I would wait a while to use it on both of them and longer on the baby.
You will need to have him castrated by 6 months old or he will breed his own momma.
There are vaccinations for goats but if they are not around other goats you might be able to forgo them. Goats should be wormed also on a regular basis.
the bleeding is normal also and will stop in a few weeks. Sounds like you are feeding them well.
I would do an internet search on vaccines and on wormers for the mom and baby as well as dips for lice when she has weaned him. I am not sure what the minimum age is for treating lice on a goat so you might want to google goat dips for lice.
That is great that you are living over there. I would love to see Italy some day!
Goats are the best pets and the babies are the cutest on earth. Beware, however that they do love to eat flowers and roses!