[Care of pregnancy and prevention of lamb diseases in goats].

The breeding of dairy goats has spread in Saxony for over 200 years. Recently the keeping of bigger flocks (30-300 animals) for milk and cheese production has become more common. Within the care of the pregnant she goats the feeding recommendation is a main point of the veterinary herd management. The special performances done by the pregnant animals are discussed. The daily need of energy intake is given with about 11 Megajoule Nettoenergy-lactation as well as the daily need of protein with 230 g. Additionally the minimal daily intake of minerals and vitamins is mentioned. Supervising she goats during lambing and avoiding temperatures lower than 18 degrees C in the stables is considered as necessary to prevent hypoglycemia of the newborn lambs. The enzootic process of Clostridium-perfringens-type-B-infection is discussed in connection with the intake of colostrum and the increasing density of pathogen microorganism during the lambing period.