We were out for a family trip to the zoo the other day, and we got very lucky: we were able to see a giraffe giving birth.
It was really an amazing thing to see, and though the giraffe was given some privacy from visitor’s eyes inside its enclosure, we could still get a good idea of the birth cycle of a giraffe.
One thing that amazed us all was the fact that it was up and walking almost immediately.
We were so amazed, and it led my son to ask an interesting question: when do baby goats start walking?
So, when do baby goats start walking?
Like many such animals, baby goats can walk within minutes of being born. They can often walk immediately, as they are born fully developed. This is a common feature of herd animals, which spend very little time sedentary in the wild. They must always move for new pasture.
Our perception of how long it ought to take an animal to get up and walking is quite distorted by our own childhood.
Human beings have some of the longest childhoods of any species on the planet, and certainly a longer infancy.
We take a very long time to develop.
So, it’s actually somewhat unsurprising that goats should develop this way.
Can baby goats walk?
Yes, is the simple answer.
In principle, every infant goat that is born healthy and to a healthy mother has the ability to walk from the moment it is born.
Goats are, unlike us, born fully developed.
Their legs can support their full weight in the state they are in at the time the goat is born.
This is not to say all baby goats can walk.
As I said, this assumes the mother and the kid are both healthy.
There are many cases in which kids born with defects are unable to walk or take longer to walk than other infants.
In the wild, this may well mean a death sentence, but domestic goats can be cared for.
Whether they stand up as soon as they are born or if they take a few minutes to get to their feet, there’s little practical difference.
Healthy baby goats can walk, as can most newborn herd animals like sheep, cattle, or horses.
That said, we don’t necessarily mean the goat is completely stable and can run around and climb mountains like it’s family might.
How long does it take a baby goat to walk?
So, in principle, it only takes goats a minute or two, or no time at all, to be able to stand up and support their weight on their legs.
They will be able to stand up on their own, support their weight and stay standing.
But, this isn’t quite the same as solid walking.
Goats can ‘walk’ and support themselves from the moment they are born, but they can’t necessarily be leaping around and running about from the second they stand up.
When a goat is born, its legs are proportionately very long.
This is also the case with other similar animals like horses.
This does make running a bit of a challenge.
They lack some stability, and though their legs are very strong, they also considerably shift the centre of gravity of the animal.
They will be comfortable walking after only around 24 hours, but they will still have quite a distinct ‘kid’ walk.
This will begin to shift to a more recognizably adult gait after 3-5 weeks.
So, they can walk immediately, for all intents and purposes.
However, they don’t come into full locomotive maturity until they’re a few weeks old.
Again, this is largely because of their nature as herd animals.
It’s fine for our infants to need to be coddled because we are capable of carrying them.
Members of a herd need to stand on their own feet, to move to new pastures and escape danger.
How do you help a baby goat walk?
For the most part, you shouldn’t need to.
Always monitor closely a recently born kid, but as I say, they should be quite competently walking very soon after being born.
If all has gone well and they are happy and healthy, they should start walking on their own without an issue.
If they do seem a bit weak, then there are a few things you can do to give them an energy boost.
You can dip or rub their tongue in colostrum, corn syrup, some kind of vitamin solution, or even very weak coffee to give them an energy boost.
Their mother is typically their best nurse, though—if not the vet.
How long does a baby goat have to stay with its mother?
There are no hard and fast rules on this.
In the wild, a young goat wouldn’t really ‘leave’ its mother, since they are likely to stay in the same herd.
However, most goat owners agree that four weeks is too early.
They may still be suckling by this point.
Eight weeks is probably a good benchmark for more or less any goat to be ready to be independent.
Twelve weeks is probably leaving it too long.
So, the simple answer is it shouldn’t take any time at all in most cases.
Even if they don’t immediately stand up when they’re born, they could if they wanted to.
It’s largely down to disorientation when they don’t, rather than inability to walk.
While some goats may take a few minutes to stand up, most are more or less ready to go from the moment they are born.