# VERY tiny Nigerian Triplets, pics



## PattySh (Jun 2, 2011)

We had a suprise delivery today around 5 pm. No idea of the due date because my daughter bought the herd recently and we were just watching for signs. Well without any warning we looked out and saw something pink and ran like crazy. Mocha had triplets, one didn't make it out of the sack and we couldn't revive her. The other two does are itsy bitsy, one weighs 2# 2 oz, and the other 1# 10 oz. The little one was very weak at birth but is doing surprisingly well. Both drank about 1 oz of colostrum right after birth. Because they are so little and drinking very small amounts we have been feeding them about hourly, they are just now starting to suck well but only take about an ounce each. They are both standing and very alert. Are we doing right by feeding them on demand for the first few hours because they are so little or ??? Not sure how much milk to give these little ones. How long before we worry if they don't poop? We are definatly used to 8# kiddos! These are really cute!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 3, 2011)

It sounds like they are doing really well.  I would imagine by today you would want to cut back to 4 feedings a day. Not sure how much, since I am also used to feeding 8# kids, but I would think you could let them drink, until they start to look uninterested in the bottle, as long as they aren't over doing it and getting bloated afterwards, then I would cut them back from that amount. 


I take it you are planning on bottle feeding them?


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## mabeane (Jun 3, 2011)

NDs are small. Its normal.


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## countrykids (Jun 3, 2011)

They don't look that tiny - sounds like good weights!  They're totally adorable!!!!


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## vegaburm (Jun 3, 2011)

I have my first bunch of ND's right now and they are triplets. I didn't weight them at birth, but they are 9 days old and I just weighed one of them to give some herbal meds. She was 4.4 lbs.  based on that your babies don't sound too tiny and the pics don't look too tiny. The breeder of my girls is coming out this morning to help me disbud the babies. I will ask her if she knows what an average birth weight is on hers.


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## PattySh (Jun 3, 2011)

They slept  from 3 am to 8:30 and drank  1 1/2 ounces. They just woke up (11:30)  crying so looks like they might be putting themself on a 4 times a day schedule. They drank 1 oz and 3/4 oz respectively and bellies are plump so I guess they are getting enough. Pooped so we got that covered. Their smallness made us a bit nervous but they are scrappy for their size so I guess we are doing  ok. Here are pics with their bottle to show size.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	







Eliza named them June (the bigger one) and Star (the little one).


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## carolinagirl (Jun 3, 2011)

Oh, they are CUTE!!!!!


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## helmstead (Jun 3, 2011)

They are a bit small - I like them to average 3-4 lbs at birth.  Anything under 2 lbs is a runt and will need to be bottlefed longer for sure.

Aim for 1 oz per lb minimum per feeding...4 feedings a day for the first 5 days or so, then 3 feedings per day til they're two weeks at which point you can go down to 2 feedings per day if it suits you.  

That nipple is really too big - go get pritchards.

You can, once they're eating well, let them have up to 20 oz per feeding.  It takes about a month to get them to that amount.


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## RainySunday (Jun 3, 2011)

helmstead said:
			
		

> They are a bit small - I like them to average 3-4 lbs at birth.  Anything under 2 lbs is a runt and will need to be bottlefed longer for sure.
> 
> Aim for 1 oz per lb minimum per feeding...4 feedings a day for the first 5 days or so, then 3 feedings per day til they're two weeks at which point you can go down to 2 feedings per day if it suits you.
> 
> ...


Not to but in here, but...You can go to 2x/day as early as 2 weeks?  I thought it was more like 6 weeks?  (Not criticizing at all, truly curious! ie, we are bottling our first group of ND babies, bucks, born at just over 3 lbs, and 4 lbs each.)


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## dianneS (Jun 3, 2011)

Those are some adorable babies!!  They are small but they look good.

I had a ND baby that was only 4 pounds at 8 weeks!  She had issues though (and so did her previous owner :/ )

Good luck with your babies and keep us posted as to how they're doing!


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## PattySh (Jun 3, 2011)

We couldn't get the colostrum thru the  regular baby bottle nipples and they could drink out the "big" ones. We will go get pritchard nipples today, everything was closed last nite.  Kept our hand half way on the nipple was afraid they would choke on the big nipple but it worked temporarily. Tiny little buggers!  The stillborn was the same size as the bigger one and we found a mummifing 4th about 3/4 developed, so they would have been quads, maybe that's why they are so small. They don't look premie as they have their teeth and are walking well. They will be bottlefed, they were too tiny to leave with their mom and we want them tame. They had 3 servings of colostrum and we started with raw goat's milk today, good so far. The tiny one is actually the scrappy one, bunts her sister. Have them in a puppy playpen in the livingroom, too cute! I will add they have very good lungs when they are hungry! Last nite was very noisy. They are more calm and sleeping well now that they have their belly full.


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## helmstead (Jun 3, 2011)

nurturingnaturally said:
			
		

> Not to but in here, but...You can go to 2x/day as early as 2 weeks?  I thought it was more like 6 weeks?


Yes, you can.  You can do it more often if you WANT to, but its not necessary.

PattySh - glad they're doing well, and yep, if they were of quads, that would explain the sizes.  My quads this year were all in the 2 lb range except the runt, who was 1 lb 12 oz.  I kept her on the bottle for 3 mos, and she's now caught up with the size she should have been.


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## terrilhb (Jun 3, 2011)

They are so cute. Congratulations.


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## Pearce Pastures (Jun 4, 2011)

Omigosh are they adorable!!!!  

SO here's a question for anyone reading this-pygmy or Nigerian?  Which do you think makes a better pet?


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## PattySh (Jun 4, 2011)

Thank you everyone! They are doing awesome. Drinking 1 1/2 and 2 ounces a feeding respectively.  Because they are so little (and not eating alot)  we are feeding them on demand for a few weeks, they are eating about 5 times a day right now.


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## PattySh (Jun 4, 2011)

better pet ? I like Nigerians. Having owned both, Pygmies are escape artists and you better have good fencing! Nigerians are more like big goats in a little body. Pygmies are more independant, at least ours were. Although they were very tame, we used to have a good rodeo doing feet with the pygmies, nigerians are easier.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 4, 2011)

Congratulations on the doelings   , and sorry that one didn't make it  .


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## elevan (Jun 4, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> better pet ? I like Nigerians. Having owned both, Pygmies are escape artists and you better have good fencing! Nigerians are more like big goats in a little body. Pygmies are more independant, at least ours were. Although they were very tame, we used to have a good rodeo doing feet with the pygmies, nigerians are easier.


Quite frankly a love result when the 2 are crossed.


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## elevan (Jun 4, 2011)

Congratulations on the kids! They are soooo adorable!


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## Goatherd (Jun 5, 2011)

Very cute kids.  Congratulations.


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## PattySh (Jun 5, 2011)

Thanks, "The Girls" are traveling with us the last few days in a soft dog carrier as we have been on the road a bit. They were a big hit tonight at my Aunt Eva's 90th birthday party. They are drinking more and growing, I will weigh them tomorrow.


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## chubbydog811 (Jun 6, 2011)

helmstead said:
			
		

> nurturingnaturally said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


To add to this - it depends on the goat too...My first 4 kids this year were very large at birth. They also started eating grain/hay by 1 week old (not that it was doing much, but you probably get my point) I had them all at 2 times a day feeding by the time they were 1 week old, and weaned them right at 2 months old - they are still very large kids, and growing just fine. 
On the other hand, I had 2 very small (or rather, normal sized...or so everyone kept telling me!) kids, that I wanted to make sure caught up. I fed them 3 times a day until they were 5 weeks old then cut them back to 2 feedings a day - they will be 2 months old in another 2 weeks. Now they are the same size as the other goats who are a month older and I will probably feed them for an extra 2 or 3 weeks (breed does have something to do with it, but I'm just trying to get the feeding point across. They are all Saanen and SaanenX, but the 2 giants had some nubian). 


Oh, and cograts on the babies!! They are WAY too cute!  :bun


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## Bimpnottin (Jun 6, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Thanks, "The Girls" are traveling with us the last few days in a soft dog carrier as we have been on the road a bit. They were a big hit tonight at my Aunt Eva's 90th birthday party. They are drinking more and growing, I will weigh them tomorrow.


  I bet it was the coolest present she could have gotten. After all, what do you get a 90-year-old?  She was probably in love with those little cuties.


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