# One of the babies died!



## marshmellow (Jun 29, 2009)

Hi 

My Nigerian Dwarf kidded yesterday two beautiful kids, both fine and healthy at first.  The little doe died today and I am so upset! 

Here is the situation.  After the birth I made sure both of the kids nursed in the first half hour.  I even saw the little doe butt her udder - I was thrilled to say the least.  All was well.   The doe was smaller but beautiful and seemingly healthy.

 Then this morning I went to check on everyone and both kids are panting.  It's really hot here right now like 103 or so today and I figured that must be it.  They are in the shade in the barn but wow is it hot in there.

 I got Mommy to her feet and pushed the kids towards her udder and the began to nurse albeit weakly.  Then I left.

There is the problem I left.  I had stuff to do so I did it and when I came back the doe was dead and Mom was laying their just licking on her. I was gone about 2 hours.  I really am beside myself.  

I took Mom and the little buck who wasn't looking too hot either on to our front porch in the shade, turned a fan on and milked Mom and fed the baby with a bottle.  I believe that the heat coupled with the fact Mom forgets to stand up to feed maybe the issue.  Does that sound plausible?  Is there something else I could be missing? 

 I have been feeding the buck from a bottle now and trying to get him to nurse ( I have seen him do it so I know he can if she lets him) 
I am so heartbroken about this and HATE that I didn't do more for her.  I should have realized something was very wrong.  I should have made sure they were being fed or fed them myself.  This all has led up to my DH pushing toward me selling the little herd.  He feels if it causes this much heartache I shouldn't have them.  Considering I let the baby die today I am inclined to think he is right. 

Thank you for letting me vent.


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## bheila (Jun 29, 2009)

I'm so sorry to hear your doeling died.  I too have been through the same thing.  One of my does gave birth in Jan in the snow to twins.  After 8 hours of hard work getting the kids warmed and nursing, checking on them every 2 hours to make sure they were eating and keeping their temp up.....they died when they were 4 days old.  I blamed myself just like you.  I should have noticed something was wrong.  I cried for 2 weeks straight.  To this day when I see the twins pictures on my computer it still brings me to tears.  

Please don't think you did anything wrong  Maybe she wanted to wait until you left so you didn't see her suffering?  Who really knows what went wrong?  

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT give up your love and joy of having goats.  I told my husband that loosing the kids hurt so much that I didn't want to breed the does anymore.  I of coarse came to my senses a few months later  but that doesn't change the fact that it still hurts


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## freemotion (Jun 29, 2009)

I think losing critters is just part of owning critters.  It is ok to mourn, too.  The more deeply you love, the more deeply you mourn.  And the fact is, you really don't know if that baby would've died in spite of your efforts....so cry as much as you need to, and also enjoy that little buckling.

You would cry at your dh's funeral, too.....doesn't mean you shouldn't have him!  

Hugs and smooches......I lost my first and only kid, after a long and expensive struggle.  I feel for you.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jun 29, 2009)

Loosing animals is part of having them but, we hope that it's when they are old and have had a wonderful life. Sometimes, it doesn't work that way at all, for whatever reason. You could have stayed and fought to get something into her and still lost her. It's hard loosing a baby animal but, please, don't beat yourself up over it. Remember, sometimes, mommas can sense something is wrong with baby and won't take care of them because of it. It's nature's way of letting the little ones go in stead of suffer. Do what you can for the little buckling and hopefully he will make it.


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## sillystunt (Jun 29, 2009)

i am so sorry for your loss!


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## Gone Country (Jun 29, 2009)

Oh no... I'm so sorry.


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## mossyStone (Jun 29, 2009)

I am so sorry for your loss.....

Mossy Stone Farm ( washington)


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## norcal (Jun 29, 2009)




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## Roll farms (Jun 29, 2009)

I'm sorry.
I've told myself "I can't take this anymore" more times than I can count, when I lose a fur baby...but then I realize how much I need them and keep on plugging along and learning as I go.
Please don't blame yourself!


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## farmergal (Jun 29, 2009)

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.  I just lost one of my "babies" (my favorite chicken http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=207202) and it just leaves this horrible aching emptiness in your heart.  I'm actually crying again right now, and I've already cried plenty today!  It feels like you've let them down, it feels like you should have been there to protect them.  But you have to know that you did everything you could, and we all make mistakes, and many of them aren't our fault -- we couldn't have known one way or the other.  Life takes twists and turns, some of them joyous, some of them awful.  You can't let loss prevent you from bringing in new life and protecting the existing lives of your other animals.

That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.  It still hurts though, but like freemotion said, the hurt is a sign of how much you care about them... which makes you a good mama to your animals, not a bad one.

 from someone who is feeling your pain, and  for our lost little ones.  I have to hope that they're up there in Farm Heaven, and my Tux is eating endless sunflower seeds while your little one is nursing her little heart out and enjoying every moment of it!


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## farmin'chick (Jun 29, 2009)

I don't know where you are...but here in Southwest Virginia, our soils are extremely low in Selenium.  The vet recommends that the kids be given a shot of vitamin E and selenium as soon after they are born as possible....maybe you have some soil mineral deficiency that would be that easy to remedy?  Second, we bought a group of sickly pregnant Boers that we have been nursing.  We've learned a lot but held a lot of dying babies, too...I'm sorry you lost yours.  It can be so hard, even when you've only known them for a few hours.  One of the things we've learned is that an absolute must with our Boers is an aggressive anti-parasite campaign.  

You did everything you knew to do.  You cannot save them all.  Your baby went over the Rainbow Bridge, to a land of eternal sun with plenty of shade...and tons of other babies to jump and play with!

You will never forget her, but you will find others to love in her place.


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## Griffin's Ark (Jun 30, 2009)

As I read this post I thought of the long winter that a lot of us had.  Trying our best to keep kids alive in the extreme cold temperatures, lots of us lost kids.  What did we learn?  I don't know if I am interpreting this correctly but -  "Kids can't control their body temperature for the first 24 to 48 hours."   Which I think might mean that they won't do well in extreme heat or extreme cold.  

This is one of the greatest things about a forum like this.  We can share our pain and our joy with each other while learning what we can do to keep our animals safe, happy and healthy!

Chris


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## Kute Kitten (Jul 1, 2009)

So sorry to hear that!


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