# 2 day old baby poo questions, and question for Nigerian owners....



## vegaburm (May 27, 2011)

OK, I have my first group of Nigerian Dwarf babies, triplets born on Wednesday (Now Friday). Two does and a buckling. My poo question first....

Mom is raising them, nursing and such and I see her cleaning their bums a fair bit. But some of them are still getting pretty messy. Particularly the buckling. Any tips on keeping them clean. I have read that they can get plugged, so to keep that from happening I have been taking a comb and making sure their hole is clear, but should I clip the hair around there? Or can I put something on to keep that nasty stuff from sticking? I think it is normal poo for this age...thick peanut butter consistency, that dries hard. Mustard yellow when it comes out and more brown-yellow as it dries. Any tips anyone?

My Nigerian question is at what age do you guys with Nigerians usually disbud and wether? The breeder of the Mama told me when she usually does it, but it is different from what I have read. But what I read was not specific to Nigerians, so I thought they could be kinda different, being dwarfs. 

And one more Nigerian question.. how much food would you expect a nursing Nigerian to eat? I am basing my feed of a portion of what I have seen for full size goats....but I would love some input from other people with the same kind of goats!

Thanks everybody!


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## rockdoveranch (May 28, 2011)

Your poop question . . .

The appearance and consistency sounds normal.

We had the same problem with two of our April born lambs.  One had a huge blockage where the poop exposed to the air had turned hard and brownish.  I was concerned mostly about the possibility of flies. 

I cleaned them up with paper towels and lots of warm water, making sure their entire back side and back legs were clean.  I did this for a few days and then did not have a problem after that.  

We had a similar problem with a bottle ewe lamb a few years ago, but the problem was the poo getting stuck on the back of her legs.  The weather was warm and I just hosed her off back there.  She hated it, but it worked.

I don't know about cutting away the hair.  It is there for protection of that area, but yet, I will NEVER understand the anatomy of why the pooper and the female genitals are set up for fecal contamination.  What was God thinking?


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## elevan (May 28, 2011)

Your poop situation sounds normal and fine.

Disbudding / dehorning - I don't do but, I believe the recommendation is about 1 week of age or when you can first feel the horn buds.

Castration - You want to wait until at least 8 weeks old (10-12 wks is better) to allow their urethra to grow and help prevent future UC problems.

Feeding a lactating dam - My girls (pygmies) get 2 cups of Noble Goat and a handful of alfalfa pellets when lactating.  A lot of the time they have a little left over that they just don't finish...an ND may require more since they produce a little bit more milk.  Plus their free choice hay, minerals and pasture.


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## RabbleRoost Farm (May 31, 2011)

I've been told by very knowledgeable goat raisers that color and amount don't matter (yellow is normal at first), but that consistency is very important. Liquid is BAAAAAAD, but thick pasty poo is what you're hoping for.

Sugar had so much poo when she was little I had to wipe it off daily, and when it got too bad she got a bath. THAT is not a fun thing to try with a scared little goat!


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## Mzyla (May 31, 2011)

Here is a link with pictures, how baby goat poop should look like:
http://goat-link.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=74

When my baby goat had diarrhea last week, I cleaned her behind with my "hands and face" wipes from dollar store.
Those wipes are handy in many situations


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## Goatmasta (May 31, 2011)

disbudding is usually done at 7-10 days the girls are slower, the boys often times can be done @ 3 days old...  I usually gauge them on a per animal basis.  I did 2 little does last night.  They were 12 days old.

  On the feed --  around 2 cups twice a day.  

  Poop --  Sounds normal to me.


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## mschickychick (May 31, 2011)

Here is what we do about the sticky poop... after their mother has cleaned them off smear Vaseline on their bottoms. We do this and never need to clean their bottoms.

Took me a while to figure this out. Before that, I would have to clean them with a warm soapy rag and paper towels.

Hope this helps.


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## vegaburm (Jun 1, 2011)

ahh, thanks mschicky, I will give that one a try with my next bunch! It was really one two days that it was a problem, but it was really annoying those 2 days!


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