# 1 Week old goat kid weak



## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

We have twin nigerian dwarf goat doelings that were born last Friday 7/12. One is happy, healthy, jumping all around and playful when we let them out this morning to be with the rest of the herd. The other one was less lively. When we checked on them again, she was just laying in the middle of the field (near her mom and sister). We brought her in and gave her some electrolytes and even milked momma and gave her some milk. She has not taken a whole lot in, but she has urinated and pooped a couple times already. She is slightly more lively and will stand for a few seconds before laying back down. It is really hot outside here in Mid-Michigan, but we don't think she is dehydrated. I hate to keep her separated from her mom too long, but don't want to put her out there with her not standing very well on her own. 

Any suggestions on what could be wrong and what we could do to help her?  THANK YOU!


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

Have you given a BoSe injection?


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Mom had BoSe 2 weeks prior to kidding... do we need to give another to the kids themselves? If so how much and how soon should we see improvement?


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

You could give the kid 1 cc IM of BoSe.


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

Also, I would re-evaluate whether you think the kid is dehydrated...pinch a piece of the kid's skin up to form a tent, if when you release there is any delay in the skin going back to "perfectly" flat then the kid is dehydrated at some level.  The slower the bounce back of skin the more dehydrated.  In the heat that we're getting in the mid-west it would be very easy for any animal to get dehydrated right now.


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Oh wow.. I didn't think they would get the same dose as the adults... isn't it 1cc per 40lbs? That is what we give the does before kidding. This little thing is so tiny... a lot smaller then her twin.


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

> Lambs 2 weeks of age and older: 1 mL per 40 pounds of body weight (minimum, 1 mL)
> Ewes: 2.5 mL per 100 pounds of body weight.


From drugs.com/vet minimum dosage is 1 ml.  This is also the minimum dosage that my vet recommends for our herd of goats (pygmy and ND crosses).  It's your call what you do with your herd, we each have to make our own calls that way


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Very true    i have been trying to figure out how much BoSe to give... I have seen everything from 1/4cc to 1cc for newborns. She is only 1 week old today, so we are nto sure. Still waiting to hear from our vet too... but she can sometimes take a little longer to get ahold of unfortunately seeing as though there are not many goat vets around.


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

Did you do the "tent pinch" test to check for dehydration?


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## SheepGirl (Jul 18, 2013)

Whats her temperature?


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

elevan said:
			
		

> Did you do the "tent pinch" test to check for dehydration?


Not sure how to do that.. never found anything about testing for that..  I will have to look into it and try it out


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## SheepGirl (Jul 18, 2013)

To check for dehydration, all you have to do is pinch some skin, pull up on it, and release it to see how fast it returns to normal. If it goes back immediately, the animal is hydrated. If it goes down slowly and/or doesnt return to normal, then the animal is dehydrated.


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Her skin goes back fairly quickly. We have been giving here electrolytes, and she drank some water on her own. We have also been syringe feeding her some milk from mama. She has urinated quite a few times and has pooped a couple times so far since we have had her inside. She is still fairly weak and doesn't stand on her own. Another person I know with pygmy goats said to try giving BoSe orally since she is so young and so little only give 1/4 cc and see how she does. Hopefully she will bounce back!! Her twin is doing great so not sure what is happening!


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Just took her out to mom to see if we could get her to nurse on her own, she wouldn't even try to nurse.


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## elevan (Jul 18, 2013)

You may have to consider pulling from her mom so that you can get her straightened out.

Did you check her temperature?


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## lhawes (Jul 18, 2013)

Temp is fine.. we have pulled her from mom this morning and been working on trying to get her better. Not getting any stronger yet. We milked mom and tried to give it to her, but half of it comes back out. She is getting a little bit, but not much. We are switching between milk and electrolytes. We just don't know what else to do.. she seems to be declining.


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## lhawes (Jul 19, 2013)

Well, unfortunately we lost the little doeling last night. Still not entirely sure what had happened. We are not sure if someone hit her, or if she wasn't getting enough from mom. Still strange that she was fine the day before, and yesterday morning was weak. We did everything that we could, or was suggested, but she didn't make it!


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## elevan (Jul 19, 2013)

I'm so sorry to hear this.    Sometimes you do all that you can and they just don't turn around.


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## OneFineAcre (Jul 19, 2013)

So sorry to hear.

It's tough losing an animal.


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## AshleyFishy (Jul 19, 2013)

Very sorry for your loss  it is always hard watching them decline and not being able to help them. You did what you could though.

You might consider keeping a stomach tube and feeding syringe on hand to tube the little buggers if you get another weak one.


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