# Kid's front legs wont bend



## hdad23 (Mar 3, 2011)

I have a Nubian doe that had her first baby today. The baby's front hooves are bent all the way in towards it's body with the knees sticking out giving the legs a wing-like appearance. The knees give a little bit but wont bend out straight like they are suppose to. I feel like they will break if i try to bend them. They feel cold like there isn't much circulation going through them. We are having to hold the baby up so it can nurse because it can not stand and its much easier just to bottle feed it. It's eating fine and seems otherwise very healthy. I've raised goats for many years and have never had one with this problem. Does anyone know what this might be?


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## Livinwright Farm (Mar 3, 2011)

First things first:  
Second: I am sorry to hear about your kid.. I am not sure what could be causing it, other than possibly a circulation issue as you stated... you could try massaging/rubbing the legs up and down to promote circulation.  also, try moving the legs around, what you can, so that if it is just temporary, it won't have further issues down the road.

I hope one of the more experience goat owners pipes up here for you.


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## PattySh (Mar 3, 2011)

Sounds like a deficiency or a placement issue within the womb. I would contact a vet, I'm sorry to say I don't think it looks good. Any chance you can post a picture?


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## Livinwright Farm (Mar 3, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Any chance you can post a picture?


This was their first and only post... have to wait for them to post/reply another 14 times before they can post pictures or links to images.


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## Ariel301 (Mar 4, 2011)

This is a classic symptom of selenium deficiency. Contact a livestock vet and get injectable BoSe (you have to have a prescription to get it, it's not available over the counter at the feed store) and give the baby a dose. Contracted tendons at birth in goat kids usually means selenium. If you can't get the BoSe you can make do with oral selenium/vitamin E supplements. Also, gently help the baby to stretch and bend as much as possible in the affected legs several times a day. It may be necessary to splint the legs into a more correct position also.

This sometimes happens also if too many kids were crowded inside the doe or a very large kid inside a small doe, but it is usually not that severe and clears up within a few days. The BoSe won't hurt either way.


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 4, 2011)

I am sorry, but they may not beable to be straightened, if you have any other does due please give the Selenium shots(Bo-Se). We have had goats for 15 years, around 30 to 40 kids a year, and last year I had a set of triplets and two of them had stiff front legs that never straightened out. The knees seemed to be fussed into place. My husband put them down. If you aren't sure what to do I would recommend a vet.   If they are just weak legs they can be splinted.  

Good luck.


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## ksalvagno (Mar 4, 2011)

Sounds like a ligament problem to me. Sometimes you can work with it and help them to stretch it out and sometimes you can't. If you could get either a vet or a very experienced goat person to look at the kid and see if it can be corrected, that would be your best bet. I'm sorry you are having a problem.


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## helmstead (Mar 4, 2011)

I have one of those:
http://helmsteadstables.com/LG.htm

We rescued her when she was 3 weeks old.  THIS is how we learned about BoSe!  She was both selenium AND calcium deficient.  There was nothing that could be done by the time we got her.  I have NO idea if treatment would have been possible when she was born, but our vet hypothesized she was soft boned when she was born, and the bones hardened right afterwards.


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## Livinwright Farm (Mar 4, 2011)

helmstead said:
			
		

> I have one of those:
> http://helmsteadstables.com/LG.htm
> 
> We rescued her when she was 3 weeks old.  THIS is how we learned about BoSe!  She was both selenium AND calcium deficient.  There was nothing that could be done by the time we got her.  I have NO idea if treatment would have been possible when she was born, but our vet hypothesized she was soft boned when she was born, and the bones hardened right afterwards.


Oh! what a shame! she is so beautiful(even with her crippled leg/s)


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## helmstead (Mar 4, 2011)

She's still going strong!  You can't tell her there's a thing wrong with her.  She lives in the nursery pen with preggers does, lactating does and weaning bottle babies (whom she LOVES, since she'll never be bred, she makes them HER babies!).  She was also stunted, so only weighs 40 lbs...but she stands up and rams even the Nubians...haha to guard HER hay!


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## Livinwright Farm (Mar 4, 2011)

overcompensating for her lack of height a bit, eh?


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 5, 2011)

The twins we had that came from a set of triplets came out with the front legs, bent at the knee, all the way. They would have had to army crawl around. We had to pull the doe, because of how crippled they were.  They were the two bigger kids and the third of the triplets was a little runt of a thing, but normal.  

I do beleive that was a year we got lazy on the Selenium shots and didn't give them unti the last week of pregnancy, after the first couple does had kidded and I wasn't impressed with the kids. 

Then I went, oh crap, we didn't give selenium shots.  It is amazing how quickly that stuff starts working.


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## hdad23 (Mar 7, 2011)

Thanks so much for the help. Both of her legs look almost like the ones in the picture that helmstead posted. We never had any problems before, so we didnt know about the BoSe injection. Her legs seem to be getting a little bit stronger each day and we are going to try and take her to the vet soon, but it doesnt look like much can be done. She's still very healthy otherwise, eating a lot, and her mom is taking very good care of her. She doesnt seem to be in any pain at all. If her legs don't get any better would it be possible to not have her put down as long as she can get around and still eat and is not in any pain?


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## PattySh (Mar 7, 2011)

I am going to mention this because of what happened me me recently. I had a very old pony that was a rescue that had chronic founder.  Her "family" had turned her out on unlimited pasture.  It took me a year of constant every 3 week trimming to get her feet in shape. For 4 years that we had her she was very comfortable, we were able to get her feet right and keep weight on her and she even became useable as a cart horse  and light riding  on grass.  Kids(and I) loved her. The last year  she refoundered bad we struggled to keep weight on her and decided that coming fall we would put her down as winter would be too hard on her. We doted on her that final summer as she had a pretty neglected life before coming here.  I mentioned to anyone local we  saw our intentions as the pony was a bit thin, she was far from emaciated. We were feeding her all she could eat,plus supplements. Unexpectedly,  Animal control showed up at our door late summer (luckily he was a friend of  mine) and said a neighbor complained. He urged us and we euthanized the pony immediately, broke my heart as I wasn't ready AND she was comfortable. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS in today's world before you keep an animal with such issues. It draws negative attention.


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## hdad23 (Mar 7, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> I am going to mention this because of what happened me me recently. I had a very old pony that was a rescue that had chronic founder.  Her "family" had turned her out on unlimited pasture.  It took me a year of constant every 3 week trimming to get her feet in shape. For 4 years that we had her she was very comfortable, we were able to get her feet right and keep weight on her and she even became useable as a cart horse  and light riding  on grass.  Kids(and I) loved her. The last year  she refoundered bad we struggled to keep weight on her and decided that coming fall we would put her down as winter would be too hard on her. We doted on her that final summer as she had a pretty neglected life before coming here.  I mentioned to anyone local we  saw our intentions as the pony was a bit thin, she was far from emaciated. We were feeding her all she could eat,plus supplements. Unexpectedly,  Animal control showed up at our door late summer (luckily he was a friend of  mine) and said a neighbor complained. He urged us and we euthanized the pony immediately, broke my heart as I wasn't ready AND she was comfortable. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS in today's world before you keep an animal with such issues. It draws negative attention.


Thanks for sharing your story. I'm not sure what my neighbors would do. It's just such a hard decision because she's such a beautiful baby, and everyone has become so attached to her already. It would break my heart to have her put down. We'll just give her some time and see what the vet says and then go from there.


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