Baby goat refused bottle this morning

[Rarely Herd]

Hello,
I am new to goats. I bought 2 alpines and 1 nubian kid this week and all seem to be doing well. The nubian is a little over 2 weeks old and still on the bottle. She has wiped them out pretty good (mix of goat milk and AllNurse) and pretty fast until this morning. She did not seem interested at all and would not take the bottle. We've been giving her 2 a day.

She still wagged her tail and seemed otherwise physically fine. I did see her do her slight squat to use the bathroom and nothing came out ... could she be constipated? If so, what do I do about this?

The only thing that has changed in the couple of days we've had her is she did bleed just a bit last night when she knocked a scab off her disbudding from Tuesday (done by the breeder).

I am worried and just want to stay on top of any issues ... any help or advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ksalvagno]

I would keep an eye on her behavior. I would also take her temp and see if it is elevated.

 

[HartRice]

This is what our nubian kid did also and we ended up losing him. He appeared completely healthy and then all of sudden went down and didn't get back up. In hindsight he was doing just fine and then wouldnt' take a bottle and then it wasn't long and he was gone. Someone gave me info on floppy kid syndrome that I wish I would have known about sooner. So maybe look into that. Don't want to scare you but would hate to see you lose him as well. Good luck.

 

[glenolam]

Try Probios or a B complex/B12 shot. That might stimulate her to feed if she isn't eating.

And, as ksalvagno said, take her temp.

 

[helmstead]

Its probably constipation, which will lead to entero, and then death.

For our mini kids:
3 cc milk of magnesia PO daily
enema up tp 4x day
C&D antitoxin 5 cc PO and 5 cc SQ ever 12 hrs
baking soda ball 4x day

My kids average 5 lbs, so increase accordingly

Keep this up til they eat.

 

[Rarely Herd]

Dumb questions again:

-I assume you mean just 'people' milk of magnesia, syringe fed orally?
-I don't know what PO and SQ mean
-How do you make a baking soda ball?

Thanks so much for the thought and responses so quickly on this ... I'm ready to get on it.

 

[ksalvagno]

Yes, the people MOM

SQ - sub-q which means a shot given under the skin

mix enough water with the baking soda to form a ball

I'm not sure what PO means but I think it is orally.

 

[helmstead]

Yeah, PO = orally

 

[Rarely Herd]

My wife just called and said the baby took 3/4 of a bottle right after lunch, pretty enthusiastically. She does have access to food, water and grass as well. She saw her urinate, but not doo-doo ... I guess we need to just keep a close eye out ...

 

[helmstead]

Bottle babies typically poo right after they eat - the MOM won't hurt...I'd treat with that at least just to make sure the works are moving.