Doe has another baby hours after delivering placentas

[BDaY]

Hey everyone,

I’m struggling to find any information on this, but I have a doe who kidded last night and delivered triplets. She had 2 healthy babies that are still doing very well and one stillbirth who appeared to be full term with no visible deformities. I stayed with them all for a few hours and made sure babies had eaten and were warm. She had delivered the placentas and was up taking care of them, and eating hay and drinking with no more signs of labor so I figured she was finished and I let her have time with them. I checked on them every few hours and still all was well but on my last check I found another baby. This baby was also stillborn but I have never had this happen before. Can they deliver more babies long after delivering the placentas? What happened? Is there anything I could do to prevent this? Is there any further care I need to provide my mama goat or the healthy babies? She’s currently still acting normal and eating, drinking and caring for her babies. No sign of another placenta, labor or distress but she usually eats her placentas after kidding. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Alaskan]

Hey everyone,

I’m struggling to find any information on this, but I have a doe who kidded last night and delivered triplets. She had 2 healthy babies that are still doing very well and one stillbirth who appeared to be full term with no visible deformities. I stayed with them all for a few hours and made sure babies had eaten and were warm. She had delivered the placentas and was up taking care of them, and eating hay and drinking with no more signs of labor so I figured she was finished and I let her have time with them. I checked on them every few hours and still all was well but on my last check I found another baby. This baby was also stillborn but I have never had this happen before. Can they deliver more babies long after delivering the placentas? What happened? Is there anything I could do to prevent this? Is there any further care I need to provide my mama goat or the healthy babies? She’s currently still acting normal and eating, drinking and caring for her babies. No sign of another placenta, labor or distress but she usually eats her placentas after kidding. Thanks in advance for any help!

Since with a goat, there is usually one placenta for each kid... yes... it can be difficult to figure when they are "done".

I am sure since the last one was dead, it didn't respond properly to the birthing cues.

I would take her temperature once a day for the next week, give her probiotics, and any other "goodies" you might have on hand to help her maintain health.

I usually give some kelp meal, a multiple B paste, a calcium and magnesium paste (or powder mixed with water), and a probiotic paste.

She is probably fine..... but taking her temperature once a day for the first week will prove it. There is a very slight chance that the dead kids could give her a fever. Any retained placenta will mess up her milk supply.... so if she is milking well, you know all placenta was delivered.

 

[Legamin]

Hey everyone,

I’m struggling to find any information on this, but I have a doe who kidded last night and delivered triplets. She had 2 healthy babies that are still doing very well and one stillbirth who appeared to be full term with no visible deformities. I stayed with them all for a few hours and made sure babies had eaten and were warm. She had delivered the placentas and was up taking care of them, and eating hay and drinking with no more signs of labor so I figured she was finished and I let her have time with them. I checked on them every few hours and still all was well but on my last check I found another baby. This baby was also stillborn but I have never had this happen before. Can they deliver more babies long after delivering the placentas? What happened? Is there anything I could do to prevent this? Is there any further care I need to provide my mama goat or the healthy babies? She’s currently still acting normal and eating, drinking and caring for her babies. No sign of another placenta, labor or distress but she usually eats her placentas after kidding. Thanks in advance for any help!

This is not that unusual. We had twins deliver and were ‘celebrating’ the beautiful perfect little ones and mom appeared to have passed the placenta etc. then, half hour later, she bleats loudly, walks over to a corner of the lambing jug and lays another beautiful lamb in the straw and starts all over! Once the placenta is delivered the likelihood of another successful live birth drops dramatically. This event just reminded my exhausted lambing mind that ‘when in doubt, check it out!’. So I have started doing a sweeping check of the outer to mid-birthing canal…deeper if she still looks to be possibly rapid breathing or stressed...(they often show the concavity behind the ribs with the accentuated hips because of the lax musculature that occurs during lambing/kidding (not kidding!). ) If that concavity seems to not be as pronounced as normal I take the time to check for more coming. Once the birthing process starts the lamb/kid begins to struggle to breath. This is not a problem while the birthing fluids are still clear and the membrane is not compromised, they have up to an hour where they can breath fluid but the clock it ticking as the oxygen saturation of the amniotic fluids declines… but once that sac is compromised the miconium and bacterial load…with risk of pneumonia, scours, suffocation start climbing very quickly..stacking the deck against the last delayed lamb/kid.
I know I’m preaching to the choir but I am one that is hesitant to interfere. Our particular sheep breed is VERY capable and independent at birthing ‘on the go’ and have near ‘violent’ mothering instinct. I have always thought standing back is a virtue. But as our ewes age they struggle with longer pregnancies and slower births. Fortunately the older ewes also have more room to get inside and ’root around’ checking on coming attractions and problem presentations.
So, basically, my advice (though I’m a sheep guy and have only had a few goats so I might be blowing smoke from under my tail!) is that if the ‘hollow’ presentation is not as dramatic as usual…or if she looks at all distressed or tiring from a continued process…get down there, slip on the glove, lube up and check it out! Every baby is not just a gift but also valuable inventory. Good luck, God bless your efforts!

 

[Legamin]

Since with a goat, there is usually one placenta for each kid... yes... it can be difficult to figure when they are "done".

I am sure since the last one was dead, it didn't respond properly to the birthing cues.

I would take her temperature once a day for the next week, give her probiotics, and any other "goodies" you might have on hand to help her maintain health.

I usually give some kelp meal, a multiple B paste, a calcium and magnesium paste (or powder mixed with water), and a probiotic paste.

She is probably fine..... but taking her temperature once a day for the first week will prove it. There is a very slight chance that the dead kids could give her a fever. Any retained placenta will mess up her milk supply.... so if she is milking well, you know all placenta was delivered.

Great advice! I try for ‘organic’ lambs in our ‘meat flock’ because of increased customer demand but that can only go as far as it does not risk the health of the ewe or lamb (I’m a lamb guy with a few goats). What I now advertise is ‘organic, grass fed, AFTER initial birthing procedures, at birth vaccines for common issues and antibiotics needed by the mother’. The craziness of demanding “NO chemicals EVER…WHATSOEVER!” basically informs me that they care more about themselves than the animal…and that they can buy that from someone else.
Again, great advice! I forgot about that milk supply issue but have seen it cause a clear to cloudy ‘oily’ colostrum that looks really wrong…but in the end is fine as long as the ewe/doe don’t get an infection. It’s gross but not often life threatening for either mom or kid.. just another thing to re-pack into my exhausted brain!