Doe in Labor/kidded C-section...Pics added

[PattySh]

I should have added she's not a house goat! Came in just for the pic and to meet my grandson. She's in a kid pen with a heatlamp in the barn . We had the bottle babies I bought this winter inside in a puppypen and my grandson wanted to know if this one was staying in "til it starting stinking" lol.

 

[chubbydog811]

Glad to hear your goatys are ok...
It's funny to see how high all of the prices are for the C-sections...When my goat had it done, it was only $100...and they did other work on her...Though I'm going to bet it was the cheap because the goat died on the table and they felt bad THough my baby ended up being a house goat since it was so cold...and he was so drugged up, he didnt wake up for about 6 hours.

 

[Aped]

well here's an update. Initially the vet said both momma and baby were doing good. Then an hour later he said momma was looking under the weather, had high heart rate and low PCV(?) counts. That got me all worried because I at least wanted the doe to milk and without the doe I'd have to bottle feed.

The vet calls me with an update this morning and tells me she is doing better but it might be better to keep her another day. I agreed. For a split-second I was happy at the possiblity of having both doe and kid come home. Then he tells me that if even if she does heal up 100%, I may still have to bottle-feed because the doe and kid are not interested in each other. I wonder if that has to do with the c-section or the fact that they were separated for a few hours.

I'll keep everyone posted but in the meantime can anyone gve me a good schedule for bottle-feeding a kid when you're away from home for 9 hours a day? Does it matter if they go that long without food? I don't care if I have to feed every 2 hours through the night while I am home. ANd this may sound silly but what is the best food. There's obviously goat milk and I could get that from the dam if she does well. But then I've seen sav-a-lamb formula and also heard cow's milk is good to use to prevent scours. It my head, i would think it would cause scours and if cow milk is good what about raw cow's milk, since I have access to that as well.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and input throughtout this whole mess! I have some extra planning to do before the next doe kid's in 1.5 months.

 

[haviris]

My second choice after goat milk, is whole milk from the store, or raw cow's milk. For the first few days to a week (depending on how well the kid is doing) I feed everytime the kid is hungry, then start working them onto a 4 hour schedule through the day, no feedings at night. In your case what I would do is try to adjust the kid to the 9 hours being night and feed through the night like it's day.

Why do you think FF usually have single bucks? Just currious, my ff generally have twins, and I generally breed at 2 years (but not always). Last year I had 3 FF (two 2 year olds and one yearling) and got 2 sets of buck/doe twins, and one set of twin does.

 

[Aped]

WEll both doe and kid are now home. The doe is doing better but has a lot healing to do from both the c-section and a lot of vaginal/birth canal trauma from the kid being stuck. I would say I also hand a hand or two in that, quite literally. She is on antibiotics twice a day for the next 5 days, penicillin and some nex-something. The total cost was $450 and I am really grateful for the price since I know what it could've been.

The mom and kid haven't really bonded. When the vet called me this morning he said that it's possible that kid is nursing since he refused the bottle in the morning and still gained weight when they weighed him but when I went to pick him up they said he was fed at two and needed to be fed again at four. They were feeding every 2 hours. It's all a little confusing because in the report they said they milked mom of her colostrum and fed the kid with it but they also provided me with bovine colostrum which I'm supposed to continue to feed over the next few days while mixing with milk replacer until it's 100% milk replacer. They never mentioned me bottle-feeding with the dam's milk. Which I did milk her tonight and got about 1.5 cups. I have no idea if they milked her after the colostrum was out but if they said the kid wasn't nursing I guess they would've had too?

Anyway, mom and baby are being kept together at night in hopes that they will still bond. I guess we'll see.

 

[Roll farms]

I'd skip the replacer and bovine colostrum, and give him her milk and if she takes him to raise, great....if not, and you don't have enough milk from her, I'd use whole milk from the store.

She's more liable to accept him if he smells like 'her' milk is going through his system.

I've never fed a kid more often than every 6-8 hours, even newborns.

Not saying you shouldn't listen to the vet, just offering my opinion.

Good luck w/ both of them, he's adorable.

 

[Aped]

Thanks for the input. I'm brand new to the who kidding thing so I'm interested to see what how other people hand their baby goats. Everyone seems to do it differently. I think there a lot more wiggle room in feeding amounts and times than people realize. I actually tried to feed him 2 hours after I first fed him and he was having none of it. So I think the every 2 hours thing is a bit much. I think it will also switch him off the bovine colostrum to mom's milk I just don't want to feed him so much that he thinks I am his only source of milk because i could've sworn just before I put them to bed I peeked in their pen and he was coming out from mom as if he had just been nursing. It was dark and I opened the door and let all the light in. I wonder if he only nurses in the dark.

 

[chandasue]

I bottle fed my Nigerian babies whole cow's milk from the store 4X per day the first week working slowly up to 8 oz/feeding, then 3X per day for the next 5 weeks. Watch their poo to determine if he's getting too much milk the first week. They're down to 2 bottles now that they're eating grain and hay well, and down to one bottle next week and then none after that. They grow fast and I've really enjoyed bottle feeding them. Other than the first week with midnight feedings, I spaced the feedings out as far as I could and still managed to get a good nights sleep.

Edit: for a grand total of 8 weeks before completely weaned.

 

[Horsefly]

I don't have any bottle feeding advice for you because I have never bottle fed but wanted to wish you goat a speedy recovery. Both of them are pretty goats.

 

[glenolam]

Thanks for those great pics - I've never seen where they would do a c-section on a goat. Guess I was thinking on the underside...

He couldn't have picked a more opposite color from his mom, eh!?!

I, too, can't offer any bottle feeding advice, but also wanted to mention that I love that hay feeder! Must be a great space saver!