Emergency, for new member, need baby goat help

[RileyandStormysmom]

Hi, I am going crazy with my goats with worry. I am new to goats. I bought my first one in June of last year. My first birth was three days ago to a goat with the longest pregnancy in goat history1 lol. we bought her thinking she was going to kid in September and she gave birth to a boer mix three days ago . I don't own a buck so the other owners must have had a sneak in their midst.

Now I bought a goat in November and the owners were sure that she would not kid until Feb.2-March 2. Well I came out to give the boer buckling a bottle (mom won't nurse him) and she just gave birth to a kid. It is so small. Could it be a premie? They are Nubians. Are Nubian babies smaller then other a mix with boer kid would be? Well I went in and dried him off (yep another boy) and he seems so small. She looked like she was going to have another one but seemed so nervous with us there that I didn't want to stress her out.

I am going to go check on her but how long should I wait if she has a second one . I thought I had more time. I am so freaking out that something is going to go wrong. I don't know what to do.

My other problem is should I take out the other goats now? Will that stress her out more. I took out Cookie and Cream after the birth and let the baby have alone time with mom for three days. I just introduced the herd again tonight.

Can you tell that I am in a panic over this! I feel like the maid in "Gone With the Wind". Oh she was eating like a cow at three p.m. when I put her up. No mucus, no tail ligaments and then bam baby.

OH she had a big red ball hanging out of her rear end is that cause of concern or normal?

thanks,

 

[RileyandStormysmom]

Okay-Cookie update.

She del. twin Nubian bucks. They are both beautiful but I believe they are premature. :-( This is only my second birth). I am grief stricken. The babies are inside next to a heater in a basket with blankets. They are warm. They can't stand and are floppy. We got the second one right after birth and brought him in.

ON a good note the mother is doing fine.

The babies can't even lift their heads. I am going to get the colstrum out of the mother and it looks like we will have to tube feed. I don't have any idea how to do that.

We are going to the vet first thing in the morning if they live that long .

Thanks,

Shelly

 

[Our7Wonders]

Okay-Cookie update.

She del. twin Nubian bucks. They are both beautiful but I believe they are premature. :-( This is only my second birth). I am grief stricken. The babies are inside next to a heater in a basket with blankets. They are warm. They can't stand and are floppy. We got the second one right after birth and brought him in.

ON a good note the mother is doing fine.

The babies can't even lift their heads. I am going to get the colstrum out of the mother and it looks like we will have to tube feed. I don't have any idea how to do that.

We are going to the vet first thing in the morning if they live that long .

Thanks,

Shelly


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Mom to two children, two Nubian goats -Riley 5 month old buck -very very sweet and Stormy 1 year old due to kid this October 1st and also very very sweet, 1 pyr puppy Abby , three failed barn kittens , two house cats, two house dogs and one husband. New to this life but learning and loving it!

I hope this was ok to do, I was worried the post may not be seen where it was originally posted.

 

[Our7Wonders]

Shelly, I don't have advice because I know nothing of kidding, new to goats and mine are still PG - but I've reposted your questions in it's own thread hoping that you might get a quicker answer. I'ts labled "Emergency, for new member, help for baby" (or something really similar, can't remember now).

I hope that was ok to do, I was concerned your post wouldn't get the immediate help it needed where it was posted. I wish I had advice to give. I'd search through some the birthing posts and see if you can find any help, perhaps www.fiascofarm.com might have some helpful info. I'd google "birthing, weak kid" and see if you can get some advice.

It's late here and we're on Pacific time so you might not see any answers until the early morning hours but several of our memebers on the other side of the states and will likely post very early tomorrow - check back in the early a.m., perhaps you can get some help before your vet opens. I will be watching the thread and I hope your little guys are able to pull through.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Thanks for making a new thread O7W. You can also hit the report button when a new member needs help and we can make a split. Moved all the posts here.

Hope all will be well with the kids RileyandStormysmom.

 

[Roll farms]

Nubian kids (most dairy kids, actually) aren't the hardy little buggers that meat cross kids are.

They are quite likely fine and will be acting / feeling better this morning.
It just takes them a while to get their legs under them.

I generally hold them in my lap and put the nipple in their mouths, and they will take off sucking on their own. You usually have to hold their chins in your hand or their head flops over / nipple pops out. I do that for a few days. Make sure the colostrum / milk is warm or they won't drink. There's a bit of a technique to feeding newborns and some will scream and act silly until they 'get it' that you're trying to feed, not murder them.

I had a premie born Monday, that was due Friday. She had a slower start than a full term kid but is fine now.

Twin nubs born here average 6-7 # ea. in weight. Singles average 8#
Our premie weighed 5.9#. Maybe weighing them will help you get a better idea if they were really premature or just acting like typical floppy Nubian kids.

Sometimes premies won't have a sucking reflex, and babies who are really cold won't. Then you need to warm them up and tube them.
I've been raising goats for a long time and I've only tubed maybe 3. It's not really common to have to, from my experience. I don't like to risk the chance of pneumonia if the colostrum / milk gets in their lungs.

Honestly, thinking about it now, if my first baby goat hadn't been a 2 day old Nubian (so that I was used to how they acted) I would probably be freaking out too, thinking something was wrong, compared to a meat kid. I had boer twins born today who were sucking on my ear 2 minutes after birth, and able to stand when I got them to the house...w/in 5 mins of birth.

I have noticed that dairy kids tend to be a bit more prone to selenium deficiency (weak legs / turned under feet) than our meat kids. I give pre-kidding selenium shots to the does and probably 80% of our kids legs are fine when born...but if one is going to need a shot, it's usually a Nub who does. I am assuming that the dams didn't get selenium, pre-kidding? If their legs still seem weak to you today, you can ask the vet to give you 1/2 cc of selenium / (BoSe) to inject in ea. kid. I usually put it in the butt cheek.

The big red ball hanging out her twee is what my hubby has dubbed, "The Done Bags." As in, she's finished, she's got the "done" bags hanging out. I nearly died laughing. *usually* when they're finished there will be multiple water / blood tinged bags hanging out until they deliver the placenta, usually w/in a couple of hours.

Good luck! Please keep us posted.

 

[4hmama]

First - keep the babies warm. If possibleand they are still with mama, - put a heat lamp in the stall so they have more warmth. Take their temps. They should be around 101-102. If less than that - get them warmed up...soon! We had a baby with a temp of 94...and pulled her through. Use heating pads or if the temp is REALLY low - put them in a hot water bath (we used about 104 degree water) and just hold them in the water until their temp comes up. Lethargy can be temp related.

Second - see if you can find Nutridrench. It is a 'pick me up' for goats. If not - try some warm molassass water or add molassass to the milk you are using. The Nutridrench or molassass has sugar in it for energy...which might be enough to perk them up to get them to take some warm colostrum/milk.

Third - look at fiasco farm site...they are VERY helpful. Google 'weak goat babies', 'premie goat babies', 'new kids not thriving'...those sort of things...they are helpful.

We have nigerians which are a dairy goat. I would assume that the nubian babies would be a little more delicate stature than a boar baby...but I don't know.


GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[ChksontheRun]

I don't have any advice to give but will be thinking about you today. I have 3 mini nubians due sometime between now and February, (first time goat mom too)and will be very interested in responses as it will help me prepare.

Best wishes for your babies!!!!

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

Update as soon as you can! I agree with Roll..she is right abour dairy kids! I would be careful about drenching and tubing newborns..unless absolutley necessary..the risk of pneumonia is high! But shes absolutley correct..get them on your lap...warm them and assist them with the nipple. Make sure they are stretching for the nipple like they should be..that will help keep any fluid out of the lungs.

And get the vet asap if you are unsure for certain! Good luck...I hope it goes well for you..and them!!!

Keep us posted!!!

 

[20kidsonhill]

Hello:

Sorry to hear about your first time frustrations, welcome to goats.
If I have a kid born like that, We set up a heat lamp(secured with double chains and latches and a safety frame over the bulb.

Then I put a tablespoon or two of corn syrup in a cup, and add a couple tablespoon of hot coffee, I use a 3cc syringe with out a needle and put it all the way back to the side of the babies mouth and tyip his head holding under his neck and chin and try to get him to drink some around 15 to 20 cc's of the warm mixture.

I then administer 1/2cc Bo-Se in the back leg. I beleive you can only get B0-Se from a Vet so this needs to be planned ahead.

Then we lay him under the heat lamp so you can feel the warmth on the back of your hand. I like keeping them out there with mom to encourage bonding and hopefully soon nursing. (Unless you were planning on bottle feeding anyway.)

then in 15 minutes, I attempt to get the baby up assisting in standing, If he has any stength at all and acts interested in sucking I work him over to mom and help him get near the nipple. An interested baby may not beable to stand, but will butt with their head and start sucking when they have mommies tummy above them. (make sure you have checked the nipple to get the hard plug out so the baby doesn't have to work at that. some moms will have very very thick milk at first, so thick it looks like a sticky bulb of candy on the end of the mom's nipple instead of comning out like milk. If this is the case I squeez some out so it is hanging on the end of the nipple and then try to get all of that in babies mouth.

If baby is making no attempt to suck or baby is just too weak to latch on to mom. get around 30 cc of the coffee/corn syrup mixture(This would be one ounce) Add a quarter teaspoon baking soda and then milk some of mom's milk into this. Maybe another 15 or 30cc of mom's milk. Less if it is really reallly thick.
Draw this mixture up into a 3cc syringe and feed baby as much as you can and he will tolerate. Hopefully you can get atleast one once in him.

WAit around 20 minutes to 30 minutes and try baby on mom again. At some point if baby just isn't warming up enough you will have to bring him in the house. Most the time they will get going and recover enough for you to beable to hold them up to mom every couple hours to nurse for a minute or so.

Some of this process is hard to explain. I know you don't want to feed a baby too much milk, if they aren't able to stand at all. You should be able to atleast assist them in standing for a few minutes after feeding. The milk is not able to go to the correct stomach, while laying down, and this will give them a very upset stomach and they will stop trying to suck at all. If this happens give them some more baking soda 1/2 teapoon in just a llittle bit of milk or corn syrup and warm water.

If you have other does still due to kid, this would be a good time to give them all another round of Bo-Se (2cc per doe). Including the mom that just kidded.

Good luck, during kidding season everyone.

OUr first ones are due Feb. 3, this year. Well not our first ones, our first ones this kidding season. And all though I feel like I know a quite a bit about goats, I have been reading some of the threads and feel like I have learned some valuable information.

Take care

t