First goat midwife experience. *2 births completed*

[daisychick]

My friend has 2 nigerian dwarf does and we went in halves on a nice buck. She is a goat newbie way more than I am . I told her to call me when she thought they were in labor and I got that call last night at 10pm. I went over and we watched and waited and when the pushing started, the first thing I noticed was 2 hind feet coming out. Momma kept pushing and pushing and it seemed like baby wasn't going any further. Since I read on BYH for hours a day and watched all of Pelican Acres web cam births I was proud of myself and I knew what to do. I grabbed the hind legs and slowly kept pressure on them and only pulled when momma pushed. It took a little while but we got it out. I dried, suctioned the mouth and it went great!! It was a beautiful little buck. Then momma gave a few more pushes and the little doe plopped out with ease. I dried her, checked her and let momma lick them and clean them. I was very thankful that I had BYH I have learned so much. Then I made sure the babies each nursed to get their first milk. By then it was 2 am and I had to be up at 5 am today for work so I left and went home. If they were at my house and my babies I would of course be checking them every hour at first, but my friend waited about 4 hours to check on them.

Here is where I need help:
She called me this morning and said when she checked them at 6 am, the momma had busted out of the stall and was out in the big pen. The babies were all nice and cozy and fine in the stall. I told her they need to nurse and she may have to hold mom and let them eat, I will have to go over there and help her with that. Mom still has a string of red goo hanging out. We waited and waited and never actually saw her pass the placenta. Since my friend waited 4 hours to check on them she has no idea if the placenta was passed and possibly eaten by the mom. How will I know if she has passed it ???? What should I do? When I go over there I will look and search for signs of placenta on the ground and I will hold mom and let babies nurse. I have already told her that if I need to I will milk mom and bottle feed the babies if needed. We are hoping mom will calm down and learn to let them nurse better.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Chances are she passed it and probably ate it. The string of green, bloody goo is normal discharge after giving birth.

Check her temp - if she has a temp, that's a sign of infection, which could mean she has not passed the placenta.

As long as the doe is accepting the kids, they are probably nursing all they need to. The kids will look "skinny" for the first week or so but they couldn't look starved (ie - sides sunken in and weak).

 

[daisychick]

She isn't really accepting them this morning, she runs from them, so I think she needs a few times of them nursing to "get it". As soon as my daycare substitute (my poor mom ) I am heading over there to check help. I will of course take some pics of the cuteness! I am glad to hear that the string of goo hanging still is not a bad sign. Would she have a temp. this soon after giving birth if she did retain placenta?? It has only been 6 hours.

 

[poorboys]

Good job with the helping, I would say all is normal with the goo. But I would make sure she stayed with the kids for a while.

 

[20kidsonhill]

When Macy kidded, and I went to remove the plug, her look on her face was priceless. Her eyes got really big, and she looked at me. Like, "Holly #@&&#, what are you doing?" She really adored those babies, but hadn't really entered her mind, what those things were for, hanging and growing between her legs. Then I nudged a baby near one of them. And her eyes looked like this. . I laughed out load. She backed into a corner, but then didn't fight it after that. Both babies munched for a while, the entire time she was doing this. then I left them be. and when I went back out an hour later she was letting them nurse.

Sometimes those young does, haven't quite processed their job. But if she is licking them and talking to them. she should know that they are hers and she just needs some convincing.

 

[Cara Peachick]

I completely agree. I haven't had that much experience, but I've had two first fresheners now who immediately went to clean off the babies, were careful not to step on them, very attentive, but HORRIFIED when they figured out those kids had to nurse on her teats! Once the moms were held and kind of forced into it a few times, the figured it out and were fine after that. Good luck! I hope you are able to get mom to figure it out and not have to bottle feed.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Usually when they pass the placenta there's nothing left hanging out. If it's a rope of tissue, she hasn't "cleaned" (the term for passing the placenta) yet. If it is indeed just gelly like goo, then she has cleaned and probably just has a lot of discharge. I do normally see them pass discharge for a while, but it doesn't normally hang on like that. Even if she hasn't cleaned yet, don't fret. If you milk her out or get the kids to nurse, it'll help stimulate contractions in her uterus and will help her to clean. If it is placenta, don't pull on it because it may not all come out and can cause an infection. I'd give her a day or two and see if she cleans on her own, if not you'll need to start her on antibiotics.

And good for you for pulling the kid and knowing what to do. Cant' wait to see pics!

 

[redtailgal]

When Macy kidded, and I went to remove the plug, her look on her face was priceless. Her eyes got really big, and she looked at me. Like, "Holly #@&&#, what are you doing?" She really adored those babies, but hadn't really entered her mind, what those things were for hanging and growing between her legs. Then I nudged a baby near one of them. And her eyes looked like this. . I laughed out load. She backed into a corner, but then didn't fight it after that. Both babies munched for a while, the entire time she was doing this. then I left them be. and when I went back out an hour later she was letting them nurse.

Sometimes those young does, haven't quite processed their job. But if she is licking them and taking to them. she should know that they are hers and she just needs some convincing.

this cracked me up. I had a doberman like that once. After her first litter was whelped, They all began to nurse and Penelope was worried to say the least. "OMIGOSH! MOM! They are eating me alive! wait......wait a minute......um, ok. I can do this. Just stay right here, dont leave. EVER."

 

[daisychick]

Just got back from doing more midwife duties. Had to hold mom and let her eat some grain to keep her content while the cute little ones found teats and nursed!! YEAH! They just needed one push in the right direction and then they went to town. Both had full bellies and went to sun tan under the heat lamp. I dug through the straw in the very back of their little hut and found the placenta so I was very happy about that, what a relief. Mom is not happy one bit about the kids nursing but she tolerated it. I wired the doors shut like fort knox on her kidding pen so she has to stay there and hang with the little things she fears so much.

I had to leave and get my butt home before the daycare kids tried to do a hostile take over on my poor mom. I told my friend the goat owner to leave them be and check on them at lunch time and maybe hold mom again and let them fill their bellies. I will go over there tonight and check in.

My first goat delivery was very educational and fun and exciting all at the same time!!! I AM ADDICTED EVEN MORE NOW!!!


I felt so calm about having to pull that kid it was crazy. I felt that I knew what to do and just did it. I can't wait till my own does have their first babies sometime in June!!


Pics coming up!

 

[daisychick]

Here are some pics. They are smaller than the barn cat and are soooooo cute! I will try to take pictures tomorrow in my hands to show how small they really are. I didn't get any pics of momma because she was being a brat! The first picture is of the baby daddy, they look just like him!



Proud daddy, Gunner at my house

This is the little doeling taking a nap.

This is the little buckling soaking up the heat lamp.

Little buckling checking out mom's hay