Ginger's kidding thread

[bonbean01]

Oh again...congratulations...have been watching Ginger's thread for some time and so happy with the happy outcome...they are darling!

 

[madcow]

By the way, we will be keeping both of them. Ernie will be wethered when he's old enough in a few weeks and Edna will be a good doeling to keep, too. Just need a buck.

Poor Ginger was just wiped out and gave her some feed and BOSS and hoping she would regain some strength in order to get up on her feet and feed the youngin's here pretty soon. Little concerned about that, but I will try to be patient.

 

[Fluffygal]

Congrats, they are both super cute.

 

[madcow]

They both weigh 4 pounds a piece. Amazing how close they are in size. Neither of them have found a teat yet. Her udder is full and her teats are behind her legs and they just haven't located them yet. I did release the plugs in each teat and she does have colostrum and I was able to milk out about a tablespoonful. How do you get them to locate the teats? I've tried putting them both in by the teats numerous times and they are looking too high up to locate them. Her udders hang way low and they just don't seem to want to bend down to find the teat. I know you can't put it in their mouth because they just aren't going to go for that. Any suggestions for this problem? I will keep trying. She hasn't pass all the afterbirth as of yet, but it's still too early to worry about that just yet. My concern is getting these little darlings some colostrum. Tried feeding Edna some from a bottle, but she refused to take it. She might have gotten a mouthful, but no more than that. How much time should I wait to try and bottle feed them if they don't locate a teat?

 

[bigmike]

Awesome...Such pretty babies...Now if only Ginger will get on with it I'll be happy...She's using the doe code to her full ability..Congratulations

 

[bonbean01]

They are still pretty new...and I know with our lambs they go looking for the teat starting at Mama's chest for some reason? I'd watch and give it a little time...and I wouldn't hesitate to put their mouths on the teats if it were me...but I am a busy body when it comes to newborns.

And you're right...that first milk as soon as possible is very important! Good luck!!!!!

 

[madcow]

They are still pretty new...and I know with our lambs they go looking for the teat starting at Mama's chest for some reason? I'd watch and give it a little time...and I wouldn't hesitate to put their mouths on the teats if it were me...but I am a busy body when it comes to newborns.

And you're right...that first milk as soon as possible is very important! Good luck!!!!!

I guess I'm just a little anxious with these being my first babies and all! But I want them to do well and give them every chance I can. I guess it's a good thing they are up and looking and hopefully they will find it soon. I'm going to keep checking on them and give them some more Nutridrench this evening if they haven't located it by then. You can give it every 12 hours if needed. I'll do as you suggested and guide them as much as they will allow me to. I guess I just need to be a little more persistent with them, considering everything is new to them and I'm sure it's hard on them too to be born. Hopefully Ginger will regain some strength and guide them a bit, too. I gave her some raisins so it should help replace a little of her lost energy. She loves them. Tried to give her some Nutridrench too, but she wasn't having it, so I left her alone, and will try again later. Maybe some dried apples in a bit will help her along too. She's gotta be totally washed out from the ordeal. So glad this is all over with and everything turned out okay. Good thing I was there to help her out, because it might not have turned out as well as it did if I hadn't been. Can't wait for those little babies to get some energy and start running around a bit. They are adorable!

 

[Tmaxson]

Good job to you and Ginger. Such pretty little babies.

 

[madcow]

Okay, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because when I went out just a few minutes ago the babies had finally located the teats and were nursing and Ginger was trying to consume the afterbirth, which she finally passed. I took it away from her and gave her some dried apples instead. She gobbled them up. Figured that would give her more energy than trying to waste it on eating the afterbirth. The babies were glued to her side and trying to find the teats. They would find them and then lose them again. I know they will figure it out. Trixie is still in the chicken run and she seems content, because she's only separated by 2 layers of chicken wire and she can see Ginger and the babies. The chickens don't seem to mind her at all. Thankfully the door for the hen house is too small for her to get through, so no worry about her eating the chicken feed that's out for the chickens in there. Whew, this has been a lot of work, but it's really exciting! Nothing like new life to bring some excitement into your life! Just think, we doubled the size of our herd in 1 day! It's great!

 

[madcow]

Here are more pictures, just later in the morning, after they found the teat! Sorry they aren't the greatest, but they're better than nothing, right! LOL!