Hello

[cinnelly]

Hello, my name is Cindy. I am new to your forum and I
found you while researching a question I have about a boer goat. She had quadruplets today. She is a second time mom and seems to be nursing all of them. three of the babies have very weak back legs and one has weak back and front legs. I saw where you recommended vitamin e oil and Bose as well. Has anyone seen quads before and if so was she able to sustain a milk supply for them? We have her penned and we are feeding her extra protein and alfalfa. What else can we do to help her if anything? Any ideas are appreciated. Thank You!

 

[TAH]

Welcome!
@OneFineAcre had quads today so he might be able to help.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Hello & !

It isn't uncommon for kids to have wobbly legs due to the large litter size. How weak are they? Can they walk? Usually after a few days they all straighten out. Sometimes they need a little help and need to be splinted. Be sure that the splint is changed every 8-12 hours! Some cardboard and vet wrap works wonders.

Do you have a vet that could look at the kids/dam? Having someone familiar with your area and could see the goats in person would be best. Selenium can be overdosed easily, so it is critical to know whether or not they need it. BOSE is selenium and Vitamin E, so you wouldn't need to give any additional vit. E.

I've had several sets of quads and a set of quints. Some can be a bit weak, all I've given is Jumpstart plus paste. It's got all kinds of good stuff in it, and I'm less worried about overdosing.

The dam can probably feed them now, but you will need to supplement the kids overtime if you want optimal growth and health. Teaching the kids to drink from a bottle sooner rather than later is best.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH. Congrats on your quads! Since a Boer isn't a dairy breed, many times they have trouble producing enough milk to feed multiple kids. Be sure all the kids get some colostrum from mom... That's important. You say this is her 2nd freshening... How many kids did she have the first time and was she able to raise/feed them by herself? Did the mom get her CD&T shot 3-4 weeks before kidding? Have you made plans to get them all up to date now? Lots of additional info, experience, knowledge shared in the various threads... Please make yourself at home and browse around. I you can share some pics, that would be great! Thanks.

 

[lcertuche]

Cindy, so glad to meet you. I can't offer any goat related advice but it looks like everyone here has your back. Congrats on the new kids. I hope everything works out great.

 

[micah wotring]

Welcome to BYH! Sorry, I can't help ya much with your problem but it looks like some knowledgeable people have been here already.

Hope they get better!



~MW

 

[norseofcourse]

Welcome from Ohio, and congrats on your new kids! I have sheep, so I'll just say I hope all goes well.

 

[NH homesteader]

Welcome! I am no boer expert but quads? Wow... I would imagine you'll need to supplement.

@babsbag @ragdollcatlady @fergusonk are all boer savvy! Good luck!

 

[cinnelly]

Greetings and welcome to BYH. Congrats on your quads! Since a Boer isn't a dairy breed, many times they have trouble producing enough milk to feed multiple kids. Be sure all the kids get some colostrum from mom... That's important. You say this is her 2nd freshening... How many kids did she have the first time and was she able to raise/feed them by herself? Did the mom get her CD&T shot 3-4 weeks before kidding? Have you made plans to get them all up to date now? Lots of additional info, experience, knowledge shared in the various threads... Please make yourself at home and browse around. I you can share some pics, that would be great! Thanks.

Thank you! She had twins the first time and yes they did get the colostrum. We have a very small herd and we are very new to raising goats. We did not give her the CD& T shot. Is it too late?

 

[babsbag]

Welcome to BYH and congrats on the quads. (I think) That is a lot of kids for a boer to raise and I would certainly be thinking about supplementing with a bottle. If you are raising them for fast growth most people would just flat out pull two of them and bottle raise them. If you are just raising them "for fun" and quick growth isn't an issue you can certainly let the dam try, but not sure that she can do it. If you need to supplement you can just use whole cow's milk from the grocery store.

About the CDT shots. You can give the dam one now but it won't help the kids. Kids born to does with uncertain vaccination history or with questionable colostrum ingestion within the first 24 hours of birth should be vaccinated at 7 to 21 days of age and then given a booster three to four weeks later. Alternately, tetanus antitoxin (150 - 250 units) can be given at birth or at castration.

The weak legs can be just the fact that there are multiple kids but I would suspect a selenium deficiency and ask a vet about getting some BoSe for the kids and dam. I live in a Selenium deficient area and we give it to all the does 1 month before kidding. The BoSe has the vitamin E in it as well. You can also get a Vit E selenium gel but I have never used it.

http://articles.extension.org/pages/27116/goat-vaccination-program