Help with week old nigie recently recovered from hypothermia

[Wendybear]

Lollipop gave birth in the birthing pen a little after midnight on 3/1 to 2 bucklings. It was unusually cold (low 20's) and windy. I made sure they were dried off completely and nursing. I stayed for awhile and satisfied they were bonded and nursing well, went back to the house. The next morning they were shivering, so I brought them in and they both had hypothermia.

We enclosed a small area behind the couch with a strong heat vent, put them on a heating pad, while passing a blow dryer and massaging FOR HOURS. Even so, we still lost one.

The surviving kid was kept inside and over the course of the next few days began to improve. Yay! (Meanwhile, I was milking Lollipop twice a day, getting about 8 oz both times.)

I got him to where he was eating 4 oz on his own. Finally! Bc he wasnt sucking and I was barely getting 1 oz into him for the first couple days.

Anyhow, yesterday the cold finally broke. I took him to his mama in the afternoon and it was a very happy reunion! Unfortunately, I had to bring him back in for the night bc the temp was going to drop again and I was too nervous to leave him out. I milked Lollipop that evening and only got about 1/4 cup since he had been nursing all afternoon.

I bottle fed him last night and this morning before I brought him back out to her today.I milked her before bringing him out, and left some for him. Its a high of 50, and he is happily still out there with her now. The temp is supposed to drop to 39 tonight. Can I leave him out there with her through the night? And if I do, should I stop milking her completely for the time being? Will her milk drop bc its only one kid? Thank you so much for any advice. Im still learning.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

If you have a small dog house i would put that out there with plenty of hay/bedding for him. You can still milk her, the more milk you take the more she will make. Also make sure to give her plenty of feed. So sorry you lost one. Another thing that can help him is putting either a small long sleeve shirt on him or something similar can help. I dress all my kids if we expecting really cold weather.

 

[Wendybear]

Thank you for your reply. So, I should milk her even if he is nursing fulltime? Will she make enough for me and him?

I was thinking of locking them both up overnight in the kidding stall. I have a cat carrier that I can put in there too.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Yes she can make plently for you and him. Generally i seperate at night and milk in morning then let the kids with mom all day and about 5ish i seperate. My kids are currently 2months old. What breed is she that can depend on how much milk she will make. Mine are nubian mixed goats and they make 1/2 a i gallon every morning. I really started seperating at 1week of age just to allow them to bond but i did milk moms just to help them produce better. 1 flake Alfalfa in morning and grain during milking and grain at night. Mine tend to go through a 3quart scoop of feed each feeding. So keep that in mind the eat more in milk then dry

 

[Wendybear]

She is a Nigerian Dwarf.

When you seperate at 5ish, do you still milk in the evening or only in the morning?

I understand you are probably busy. I really appreciate ypu taking the time to help me. Thank you so much, you have been so helpful!

 

[Wendybear]

Ugh ... will it be okay for him to be penned by himself? Should i give him a bottle? It seems a long time to go without eating if I seperate him at five. I dont get down there until about 8-8:30 am.

 

[farmerjan]

Although I don't have goats, I do have nurse cows and do the same thing. Separate them at night when it suits you. If you don't get out there until 8 in the morning, wait til 7 or 8 or even 9. It will affect how much you get when you milk but not that much and the kid will get a later feeding before night and cooler temps.

 

[Wendybear]

I decided to bring him in. Lol ... Its going to be another week of low temps at night. So, Ill just bring him in at night for another week and then pen him down there in the evening when the weather breaks.

Thanks again!

 

[Wendybear]

Although I don't have goats, I do have nurse cows and do the same thing. Separate them at night when it suits you. If you don't get out there until 8 in the morning, wait til 7 or 8 or even 9. It will affect how much you get when you milk but not that much and the kid will get a later feeding before night and cooler temps.

Ahhh I see ... That makes sense. I will do this when I leave him overnight next week.

Do you milk before letting the calves nurse in thebmorning or after?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Milk before you let him nurse other wise he will drink most if not all of it. The idea is for you to drain the udder and her body will make more milk to feed him during the day. I only milk once a day if I wanted to milk twice then bottle feeding would become nessicary. Also Nigerians make a good amount of milk so you should be loaded before long.