Kid questions, Please Help...KID PICS!

[FLChick]

My doe just kidded yesterday evening, she had 2 doelings. This is my first time with goats and I have a few questions.

1. One of the kids has mustard colored poo. Is this normal? The other kid has dark green/black poo.

2. The one with the mustard poo seems lethargic to me. She lays around a lot. Is it normal for them to be so sleepy in the beginning?

3. I'm not certain they are getting any milk so I bought a goat nipple and force fed them. They didn't seem to want any, so is it possible that their bellies were already full?

What is normal behavior in the beginning?

 

[20kidsonhill]

Normal, for them to have yellow sticky poop.

Normal for them to seem like they sleep alot, as long as when they get up, they stretch and can stand well and they don't seem wobbly.

Normal for them to not want a bottle if they are too full. Often times a hungery newborn kid will take a bottle, a full one wont.

Normal for them to seem to nurse for 2 seconds and then lay back down. They get a lot more playful at 3 or 4 days of age.

This is a great time to hold them and spend time with them, to tame them. The first 4 or 5 days are very important for human bonding if they are dam raised.

they are adorable.

that doe has a ton of milk,as long as she isn't kicking them off they are doing fine, You checked her and milk comes out pretty easily?

 

[FLChick]

Whew....that's great news! Now I can rest better. I milked my doe this morning and a little bit this evening (enough to put in a bottle). Milking has been pretty easy so far.

Thanks so much for answering my questions

 

[DonnaBelle]

The yellow poo is normal.

Just hold them up to Mom's teat, they will learn to nurse, she'll help them.

I don't think force feeding is such a good idea. What they need in the first 24 hours is colustrum from Mom. Just be patient and keep holding them up to mom, grab a teat, stick your finger in the side of their mouth to get it open and squirt in a little milk, once they taste and smell it they'll get interested.

Just be patient, it takes a while sometimes.

The poo may be yellow once they get colustrum, a good thing, it'll be runny and yellow for a few days. It's normal.

Keep an eye on Mom, she may have a worm bloom herself. The Mom's do sometimes after kidding. I do an injection of Ivermectin at the rate of 1 cc. per 25 lbs. of goat.

I would take some nannieberries of Mom's to the vet Monday for a fecal test. they're usually around $15.00. The vet can tell you if she has worms and what kind of wormer to give her.

There a lot of websites with lots of info about goats, their care and health issues. Plus there is a lot of info on this website too.

Good luck with your goats.

DonnaBelle

 

[FLChick]

I did a search online and could't find anything about worm bloom. What is it and how can you tell by looking at them? I know what worms are, but not sure what the bloom is. Is it something to do with their udder?

 

[jessica117]

By worm "bloom" they just mean that because mama's system is a little strained right now due to kidding, she can have a few worms turn into a major problem very quickly, or in other words "bloom" in her gut.

 

[Goatmasta]

I would say the larger issue to worry about here is the poo stuck to the babies butts. Mom should clean it off but if she doesn't you should. After just a small amount of build up there they won't be able to poo. That is bad.

 

[FLChick]

I used a baby wipe to clean the doelings rear end. Just had it on there to show what it looked like.

 

[elevan]

Lots of good answers so far so I'm just gonna say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

 

[GOATBOOTS]

Congrats! They are beautiful. All good answers so far. The only thing I will add is that I sometimes have to milk my does down a little when they are first born. When her bag gets really full sometimes the babies will have a little trouble latching on when they are small.