New Kids This Morning

[stano40]

After watching for days if the mother was going to kid she finally kidded around 6 am this morning.

She had a buckling and a doeling. Both were lethargic and my wife cleaned them up and rubbed them for stimulation. The buckling is doing a little better but the doeling is still lethargic.

The mother doesn't want anything to do with them so we will have to bottle feed. My wife managed to get a little colostrum milk from the mom but so far she's not releasing too much milk. So the new kids at least got about an ounce of mom's milk into them. I ran out and got some store bought goats milk (liquid) for them to feed until we can get more milk from the mother.

My wife believes that the doeling was delivered breach because the mother has about a 1 to 2 inch tear.

It's going to be a long day for me because my wife, alias the goat mom had to go to work today and won't be home until 8 pm.

Another note on the twins is that they both look to be polled.

bob

 

[alsea1]

What a pleasant surprise.
Hopefully all goes well during today.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I wouldn't give up on mama raising the babies. If she tore, she's probably in pain. Treat the pain and she might love her babies again. I have some does who just don't like their babies until they pass the afterbirth and their cramping subsides a little. If you can leave them with her (with a heat source if needed) she may decide to be a mama eventually.

And, try, try, try to give them more colostrum as quickly as possible.

 

[stano40]

I wouldn't give up on mama raising the babies. If she tore, she's probably in pain. Treat the pain and she might love her babies again. I have some does who just don't like their babies until they pass the afterbirth and their cramping subsides a little. If you can leave them with her (with a heat source if needed) she may decide to be a mama eventually.

And, try, try, try to give them more colostrum as quickly as possible.

Yea, I thought about that too, that she had to be in a lot of pain. The kids did their initial shot of colostrum from mom.

About the only issue's we have now is that mom is not releasing all her milk. We're getting some but not coming close to emptying her udder.

The kids also are having a tough time standing up. They are choosing to lay down instead of standing and running around. We have been working with them and trying to get them to stand up on their own. Even our female dog has nudged them to stand and move.

The kids are drinking mom's milk now since yesterday she wouldn't release any but a little bit. They are drinking only a few ounces.

bob

 

[babsbag]

Maybe a bo-se injection for the kids would help with the standing.

Is mom polled? If not, the kids aren't either. All my kids "looked" polled at birth. I had twins this year, one polled, and one not. I sure do like them polled.

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

You could try a bit of strong coffee. I know there is some info out there about giving coffee to kick start them. You might try searching the forums for it.
-K

 

[stano40]

My new babies are still not still responding to standing on their own for any length of time. Time to take them to a vet and get their advise.

I've had great advise here on backyard herds but I was more concerned that there might be another underlying structural problem with these new babies.

After taking my wife to work she told me to take the babies to the closer vet who also had a big animal doctor. Getting to the doctors office I found out the the doctor I needed to see was on the road and had to deal with the dog and cat vet on duty.

They did try to help and contacted the other doctor who was on the road for advise. I passed on all the information about the new kids since they were willing to help. Including the information I learned from this thread.

Their solution was to give them ivermectin because they were afraid that the mother passed on a large parasite load to the babies. They also gave them a B vitamin shot and some IV fluids.

This cost me $91 and the kids were dopier and not responding very well. I talked it over with my wife who was at work and decided to take them for the long drive to a vet who I knew was an excellent doctor and raised oberhasli goats herself.

I gave this doctor all the information about the new kids and what was done to them so far by the other vets.

The doctor then proceeded to get every bit of background information about the new kids, the mom and my herd. Especially what type of goats I had, how they were kept and their feed. This doctor also did the initial exam of heart, lungs, & weight. After finding out that the kids didn't weigh 8 and lbs each from the previous exam but only 4 and 5 lbs the vet proceeded to ask more questions about the birthing, colostrum, milking the mother, what was the mother like, was she full size, her age, even what the we intended to do with the new kids.

Their solution was that the ivermectin was unnecessary since according to the doctor babies would not have parasites. The B shot and IV were also not necessary.

Maine is poor in selenium but instead of giving them a bo-se shot the doctor had her husband who was also a goat vet go back to their farm and bring their mu-se back to the office. It was explained that mu-se was for sheep/cattle but it worked better and faster on goats. So the kids got their mu-se injections.

I asked about the problem of the kids basically walking on the wrist portion of their hooves and if they should be wrapped. I was informed it was not necessary at this time and to wait and see what the mu-se injections did to help them out. It was her opinion that they should improve and begin using the hooves properly.

But here's the big kicker which I never thought of .... they were preemies. We didn't know the conception date since it was basically a one night stand we didn't know about and because of the weight and size the doctor decided they had to be premature in birth.

One fact I didn't know at the time and I found out later from my wife was that the mother was also a preemie.

Today after getting past all the injections and getting some good rest the kids are eating better, using the hooves properly and getting up and moving around better. Their rate of improvement is good and I'm hoping in a few days they'll be running around like any normal kid.

bob

Oh, by the way that last vet bill was $150.

 

[cindyg]

Wow, lucky with the second vet, I expect that's who you'll be seeing from now on, right? It can sure be expensive when something like this happens, I don't even want to think about the bill for our last call out, (the kid was dead and too big for the doe to deliver and I wasn't even home, it was the goat sitter and her mother who handled it for me) but it is so worth it when it works out and you have happy healthy goaties to love on. Good luck with them.

 

[alsea1]

Good thing you checked in with Vet number two.
Sounds like they are turning around though.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Very glad you had a good vet available.

I am so glad that my vet is close and is very knowledgable about goats.