newbiekat
Loving the herd life
I just need to vent a little 
... and cry 
... So please bear with me... this is a long post.
We had 4 confirmed bred does, and all 4 does have kidded. The first one, kidded triplets (2 girls, 1 boy), no assistance needed, all is good. Second and third (sisters) kidded the same day, one with twin boys the other with triplets (2 boys and a girl). The fourth kidded yesterday with 2 girls. We were so elated with all of this, now here's where things get rough.
The 3rd doe kidded while we were at work. We came home to two dead bucklings, and a live doeling. We think the two were stillborn because she didn't even clean them off. The fourth doe is a FF. Had both girls with no trouble at all. She kidded that morning with no help necessary. I stayed for the delivery then saw that she was cleaning them off and thought they'd be ok, so I went to work. I watched on my barn cameras (while at work) that it didn't seem like the smaller of the two (5 lbs) was not getting up. So I asked my FIL to go check it out for us. He said the bigger one (6 lbs) was up and nursing just fine, the other has some back leg issues and isn't getting up. But he had to be somewhere and made sure they both nursed and had full bellies before he left. I had another friend stop by somewhere around 3 hrs later. She said the same thing, made sure that both babies nursed, and added that Peaches (momma) didn't seem very patient with them. She thought the leg issue was because the doeling's legs were so long (which they are, but that's not the issue), and I thought the fact that Peaches was not being very patient was due to her being a FF... Anyways, I get home yesterday, Peaches is standing better for the two girls, but that smaller one still has her legs splayed out, and weak. So DH and I decided to take shifts through the night, every 2 hours and make sure they both nurse. Mind you, at this point the other babies (6 others total) are all out with the herd and their warming barrel, and Peaches is penned up with her 2 babies. So... I checked at 10, got both babies to nurse, then went back at midnight. I find that Peaches SAT ON THE BIGGER GIRL AND KILLED HER!!! So at this point I'm distraught, and I make a haphazard decision to pull Peaches out, put some other babies in the pen with the smaller doeling and would come out every 2 hrs and make sure Peaches nursed her, so that she couldn't smoosh the smaller one, because she would definitely not be able to get away.
Well, in doing so, I didn't realize that I pulled 2 of the triplets from doe #1. I did not pull the 3rd. So at the 3am feeding when DH goes out, he comes running in the house in a panic saying WHY DID YOU ONLY LOCK UP TWO OF THE THREE?? Sleepy and confused I wake up not knowing what the heck is going on. He goes on to tell me that he had the 3rd of the triplets who must have been looking for food or her brother and sister and ended up getting lost, and fell asleep in the middle of the barn. it was 20 degrees last night. When he found her she was about dead. He had her in his arms, I got dressed, and dunked her in a bath of hot water to get her temp up. He goes out to make sure everyone else nurses. So here we are, up at 3am (in bed at midnight), trying to get this girl's temp up. It's an hour later and she still doesn't seem to be doing very well. She warmed up some, so we gave her some nutri-drench, and some molasses, but she wouldn't suck. By this point its 4:30 am and we were getting up for the day in 30 min anyways. We decide to put her in the bathroom, door shut, wrapped in towels, and a space heater on her and said, well, if she lives she lives. Not much we could do at that point. She was on death's door step but wasn't going just yet. So at this point we go to bed. Of course, I can't sleep, neither can he, because we are about to lose our second keeper DOELING of the night... and we have to be up in 30 min.
So 30 min rolls by (5 am now), I go check on her. She's much better! Crying, has some strength in her legs (not enough to stand, but more than she had).. So I go make sure everyone nurses, milk the rest, then come back to check on her. She seems to have a slight suckle reflex so I get her momma on the milk stand, grab her, and try to get her latched on. She's not having it, momma wasnt having it, it was a fiasco. So I bring her back in. DH leaves for work. I had called off work by this point. I try to get back into bed (6:30 by now) to be up at 830 for another feeding, I realize she hasn't eaten since anywhere from midnight-3am... So I decide to tube feed her. I can't find our tube. So I run to town, get a tube, head back. By this point her head is cocked so far backward, the top of her head is resting between her shoulder blades. Then she starts kicking her legs. Almost seemed the last spasms before she died, but she didn't die.
At this point I'm so exhausted, I don't know what to do. So I call the vet (duh, probably should have done that before this point). Told the vet I don't want to spend a bunch of money to watch her die, so shoot it to me straight. If you don't think she will live, we wont do it. They suggested bringing her in, and evaluating her, then go from there. So I take her in. At this point her body temp has dropped again. Not flailing, not vocal, head still on her shoulder blades, looks like she's coming and going. I almost debated not going because there was no point. But I did it anyway.
Here's where we are at now. The vet temp'd her at 91*, and her glucose level was so low that it didn't even register. They suggested getting her on a dextrose iv drip and to keep her on the heating pad. That's all we can do for now. If she doesn't pick up with this, then maybe its something more and that maybe we should consider if we want to pursue. Right now, baby is at the vet, getting the iv. I should hear by this afternoon. We have decided that if she lives, she will stay inside for a while, become a bottle baby, and go from there.
I just wanna cry. One confirmed death by smothering last night, and one ALMOST death, which has become a current stressor on me, and I have to still go out every 2 hrs to make sure the new baby with the splayed legs gets fed. She got a dose of BoSe this morning, I'm hoping that helps, but ARRGHHHHH!!!!
I'm sorry, but with my current situation, I just needed to vent, and at this point, (I know most of us go through it at some point), I just want to throw in the towel and be done with it. I am exhausted, we are losing kids left and right (or so it feels like), we have to be out of town this weekend... I just don't know what to do. THIS SUCKS.
... and cry ... So please bear with me... this is a long post.We had 4 confirmed bred does, and all 4 does have kidded. The first one, kidded triplets (2 girls, 1 boy), no assistance needed, all is good. Second and third (sisters) kidded the same day, one with twin boys the other with triplets (2 boys and a girl). The fourth kidded yesterday with 2 girls. We were so elated with all of this, now here's where things get rough.
The 3rd doe kidded while we were at work. We came home to two dead bucklings, and a live doeling. We think the two were stillborn because she didn't even clean them off. The fourth doe is a FF. Had both girls with no trouble at all. She kidded that morning with no help necessary. I stayed for the delivery then saw that she was cleaning them off and thought they'd be ok, so I went to work. I watched on my barn cameras (while at work) that it didn't seem like the smaller of the two (5 lbs) was not getting up. So I asked my FIL to go check it out for us. He said the bigger one (6 lbs) was up and nursing just fine, the other has some back leg issues and isn't getting up. But he had to be somewhere and made sure they both nursed and had full bellies before he left. I had another friend stop by somewhere around 3 hrs later. She said the same thing, made sure that both babies nursed, and added that Peaches (momma) didn't seem very patient with them. She thought the leg issue was because the doeling's legs were so long (which they are, but that's not the issue), and I thought the fact that Peaches was not being very patient was due to her being a FF... Anyways, I get home yesterday, Peaches is standing better for the two girls, but that smaller one still has her legs splayed out, and weak. So DH and I decided to take shifts through the night, every 2 hours and make sure they both nurse. Mind you, at this point the other babies (6 others total) are all out with the herd and their warming barrel, and Peaches is penned up with her 2 babies. So... I checked at 10, got both babies to nurse, then went back at midnight. I find that Peaches SAT ON THE BIGGER GIRL AND KILLED HER!!!
So at this point I'm distraught, and I make a haphazard decision to pull Peaches out, put some other babies in the pen with the smaller doeling and would come out every 2 hrs and make sure Peaches nursed her, so that she couldn't smoosh the smaller one, because she would definitely not be able to get away.Well, in doing so, I didn't realize that I pulled 2 of the triplets from doe #1. I did not pull the 3rd. So at the 3am feeding when DH goes out, he comes running in the house in a panic saying WHY DID YOU ONLY LOCK UP TWO OF THE THREE?? Sleepy and confused I wake up not knowing what the heck is going on. He goes on to tell me that he had the 3rd of the triplets who must have been looking for food or her brother and sister and ended up getting lost, and fell asleep in the middle of the barn. it was 20 degrees last night. When he found her she was about dead. He had her in his arms, I got dressed, and dunked her in a bath of hot water to get her temp up. He goes out to make sure everyone else nurses. So here we are, up at 3am (in bed at midnight), trying to get this girl's temp up. It's an hour later and she still doesn't seem to be doing very well. She warmed up some, so we gave her some nutri-drench, and some molasses, but she wouldn't suck. By this point its 4:30 am and we were getting up for the day in 30 min anyways. We decide to put her in the bathroom, door shut, wrapped in towels, and a space heater on her and said, well, if she lives she lives. Not much we could do at that point. She was on death's door step but wasn't going just yet. So at this point we go to bed. Of course, I can't sleep, neither can he, because we are about to lose our second keeper DOELING of the night... and we have to be up in 30 min.
So 30 min rolls by (5 am now), I go check on her. She's much better! Crying, has some strength in her legs (not enough to stand, but more than she had).. So I go make sure everyone nurses, milk the rest, then come back to check on her. She seems to have a slight suckle reflex so I get her momma on the milk stand, grab her, and try to get her latched on. She's not having it, momma wasnt having it, it was a fiasco. So I bring her back in. DH leaves for work. I had called off work by this point. I try to get back into bed (6:30 by now) to be up at 830 for another feeding, I realize she hasn't eaten since anywhere from midnight-3am... So I decide to tube feed her. I can't find our tube. So I run to town, get a tube, head back. By this point her head is cocked so far backward, the top of her head is resting between her shoulder blades. Then she starts kicking her legs. Almost seemed the last spasms before she died, but she didn't die.
At this point I'm so exhausted, I don't know what to do. So I call the vet (duh, probably should have done that before this point). Told the vet I don't want to spend a bunch of money to watch her die, so shoot it to me straight. If you don't think she will live, we wont do it. They suggested bringing her in, and evaluating her, then go from there. So I take her in. At this point her body temp has dropped again. Not flailing, not vocal, head still on her shoulder blades, looks like she's coming and going. I almost debated not going because there was no point. But I did it anyway.
Here's where we are at now. The vet temp'd her at 91*, and her glucose level was so low that it didn't even register. They suggested getting her on a dextrose iv drip and to keep her on the heating pad. That's all we can do for now. If she doesn't pick up with this, then maybe its something more and that maybe we should consider if we want to pursue. Right now, baby is at the vet, getting the iv. I should hear by this afternoon. We have decided that if she lives, she will stay inside for a while, become a bottle baby, and go from there.
I just wanna cry. One confirmed death by smothering last night, and one ALMOST death, which has become a current stressor on me, and I have to still go out every 2 hrs to make sure the new baby with the splayed legs gets fed. She got a dose of BoSe this morning, I'm hoping that helps, but ARRGHHHHH!!!!
I'm sorry, but with my current situation, I just needed to vent, and at this point, (I know most of us go through it at some point), I just want to throw in the towel and be done with it. I am exhausted, we are losing kids left and right (or so it feels like), we have to be out of town this weekend... I just don't know what to do. THIS SUCKS.
Hang in there... 
