Surprise Baby!!! Need Advice

[Lanthanum]

I left for town today and came back a few hours later to Bonnie who had a baby!! She was dry and healthy but I have NO IDEA if she nursed, and she keeps going over to look for the nipples and acts like she can't find them so I am very concerned. We can't milk enough to feed her off of since she is a pygmy but we got a TINY bit of really sticky milk in her. What do I do?? I have to go into town again tomorrow as well

 

[TAH]

First of all, Congrats on the surprise kid!

Can you hold mama goat and let the kid nurse?

 

[Lanthanum]

First of all, Congrats on the surprise kid!

Can you hold mama goat and let the kid nurse?

She is a beauty!

I tried but the baby wouldn't nurse when we put her there. Perhaps she already ate before we got there? I got home and saw her walking around and she was completely cleaned already (Bonnie did an amazing job) so at least an hour had went by, maybe she already ate? Also terrible news, Scout was pregnant also and she had a miscarriage. Baby was born premature but it was a baby girl identical to her also. Scout is acting very odd like she is still trying to push something out and she is very lax. Afterbirth maybe? And Addy is also acting VERY strange, almost wobbling when she walks and she doesn't seem "all there". I'm experiencing many problems with my does right now please help

 

[Lanthanum]

Here are pictures of the baby and Bonnie

 

[norseofcourse]

Congrats on the kid! It's good that you milked Bonnie a little bit - sometimes the teat will have some initial 'wax' (plug) in the end and it can be hard for the kid to suck that out to get to the milk. Put a finger in the kid's mouth, if it's warm she's probably ok and has nursed; if it's cold she needs fed (and warmed up first if her body temp has dropped).

Sorry about Scout yes she needs to pass the afterbirth, any chance there may be another kid in her too? I do not have the experience to talk you through checking and helping her, personally I would be calling the vet.

Same for Addy, it could be pregnancy toxemia or it could be something else. Have you taken her temperature? If it's normal, it won't hurt to give her some molasses or some other form of sugar (don't give sugar to anything with a temperature). Pregnancy toxemia can be fatal if not treated right away, and can recur till they give birth. There could also be something else going on - also a 'call the vet' one for me.

Hope they will be ok, @babsbag @Goat Whisperer @Southern by choice @OneFineAcre it's the middle of the night but maybe one of them or another of the goat folks will see this soon.

 

[Latestarter]

IMHO you could just keep guiding the kid to the nipple until you see success. Very important that the kid gets colostrum from mom ASAP after birth. Best within the first 4 hours. Sorry I can't help with the other issues but agree a vet is probably the best idea.

 

[Lanthanum]

Alright so at the moment Addy AND Bonnie and Baby need the vet. Just one goat will cost about 400 dollars. We don't have the money for that right now. Is there one I need to get in first? I went outside this morning and the baby was laying down but she was looking around, and she looked healthy. She was born approximately at 10 p.m yesterday night so I'm sure if she hasn't nursed by now she would be dead, so perhaps she did nurse?

 

[norseofcourse]

Did you feel in the kid's mouth? Was it warm or cold?

Edited to say I read your other thread, go with what is being said there - I assumed Addy was pregnant because the other two were (guess that makes me... ).

And how is the other one who miscarried? Did she pass the placenta? How is she acting?

 

[Latestarter]

@Goat Whisperer @Southern by choice @babsbag @frustratedearthmother @Fullhousefarm I don't have my goats yet so I'm providing info based on my studies. First Q most are going to ask is what is the animal's temp. If you don't have a thermometer, go to your nearest drug store/walmart and buy one... a basic glass tube red bulb thermometer is more than adequate... you'll be sticking it up their butt, so make sure you label it/keep it separate from the one you use for you This will almost always be your first/"go-to" tool for diagnosis with your goats.

For the kid, finger in mouth as stated will give an indication of whether the kid has been fed... The kid should try to latch onto your finger and suckle... warm-good, cold-bad. Never feed a cold kid as they can't digest, and you can kill it. Always warm the kid up first. If very cold a warm water immersion, yes, in the tub, is the fastest way to bring body temp up. Just when done, make sure you blow dry the kid to get it back nice and dry & warm. Never give a goat with a fever any kind of sugar... bad, bad,bad. You CAN give a goat with low temp/energy molasses or karo syrup as a booster... You can also feel the kid's body to try and determine if it's eaten... nice and round/"plump"-good, skinny indented sides/hollow-bad. If the kid has not eaten and mom is not producing milk, goat milk from another doe is best, next; just your basic whole milk from the grocery (warmed of course) is fine. Probably too late now (over 24 hours) but you should keep colostrum replacer (get at farm store/TSC) or frozen colostrum you milk out from one of your does (freeze in ice cube tray so you can pop/thaw/warm/feed with a syringe) handy for future cases where it might be needed. Frozen is good for a year or more. You can always replace old with new next kidding season.

For the adults, again temp is key... (for all of them), too high indicates an infection, to low indicates some other issue. Check their udders and make sure they are not "hot" or "hard" indicating possible mastitis. See if you can tell if they finished birthing or another baby got "stuck" (and has now died) inside. If so, it will need to be re-positioned so it can be removed/pulled by you (or the vet). Check to see if they've passed the placenta. Either of these left inside will obviously cause problems/infections. Standing behind the goat, babies show to the right side, rumin is on the left side. Feel down the right and under and then "bump" the rear belly area to see if you can feel anything inside, or movement, etc.

I can't recall but think you said you just brought them home... either way, no matter, you want to try to get a poop sample from each, baggie it, refrigerate if you can't get it to the vet quickly, you don't want it warm as the eggs will hatch ruining the count... and get a fecal run. You want actual egg counts, EPG (eggs per gram) to determine load (keep this info for your records to determine over time what is "normal" for each animal) and see if they need treatment for worms OR cocci (not the same/treated with different drugs). Moving a goat or kidding or moving combined with kidding can cause a bloom of parasites due to stress... worms or cocci, or both. Normally an adult doesn't have cocci issues as they build up an immunity to this as they age. But undue stress can cause this to be an issue even with adults. On the other hand, cocci is a kid killer and it does so fast, sometimes with no indication it's even an issue. This normally happens after ~7 days, not before, and most will tell you the kid should be on some type of cocci preventer/med to allow it time to build a tolerance.

These are the most likely culprits IMHO, but the list is long and there are many other possibilities. I hope all works out for you and you get this under control. Hopefully one or more of the folks I tagged can jump in and correct or add to the above... Please let us know how things proceed. thanks

 

[Lanthanum]

Here are pictures of her from last night if this helps any. Does she look healthy??