Please HELP! 2 Dead babies...one survived..problems

He is so cute. Thanks for showing him to us. Sounds like he might be getting stronger already. Just keep making sure he gets as much of his mother's milk as he will take.

__________________
I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

[QUOTE=Mommyto5;4889066]Hi again everyone!

I wanted to give you all a quick update on our little guy and his mama. We had a LONG night last night, feeding a few CCs every hour, but around 3:00 am, his sucking instinct kicked-in and he took 12 cc from the syringe. At
4:30 am, he took about an ounce and then slept for 3 1/2 hours. He was looking so good that we returned him to his mama to see if they could make things work. Unfortunately, "mama" is not looking too well. From what I can tell, she has not passed her placenta yet, and she had a terrible odor coming from her. I immediately called the vet...requesting someone other than the doc that came yesterday. She told me what to do, (meds. etc.) but said that in cows and goats the placenta can take a week to pass and that as long as the mama is eating and drinking, just to keep an eye on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~:
Sounds like she could have a retained dead kid - she needs cleaned out. Did the vet suggest you go in and check or a lute injection? Hmmm Maybe someone with fresher experience can tell you....it's been 5 yrs since I had kids born here.

-scrt crk

I'm no expert, but I'm almost certain that it should definitely NOT take a week to pass the placenta!!! I would take her into the vet, it sounds like she needs may have another kid in there. They should be able to pull it if so, and do a uterine flush and she would need to start on antibiotics pronto. The odor would definitely be a huge red flag for me.

Glad the baby is doing well, though!

The placenta does NOT take a week to pass. It should be out within several HOURS. Do some online reseach, print it out, and please take it to the vet which obviously needs to be informed. I'm no cow person but I'm fairly sure the time frame is not anywhere near a week, but HOURS for both cows and goats.

If the kid has a sucking refex, switch him asap to a bottle. syringes are inefficient and will not let him maintain a sucking reflex. He needs several ounces per feeding, not one.

__________________


Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

The vet who was here to deliver the kids "went in" while he was here. According to him, there are not anymore kids in there. If she did deliver the placenta, she must've eaten it because I didn't find it, but I'll do a little more digging to be sure. I just don't know for sure if she did or not.

I have done a lot of research online, but kind of feel like my hands are tied if the local "barn animal" vets are telling me what they're telling me. I am gonna have the one who seems more informed about goats come out in the morning. I want her to see in person what I'm seeing. Then, hopefully, we'll start seeing some improvement.

One of my concerns is that the mom seems to "heave" and her sides puff up, then she goes to the bathroom. Maybe it's just more noticable because she's so sunken in, or maybe it's discomfort from such a rough delivery. Either way, it doesn't look right!

I did start her on Penicillin yesterday and noticed an improvement within a couple hours. I gave her vit. B12 and vit B Complex and some electrolytes, too. She's not really eating much, but I'm wondering if it's also depression because her baby isn't with her full-time. ??????

oh, forgot to say, he also gave her an injection of Oxytocin after she delivered to help pass the placenta.

She most likely did eat the placenta. The Vit Bs and electrolytes that you gave would have boosted her pronto. GOOD JOB.. I'm sure all will be well.

I love the pictures!

__________________
Paul Bridges - LaCabra Farm; Uvalda, Georgia - USA

You're doing great! Hang in, and keep pushing those vets if you need to use them. That smell is an indication that something is wrong - which you obviously know b/c you started the Pen.

Your little guy is adorable!

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Your doing a great job with the baby & the momma but I agree with the others here, I believe your vet is wrong about the placenta taking a week to pass, by then I think she would have an infection for sure.

I would keep up on the antibiotics & vitamin B's for her for at least 5 days. If she's already passed the placenta & has a bad smell coming from her my first thought would be infection.

Thank you all so much for your continued encouragment!!!!! Our mama goat is looking sooo much better today. As soon as I started the Penicillin the odor disappeared. Her discharge looks so much better, too. I am thinking she must've passed and eaten the placenta. Yesterday, she seemed really quiet and wasn't really eating. I wondered if she was "depressed" because the baby wasn't with her. So, I took him to the barn to be with her today and she perked right up. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem like he's nursed from her, so I just bottle fed him while they were together. She cleaned his bottom most of the time he ate, then she started eating some hay and grain herself....which was soooo good to see!!! So, I think we're heading in the right direction. I just hate to put her thru bringing him in again tonight, but I can't trek to the barn before the crack of dawn, with 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground. Hopefully in a few days, he'll be able to stay with her all the time because his feedings will spread out a bit.

Thank you again for all your advice, encouragment and support! I could NOT have done this without you all!!!!!

That is great that he and momma are both so well. Maybe with some encouragement he will get the idea of nursing off her down.

__________________
Blog
Trailer

Oat Bucket, that's my hope! Do you have any suggestions? I kept putting him near her utter, and even held her teat and tried to put him on, but he doesn't seem to want any parts of it. He keeps turning away! (atleast when I'm around anyway)

When I went to the barn to give him his 5:00 feeding, he was asleep next to her, but not snuggled up with her, and when I put my finger in his mouth, his mouth was warm. I've heard that that's an indication that he had nursed. Do you know if that's true? When he saw me, he jumped up and acted hungry, looking to me for food. Instead of offering the bottle right away, I placed him near her several times and tried to get him to latch on. But, he just kept turning away and nudging on me. Finally, I just bottle fed him. So...I'm curious if he is latching on when I'm not around, though I did sneak in there a few times and he was never nursing. Any thoughts?

how quickly do your bottle babies gain weight? He still weighs what he weighed at birth, if I can trust my scale. That doesn't seem right, especially with how well he's eating. Now, I will say, he did lose 1/2 pound on day #2, so he's regained that. (today is day #4) But, that still seems like it's slow. Our "mama fed" babies gain weight at about 1/2 lb - 1 lb per day. (I'm feeding him raw goat milk..and he's up to 7 ounces 4 times/day)

Thanks again, in advance, for all your help! You've all been a blessing!!!

Have you tried squirting some milk out of her teat while holding his mouth up there? It might require a helper. I am not real well versed in getting baby goats to latch on (I bottle raise all of mine) but it seems like it might help him to get the connection if there was milk coming out of her teat when you are trying to encourage him to it.

As far as weight gain, I am not really sure. I don't weigh mine daily. As long as they are eating well, and acting well, I don't worry about exact weight gain.

__________________
Blog
Trailer

I have some experience in getting babies to nurse and funny it seems like lambs do a much better job of actually trying to nurse, Even with bottle feeding you sometimes have to pry open their tiny mouths insert the nipple, hold the mouth closed while you gently squeeze the bottle to put some milk in their mouths so they can figure out it is food!.
You do the same with getting them to nurse on the mother. Hopefully the goat will cooperate and stand still, other wise tie her or put her in the milk stand, place the kid under the teat, open his little mouth, insert the teat, (tricky part) squeeze the teat so some nice warm milk goes into it's mouth then repeat this until you have suction.
It is very good to wait until they are very hungry. Goat kids can be very very stubborn! I know so hard to believe.

__________________
Living the good life in Kansas.