Immaculate goat conception? Need some advice..

Whoa. Keep up doin' what yer doin' - but like Alice said, use mom's milk. It's the best for them.

I'm pulling for all of you! Keep us posted!

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Got plenty of beautiful milk from mama last night so we're good to go!
She was an absolute doll for milking so I hope it continues!
I just have the powdered colostrum and milk replacer on hand in case of absolute emergency- knock on wood, haven't needed it yet...
It's gonna be a looooooong day till I get to check on them- luckily hubby has a flexible job and is staying home late this morning to give them another feeding and put them out with mama once it warms up outside a bit. At least it's not as cold as predicted- it's 39 and getting up to the high 40's today.
Thanks everyone for pulling for us!!!
Steph

We've just been dealing with similar stuff with DD's boer, she had 4 preemies. Biggest thing has been to keep them warm. We kept them on mama, so that involved getting up several times at night to take them out to her for feeding and keeping them out with her as much as possible while keeping them warm. We put them out in a dog crate covered with blankets. They stayed warm and mom could see, hear and smell them. If we had to be gone, I covered the whole thing, but she could still hear and smell them. We did lose one, but the others are doing well.

Did you check their teeth? If they aren't all the way 'there' yet, they're preemies. Things sound like they're going well! Here's to continued good luck!!

__________________
There are more things in heaven and earth,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Hamlet


My attempt at a blog. Hopefully entertaining and useful.
http://senselesslyrandom.blogspot.com/

Interesting trend this year with preemies. I don't think we had any on here the last two years, or did I miss that?

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Glad to see they doing okay.

__________________
Blog
Trailer

I would call the seller back - your goat got pregnant there the last week or so of August.

Not sure what kind of nipples 'rubber goat nipples' are - I keep a stock of the ones that have the red nipple with yellow screw on plastic part - they screw right onto a 16 or 20 ounce coke bottle. Its called the Pritchard Teat. If you get/have this kind, make sure the little ball is in the hole on the yellow lid - and that points up towards the nose during nursing.

Yeah, I use pritchard nipples too. You can get them at Orscheln and other farm stores, or order them from Hoeggers (but they're less expensive at the store).

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Well, the babies continue to improve! Have them back inside tonight just to be safe but they spent most of the day outside with mom. Husband made sure they both nursed when he took them out this morning.
I am thinking that they are pre-mature- hooves are still squishy and white and the teeth appear to be still covered with a very thin gum tissue ( can see the complete outline of them perfectly though).
Today the buckling was the perkier of the two but both are able to get up on their feet and take some shaky steps. This is most definitely progress!
I milked mama again tonight and I'm not sure but I don't know that she's making a ton of milk. I put buckling up for a good drink this afternoon and he sucked one teat dry. When we brought babies in a few hours later that side still looked pretty empty. I got a couple of cups of milk from her tonight and went ahead and froze the colostrum milk I got from her yesterday.
Mama's been getting straight alfalfa since we got her in Oct. and today I wormed her, gave her a bowl of goat minerals, and one of alfalfa pellets. Anything I can do to help her if it looks like she needs to be making more milk?
Tried to upload some pics of the new kids but need to wait till I get to work tomorrow where I have a better connection.
Off to feed babies~
Steph

She's a teacher friend I work with and I believe her that the buck didn't get out- I'm thinking mama's just a hussy and went-a-calling herself... I've heard that "love connections" can be made through a fence...
I'm actually happy to have another pure Boer female- she has nice goats but I couldn't afford to buy more than two so I consider this a bonus! Buckling won't be getting a name, and will be our first goat to enroll in freezer camp. It's all good!
I'll definitely look for those pritchard teat nipples! The ones I have are a black rubber and kind of thick- babies weren't interested...
Steph

With my goats, they often don't seem to be making much milk for the first day or two, then things even out and everybody's fine. Watch the babies more than the mom to see if there is enough milk. If you have to use the black nipples, we often have to 'milk' them into the mouths at first, the nipples are just too big. I don't know where you are in Montana, but if we're close enough, I'd be happy to help in any way possible.

__________________
There are more things in heaven and earth,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Hamlet


My attempt at a blog. Hopefully entertaining and useful.
http://senselesslyrandom.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for your advice and kind offer! I think I'm doing okay at this point (knock on wood!)- I'm in Roundup, where are you? The babies aren't walking much yet so I don't think they're getting much from mom unless we "plug them in". I'll try the black nipples again, now that they're getting the whole sucking idea down- Right now I'm using a syringe with no needle to feed them. The little buckling likes to suck on my finger so I slip the syringe in next to it and he thinks (wha la!) the milk is coming from my finger! The little doeling has been tougher, as she isn't so good at suckling. I just stick the end of the syringe in her mouth and she eventually figures it out.
Thanks again and take care~
Steph

How funny! I'm in Roundup, too!

__________________
There are more things in heaven and earth,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Hamlet


My attempt at a blog. Hopefully entertaining and useful.
http://senselesslyrandom.blogspot.com/

Sweet!!!!! What a small world! Always great to meet more local critter folks~
We should talk!

__________________
There are more things in heaven and earth,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Hamlet


My attempt at a blog. Hopefully entertaining and useful.
http://senselesslyrandom.blogspot.com/

Any updates?

__________________
You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

Thanks for asking!
I posted pics of the babies in another thread- "Unexpected Boer babies".
They are doing well! Still not as active as my pygmy babies have been, but are living with Mom exclusively. She is being a good mama and nudges them to her to drink. I'm still concerned that she might not be making much milk- I squeeze her teats and milk does come out but they aren't engorged like I've seen with my pygmy girls. The doeling when she drinks goes back and forth from one teat to the other- makes me think she's not getting milk. I'm keeping close watch though to make sure they seem okay. They are cute as little bugs and I'm gonna get more pics this afternoon when I get home.
I'm heading to the "Big City" today and plan to hit TSC and Big R to see if I can find anything to give them all a boost.
Take care~
Steph

I'd be sure to start the momma on some grain. Lactating goats need fairly high energy, and the best way to do this is to offer some grain. Restricting energy is the best way to decrease milk output. Of course, when goats first freshen they come into milk fairly slowly, so that could also be why.

__________________


Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

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

Mama's getting alfalfa, alfalfa pellets, and grain. Babies just seem skinny to me but maybe it's because they were pre-mature? I'm used to little butterball pygmy babies. Picked up some stuff in the "Big City" today to try- gonna start a new thread to ask for info.
Take care~
Steph