it happened!!!

**mygoat** · #61 12/06/12, 06:49 PM

2 year olds do not have very high quality colostrum. What you got probably was colostrum, but it's not going to be golden and syrupy until she ages. Older animals produce the REALLY nice stuff.

Perfectly normal. You should see my oldest doe's colostrum - BRIGHT gold, and barely flows. No way could I ever filter it using traditional milk filters, hehe.

Alternately, if you don't want a bottle baby, just bring the kid to the dam. No milking, no cleaning, no additional work required. Restrain the dam 3-4x per day for the kid to nurse as much as it wants. Be sure that it uses BOTH sides, they often get picky and engorge one side or the other. Keep doing this until you see the kid nursing on it's own, if the doe didn't reject it fully, or until you want to wean.

You WILL need to milk the doe 2x per day if you don't want to buy milk from the store to feed the kid.

Rejection, IMO, is MOST LIKELY when the dam does not feel nutritionally capable of raising offspring. Look to the pre-kidding diet of the doe. Especially if she is a successful mother in the past. Many studies of sheep flocks and nutrition correlating to rejection/poor mothering.

I feed new ones at least 4x per day, some do 6x per day the first day. I feed them as much as they want until I get them up to at least 24oz 3x per day or so. More if I have it, as they grow. I've never been convinced that they need more than 4-6 feedings day 1, and I always get them down to 3x per day asap - usually by a few days old.

I've also never supplied extra heat to goat kids in any situation or temperaturThen again, I kid mine all out in March at the earliest.

They do just fine once dry and kept in dry, draft free, well ventilated barns - either with their mother or as bottle babies.

Shayanna · #62 12/06/12, 10:32 PM

dont have a temp cause i have to buy a thermometer, but she is doing pretty good. she just stood for about 30 seconds and keeps trying to get up on her own. she is yet quite wobbly, and finally warming up now that she is getting some food in her belly. i would try to put her on mom but she just isnt tough enough for that yet. but apparently birdie is an excellent milker. i dont even have a milk stand at the moment and she just lets me do my thing.
if only i could get dh to name this little beauty... i was thinking monterey.

Minelson · #63 12/07/12, 06:27 AM

She needs to stay in the house and warm. Don't take her out. Keep her warm.
Do you have any other pregnant goats right now?

AuntKitty · #64 12/07/12, 08:14 AM

You should be seeing some orangish poop from the baby now if she got any colostrum. At least that way you will know for sure whether she got any or not. Do you know anyone locally who has goats and might have some colostrum in their freezer? This is a rough time of year to be raising a bottle baby who didn't get colostrum when you are so busy with work and your own baby. Maybe you can get a dose of bose into the baby to perk her up and then sell her as a Christmas bottle baby? Really, the selenium/vitamin E works almost immediately in my experience and on the second day she should be standing for more than 30 seconds at a time. Good luck.

Kitty

Strange Bear · #65 12/07/12, 08:20 AM

Are you feeding the doe some tums? Might head off some problems if she is milking well.

Shayanna · #66 12/07/12, 08:32 AM

None due anytime soon. Onyx only got pregnant a few weeks ago and we are selling Paisley this weekend (no idea when she is due.) So we won't have to worry about more kids till spring most likely. Hopefully by then we will be more prepared. Oddly though, we had noticed Birdie's udder getting a bit more rounded (Not necessarily full thouhg), but there were no other signs of impending labor. Last I felt (before labor) ligaments were still strong, no signs of goo or poofy hoohah, and no "mommy talk".

Still good news, the baby is doing good. Keeps trying to stand, yells when she is hungry (as I discovered at 4am), and is much more alert. If I pet her she opens her eyes all the way to see whats going on. I wish DH would name her. She is obviously HIS goat. The fact that he actually took off his sweatshirt to wrap the goat in last night while he bottle fed her is proof alone. But I didn't say anything..

Birdie is milking well. At 11:00 last night I got a 1 1/2 pints out of her, and I got another pint this morning. I don't have to tie her up or anything. I bring her on the back porch, kneel down behind her, and she lets me do what I have to do. The only thing I have to watch for is if she finishes her grain, she will give me the "you done yet?" look. And I have to move that bucket lickety-split or there will be a foot in it.

Shayanna · #67 12/07/12, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuntKitty

You should be seeing some orangish poop from the baby now if she got any colostrum. At least that way you will know for sure whether she got any or not. Do you know anyone locally who has goats and might have some colostrum in their freezer? This is a rough time of year to be raising a bottle baby who didn't get colostrum when you are so busy with work and your own baby. Maybe you can get a dose of bose into the baby to perk her up and then sell her as a Christmas bottle baby? Really, the selenium/vitamin E works almost immediately in my experience and on the second day she should be standing for more than 30 seconds at a time. Good luck.

Kitty

I think the hubby wants to keep her, he loves her color, and now that he has taken her under his wing.... As for bottle baby, we have to open her mouth, and shove the nipple in her mouth before she will suck. She doesn't just open on her own and suck. And now that we have her inside it isn't too difficult. She has been peeing fine, but the only poop I got was this morning an it was a firm, dark brown blob. Almost looked like adult poop but not as berry like. I will pick up atleast some vitamin E today. Vet is too far away, persnickity, and expensive for me to call. Maybe they sell selenium OTC for humans? That I could dissolve in milk? I don't know. He would charge me for the call like he did last time. :/ As far as colostrum goes, I don't know how thick regular goat milk is, but this stuff is really thick (couldn't go through a coffee filter), and sticky, but it is white.
I know she should be standing for longer, but I'm just happy she is making this much progress.

Backfourty,MI. · #68 12/07/12, 09:04 AM

Be sure while milking Birdie you wash her udder before & dip/spray her teats well afterwards so you don't end up with Mastitis & then more added expense or another that you may loose. make sure she is getting plenty of extra calcium now too in the form of alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets too.

thaiblue12 · #69 12/07/12, 09:37 AM

You are either going to have to bring her to her mom several times a day so they can bond and she will eventually take over feeding her, or you are going to have to get another bottle kid close in age and size.

Bottle kids do better in pairs and she will start screaming everytime she is left alone during the day and night. Right now she is too young and wobbly to care that much but once she gets older she will start doing that as well as eating everything in the house paper wise and jumping all over the furniture.

She can be pee pad trained but will poop everywhere, anywhere at anytime. Some have had success in poop training but I never have.
I have raised lots of bottle kids and trust me on this, either get her and her mom bonding starting today or get another kid and have an area where they can be warm and sleep in the barn.

Zilli · #70 12/07/12, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thaiblue12

You are either going to have to bring her to her mom several times a day so they can bond and she will eventually take over feeding her, or you are going to have to get another bottle kid close in age and size.

This is what I did time before last when my doe had a single baby. The only kid I could find close in age to the baby was a Boer buckling who was four days older. By the time I got him, he was a week old and had been on his mom; he got banded and disbudded the day I got him. His name is Zeus.

This last time, I had nothing lined up so I was very relieved when she had twins.

And I'm putting out feelers now for the next kidding in four months and three weeks - just in case (one of the disadvantages of only breeding one doe a year).

So, yes, I agree about either getting her back out there with mom as soon as possible, when she's strong enough to get around well (you can still bottle feed - maybe just have her out there during the day at first so someone - your husband, perhaps? - can keep an eye on things) or try to find another baby to raise with her.

Shayanna · #71 12/07/12, 09:55 AM

I do plan on trying bonding her to mom, but I want to make sure she is a little more stable first, and her body temp feels normal before she sleeps out in the barn. How should I bond them? maybe bring the kid out when I milk birdie? At this rate I will probably milk her 3 times a day until I get more at one time.

Shayanna · #72 12/07/12, 10:19 AM

you guys must think I am a terribly unprepared goat owner. I know I do. Atleast next time I can be better prepared.

thaiblue12 · #73 12/07/12, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shayanna

I do plan on trying bonding her to mom, but I want to make sure she is a little more stable first, and her body temp feels normal before she sleeps out in the barn. How should I bond them? maybe bring the kid out when I milk birdie? At this rate I will probably milk her 3 times a day until I get more at one time.

Let her nurse off Birdie everytime you take her out, put the birth goo or anything running out of Birdie on the top of the doeling's head and on her butt. Keep her smelling familiar, take her out there multiple times a day because the more you keep them separated the faster the doeling will smell like "house" and she will reject her.

Sometimes they do not bond right away and I keep them in a stall to themselves keeping an eye on the kids and offering a relief bottle. Usually in a day or two they do well. Any kids I pull cannot be returned if they drink different milk, smell wrong etc. So keep trying now before it is too late.

Strange Bear · #74 12/07/12, 12:07 PM

You can't be any more unprepared than I was. Goats weren't supposed to be in kid when I brought them home. Week before she gave birth I had a suspicion because her udder was growing. But reading on this site and the Fiasco Farm site helped me get through. I think the best thing is try to be very observant so if you feel that something is off you can get a jump on it. My doe just seemed off a little so I made up the calcium drench for her and she was fine.
Good luck

Hannah90 · #75 12/07/12, 12:54 PM

I am so sorry about the other kid, but I am glad this one is doing better every day! My goats are due in the spring. Although this was a scary thread to read, I did take away some good pointers on it all. I wish you the best of luck!

Shayanna · #76 12/07/12, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hannah90

I am so sorry about the other kid, but I am glad this one is doing better every day! My goats are due in the spring. Although this was a scary thread to read, I did take away some good pointers on it all. I wish you the best of luck!

My lesson is learned. When the kids weren't up and walking within the first hour, I should have known something was wrong. I probably could have saved the other one if I had acted quicker. I also should have checked body temp much sooner than I did. Also, I need to stock the medicine cabinet for more goat stuff. This little girl is quite the miracle, cause the inside of her mouth was ice cold when I went out to grab her.

But on the otherhand, the little girl has a name. And it is Jennie cause she looks like a little donkey.

Hannah90 · #77 12/07/12, 01:34 PM

Oh you poor thing. It is a good lesson to learn, albeit very hard. Back in the day when my parents raised sheep (god forsaken polypays) we always had bottle lambs. The last year we had the flock we had THIRTEEN bottle babies. I know all about taking care of the little ones, birthing problems, losing babies, and bad moms. Now I am taking a whack at homesteading again at 22 years old and PRAYING my goat experience turns out better than my sheep experience.

Cute name, BTW

Crazy Farmgirl · #78 12/07/12, 02:59 PM

Glad she is still fighting. If you can't get bose then get the selenium/vit e gel from tractor supply or feed store. I still think she really needs this, you won't see much improvement without it and she needs to be using her muscles and getting stronger or she won't survive. As the others have said make sure mom is getting calcium (tums or plenty of alfalfa hay) and be sure to clean/dip her teats you certainly don't want mastitis!

Hannah90 · #79 12/07/12, 03:01 PM

Hey, question.... Tums? Never heard of giving tums... of course I don't know a lot about goats.

Shayanna · #80 12/07/12, 03:10 PM

Its too late. Just got an update. We just lost her... Why does every thing we try fail?! Please don't answer that.