Preventing toxemia in doe

[goatkid]

Last spring, my doe, Isis, who is half La Mancha, 1/4 Boer and 1/4 Spanish gave birth to quintuplets and it almost killed her. A few days prior to delivery, she showed sighs of toxemia, so I treated her with proplyline glycol. She lost a lot of fluids having so many kids, according to my vet. She ate real well right after the kids were born and I thought she would be alright, but the next day, she wouldn't eat and her rumen was hardly working. She didn't have much milk. I rushed her to the vet where she was given calcium and vitamins. The vet sent us home with more calcium and propylene glycol, and Isis recovered quickly and was able to produce more than enough milk for the two kids I left on her. I have bred her again this fall and have concern that she will once again have a large litter of kids. She has always done OK when she carried 2 or 3 kids. Do any of you know of any kind of supportive care I can give Isis during her pregnancy to prevent ketosis and milk fever? I've heard giving 1/2 grass hay instead of all alfalfa may help. Any experience with that?

[SherrieC]

first of all how far along is she right now? Are you milking her or not?

[Teacupliz]

I take no chances with my goats. I give Goat Nutri-drench to any doe starting a few weeks before they kid. A couple squirts wards off Ketosis. Once they kids I throw a 1/2 of human calcuim pill in their feed while milking. This will prevent Milk fever. neither can hurt and both can help a lot.

Liz

[goatkid]

Isis is almost 2 months pregnant. She is being milked once a day and will be dried up by the end of the month. She is normally a very large goat. She is looking pretty wide and that is why I am concerned about her having a large littter again in March. The sire is a Nubian.

[Goat Freak]

I have no idea, but i am sure that I too heard somewhere that giving more grass hay than alfalfa would help, something to do with the alfalfa hay being richer or something of the sort. Good Luck, I will be praying for you, Isis, and her babies. See ya. Bye.

[Teacupliz]

tums with calcuim help also for milk fever.. I live by B-complex, Nutri-drench and blue coat my 3 must have items..
Liz

[SherrieC]

The problem is keeping the balance between the calcium and phosporus, The kids don't require much before day 100 so before then an unbalanced diet the doe can deal with, but when those kids start growing it gets harder for her.
She should be eating alfalfa hay or pellets right now since she's milking and getting grain on the stand. Once she's 100 days bred even if she's not milking she should be getting a small amount of grain. like a cup a day, and gradually increase her grain through the last 50 days and the alfalfa in the hay, till on kidding day she's eating full alfalfa and a pound of grain. Also keep soda in front of her and Mineral! she'll need a lot of minerals. The day she kids remember to give her a big drink of hot molasses water. I buy hoeggers pregnancy minerals, and feed them the last two weeks, also I've been known to crush calcium pills from walmart over their grain.
I don't dry mine up till 6 weeks before and I only cut out the grain at that point.

I when new to goats used to feed the old method of grass hay, and grain, and I lost a good doe to this! Here's an important link for you print it out!

http://dairygoatsplus.com/forum/view...577461e3728af3

[goatkid]

Thanks for the feedback. My goats all get alfalfa hay. This is all my hay guy grows and he delivers it at a decent price. It's the grass hay that is harder for me to get. It is available in the state, but the people who grow it around my area all keep it for themselves. I can't take my truck out in winter to get hay because it is not 4X4. If I need grass hay in the winter, I need to get it a few bales at a time with my station wagon. I keep a little grass hay on hand for when a doe isn't feeling well. Isis would eat a little grass hay last spring when she got sick and she refused the alfalfa until she felt better. I reduce the grain in winter when the goats aren't being milked, but they always get some grain and alfalfa pellets along with their hay. I think what made Isis sick (my vet agrees) is the large litter she was carrying. It was all those kids that was leaching out her minerals. The goats always are free fed soda and goat minerals year round. The vet couldn't think of a way to keep Isis from possibly carryng another large litter again. I wish they could ultrasound goats like they do women, so we know what we're facing in March. If she only has 3, I'm confident she'll be OK. I'll be sure to give her calcium in her grain.

[goatkid]

I will be drying Isis up this month because of her breed. Being she is only 1/2 dairy goat, she drops in production when she gets pregnant. She is not making much milk anymore and only gets milked once a day now.

[moonspinner]

Liz, I like your Nutridrench pre-kidding idea. Also we concur on the B, Nutridrench, and Blue Coat - though I substitute Wonder Dust, which is great too.