doe miscarried. have a question

Birch Hill Farm · #1 04/06/10, 10:09 PM

Hello, we had our boer yearling first timer kid yesterday she gave birth to a doe who seems a bit small and weak, about 30 minutes later she gave birth to a dead kid. The dead kid seemed fully formed but was completely hairless. This doe was not due to kid untill the 20th of april, it is possible it could have been bred earlier, but the date I witnessed the breeding put the due date at 4-20-10. My question is should I start the doe on antibiotics? She started out a diligent mother but as day two has gone on she has shown no interest in keeping the baby clean and acts kind of "out of it" but she will stand still and let the baby try to nurse. Also, what could cause the miscarriage of the second baby? could that have made her kid early? Im concerned she might have an infection from carrying the dead baby, and Im concerned the live baby is having trouble staying latched on for more then a few seconds at a time. Any thoughs or ideas? I did check her temperature and it was 103deg.

mpete · #2 04/06/10, 11:23 PM

103 is within normal... you can check other goats in ther herd to see if there is a large difference. Hairless means early. All kids are expelled when the doe goes into labor, so the one had been dead for awhile... I would start her on antibiotics, keep baby warm and massage her often to stimilate her. Give her a shot of bo-se, make sure she is getting LOTS of calcium ... good alfalfa hay....

susanne · #3 04/06/10, 11:31 PM

did you de-worm her when she kidded?
if not, this is the time to do so.

Birch Hill Farm · #4 04/07/10, 07:30 AM

Thanks for the replys! This morning the baby seems somewhat more active, the mother is about the same as before. Mother is getting 2lbs aday of 16 percent sweet goat feed and all the alfalfa she wants, but just kind of picks at her food. We wormed this morning with cydectin and are going to start on antibiotics. Right now the biggest problem is keeping the baby clean and keeping her tail from sticking down.

Backfourty,MI. · #5 04/07/10, 11:37 AM

Sometimes FF are not really good at keeping their babies clean.
Babies don't nurse for long periods of time when dam raised. Have you checked the doe's teats to make sure the plug is gone & milk coming out?
You can squirt the oil from a vitamin E capsule in the babies mouth or some give the kids a shot of BO-SE when there born if your still concerned about her being to weak or unsteady but they are wobbly for a couple days, that's natural.

Birch Hill Farm · #6 04/07/10, 04:11 PM

This afternoon the baby is definetly doing better and the mother seems to be cleaning the baby some. We have five more FF to kid and two more 3rd timers, hopefully these other mothers will be a bit more attentive.
thanks for the replys -jon

Birch Hill Farm · #7 04/08/10, 08:47 PM

The fun continues. Another FF just kidded twins both had 1 foot back and had to be helped. Once on the ground the mother took one look at them and took off running. They are penned together but she wants nothing to do with them and she is only producing a couple ounces of milk so we are having to milk one of the other loaded mothers to bottle feed the twins. These babies are bigger then others that are a week old. Any one have any idea why this mother is not producing any milk?

Birch Hill Farm · #8 04/09/10, 12:40 PM

The twins took a bottle at 4:30am just fine, went down around 9 am to give them another bottle and they refused it? worked at it for 30 minutes but they just fought and baaed like they where being eaten. what gives? why would they start rejecting a bottle? The mother buts at them if they get too close to her so I know they are not nursing. Heading back down know to try again, they have to be starved. Any advice?

LomahAcres · #9 04/09/10, 01:21 PM

If the kids pigged out at 4:30 they may just not be hungry enough to eat at 9, hopefully they'll eat well at the next feeding. Low milk could be - congested udder - massage her regularly and milk. OR a sign of CAE - has she been tested? Or mastits? Or she could just be a very low milker, she is a FF? They don't always give much their first year, but if you want her to be a production animal keep milking her regularly.

Birch Hill Farm · #10 04/09/10, 02:08 PM

Thanks for the reply. Just returned from the barn, the twins are a buck and a doe, the buck latched onto the bottle like his life depended on it but the doe did the same thing as it did at 9am. She will not suck at all on the bottle yet she walks around nosing everything in sight. I even tryed for awhile getting her latched onto her momma but she would refuse to suck even with the teet in her mouth. This doe did latch onto her momma as soon as she was born while we held her mother down. Im getting abit frustrated with this any suggestions? Could she loose her sucking reflex?
As for the momma she is slowly picking up a bit more milk, she has a tiny udder even for a boer.

where I want to · #11 04/09/10, 10:11 PM

I usually express a little milk into the mouth while holding the baby to the teat- sometimes just getting a little in their mouths seems to let them know what they need to do. Good luck.

Birch Hill Farm · #12 04/10/10, 11:26 AM

After feeding around 7pm they both are eating great, no idea what the deal was earlier

Freeholder · #13 04/10/10, 12:08 PM

I don't have Boers, but the amount of grain you are feeding the first doe seems awfully high to me. I wouldn't be giving my dairy does that much until their milk was fully in, and then only if they were milking pretty well. Too much grain can cause rumen problems -- it is at least slightly possible that this is causing the doe to be lethargic. You might try cutting it back to about half a pound for a couple of days and see if she picks up.

Kathleen

Birch Hill Farm · #14 04/10/10, 03:39 PM

I was only giving them that while they are penned up, after about a week or so penned with their babies they return to pasture and from then untill fall when the fields start dying back I dont feed them anything. I dont have any grass hay left so I have just been feeding them a 1lb coffee can of grain in the morning and one at night and all the alfalfa they want. The first doe is now acting her normal self and taking good care of the baby. We wormed her and gave her La-200 and it seemed to have made the difference. Do you think its still too much? I was afraid they were not getting enough calories while penned.

Alice In TX/MO · #15 04/10/10, 05:53 PM

Question: She went from no grain to two pounds of grain overnight when penned at kidding?

She may have a belly ache.

Changes in feeding need to be made slowly and gently. Their rumen/bacteria for digestion have to make adjustments.

Lots of hay and a bit of grain. Cut it by at least half, if not 2/3.

Birch Hill Farm · #16 04/10/10, 07:39 PM

The grain intake has been slowly increased starting on grain in november at 1/3lb and stepping up as field conditions and body conditions dictated and only went to current scoop in the morning and at night with complete penning which should phase out in about a week. Is alfalfa okay to substitute for hay? We are just going into our second year of goats and are trying to learn all we can as we go. All suggestions welcome and thank you for your reply. -jon.

Goat Servant · #17 04/11/10, 09:23 PM

Alfalfa is considered "hot". I would start it off slowly, mixing it with your regular hay a little at a time. It will take a few weeks to get up to straight alfalfa so as to not upset rumens.