frozen ears question

[DownHome]

Of course one of our goats kidded this morning in this crazy freezing weather. Luckily I went out first thing this morning to a very chilly baby. Her ears seemed to be completely frozen and it was pretty clear she couldn't feel her feet. She is doing okay now, in the kitchen, but her ears are swollen and warm and her feet are hot to the touch.

Is that normal? Is there anything I can do to help it out? and are her little ears going to fall off?

thanks all,
downhome

[prairiedog]

There might be some damage to the tips of the ears only time will tell. Just keep her warm there is not much else you can do at this point.

[fishhead]

Beyond keeping her warm and fed I think whatever is going to happen has already been decided.

[DownHome]

when will I know if her ears are going to fall off?

downhome

[fishhead]

Have they turned dark? Still swollen?

[DownHome]

It happened yesterday, they have not turned dark yet. They are less swollen than yesterday and still warm to the touch. Where they are swollen they are also a little floppy. Thanks

downhome

[fishhead]

I don't know for sure but I think those are good signs. Warm should mean blood flow and not turning black should mean the tissue isn't dead.

How are the feet?

[thaiblue12]

It is too late if her ears are frostbitten. Floppy is not good unless they are a floppy eared breed. Swollen, warm to the touch not very good signs. They may or may not turn dark.
I had surprise kids born in the cold, the mom decided to be stupid and left the barn. I checked on her she was there, an hour later I go to check on her again and she was out in the cold and and had triplets. I dried them off well but for their ears it was too late.
They never got any darker as their ears inside were dark already, they got droopy, then they did get hard after a while, then they had cuts across them, I guess separating the dead from the alive tissue, the area eventually fell off. The entire process took a few weeks.
They are otherwise healthy just different looking

I did get a goat baby from someone who had frostbitten hooves. Said he was stepped on by the mom, but he was limping on both front hooves and they would bleed. So I took him to the vet who said frostbite, not stepped on, keep the snow off him. That was a challenge, he ended up wearing girls thinsulate mittens on his hooves it saved his feet/hooves and he was fine once he got older. Only his front hooves had been effected.
So as far as her feet are concerned keep them as warm and dry as possible.

This is why I hate cold weather babies, so much more work. My surprise this year kids are wearing little dog coats and the nights is has been -25 or so I have been bringing them in the house.

The wether, he is still cute with his weird ears



His sister:

[DownHome]

Her feet turned out just fine. Swelling still decreasing, ears still floppy. Bummer, does anyone know if that effects showing the goat?

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[Karenrbw]

If the ears are going to fall off, they will get really hard in a few days. Almost like rawhide. They will break off and fall off on their own. Not the best thing to look at, but the babies will be fine.

[goatkid]

You can show your goat even if her ear tips fall off. Frostbitten ears are not a disqualification.

[saanengirl]

What breed? Saanens have erect ears, but it is not uncommon for the newborn kids to have weak cartilage in their ears and the ears to flop for the first week or two. After that the ears stand up as normal. I suspect that anything that was going to fall off would be nearly black in color by now.

[pygmybabies]

Muffin got frostbite on her ears last year, when she lived with her previous owner, but I still think she is cute. I am wondering however, have we seen any baby pictures yet?

[delphinium]

I have a wether, Fergus, that was born to a FF that had no idea what that alien thing was that fell out of her ... unfortunately we were not present when she kidded with twins, the doeling was frozen and I think a shaft of sunlight is the only thing that saved this little guy.

Anyway, he lost a portion of each ear, but not until weeks later. Keep checking the hooves, too. Fergus' hooves looked fine initially, but four weeks later I noticed they looked odd, almost like a rubber band had been put around them. Asked the vet and it turns out the hooves were damaged by frostbite, too. Healthy hoof tissue eventually grew in, but one hoof is still a little twisted looking.

He gets along just fine, but I worry when the weather gets so cold as I think he might be more sensitive to the cold now.