how do I get this goat out of my house?

rootsandwings · #1 02/28/13, 08:40 AM

So Phoenix is 4 days old today, she stands to drink from the bottle, we are still working on pooping. I let the fire die down to coals last night and she is nonee the worse for wear, but it is getting down to low 20's, high teens at night outside.

I do have barn heat lamps and the ability to set them up so that they can't touch anything without unplugging them selves.

She is already feeling confined in her bin, but no way is dh (who comes home tonight) going to let her roam the house. Also, I would really like to get her out in the barn and around other goats asap. She has gone from 4 to 4.5 lbs since Monday when she was nearly dead from cold, and would have been at day 140 of gestation if she weren't born already.

She has two half sibs in the barn who are ready to seperate from their mom at night, but they are 4x her size.

Any ideas? How and when does one move a bottle baby out of the house?

KrisD · #2 02/28/13, 11:06 AM

I think that's pretty cold for such a tiny baby but that's just my opinion. I would put her out with her new friend during the day make sure she doesn't get cold then diaper her and bring her inside at night for probably another week. Then she will be more adjusted to how cold it outside and you can monitor it better. If she's out there and she gets cold there is no one to help her.
FWIW my lamb sleeps on the floor next to me on a blanket.

CarolT · #3 02/28/13, 11:19 AM

I use a dog crate for my tiny ones that still need to be inside and can't hold body temps well enough for staying outside but that are doing well enough they won't just stay in a tub.

rootsandwings · #4 02/28/13, 11:43 AM

the thought that she can start transitioning in a week is actually encouraging. I was afraid it would be a lot longer. Starting Monday it's supposed to get above freezing every day, so maybe I will take her out for playtime in a private stall with her friend until she starts shivering and go from there.

I have a dog crate, so I guess I can crate her at night for now, but it is for a small dog. Still, by 16lbs, she should be outside, right?

KrisD · #5 02/28/13, 12:04 PM

Yes by 16# she can be out with her friends full time.

KrisD · #6 02/28/13, 12:05 PM

She will probably be outside full time in 2 weeks.

CottageLife · #7 02/28/13, 12:17 PM

Can I say your title just cracked me up? I was envisioning you had this goat that kept breaking into your home and wouldn't leave

**mygoat** · #8 02/28/13, 12:27 PM

I have never kept any bottle baby in the house. None have ever died. Even in those temps.

You're actually possibly making it harder to transition to outside by keeping her inside longer - she's getting used to the warmth. I also don't ever run heat lamps or anything, too dangerous.

rootsandwings · #9 02/28/13, 01:06 PM

So I guess I should start by letting the fire go out? that would put her around 50F by morning. I want to "harden her off" but I don't want to have to save her from hypothermia again.

I've never had a preemie before, and my last bottle babies were my first goats - 9 years ago, who had already been weaned down to 2 bottles a day of whole cows milk.

My rule of thumb for heat lamps is "under 20 degrees and under 20 lbs."

we actually had this goat that kept coming into the garage and wouldn't leave. He also tried to get into the kitchen. Then he went into rutt and dh finally agreed to improve the fencing.

**mygoat** · #10 02/28/13, 01:34 PM

I missed that she was a preemie. How early was she?

Can you put her in the barn during the day and in the house at night?

Is there other kids she can hang out with?

onebizebee · #11 02/28/13, 01:56 PM

Our tiny girl was a barn goat by day and house goat by night. She got to be with the other kids her age in the day time to learn goat things and slept like a rock at night in a dog kennel in my daughters room. I would wait until it was above freezing to bring her out to the barn. She would hold her pee until morning she would go out with my dogs to potty then on to the barn to eat off her surrogate mom.

rootsandwings · #12 02/28/13, 02:28 PM

She was born day 136. She was a single and mom was a first fresher and apparently walked away without even trying to lick her. when I found her Monday morning, her mouth was still partly filled, she was soaked and still partly in her sack, breathing about twice a minute, limp, and really cold to the touch (it was 25F out). I swung her by her feet and brought her in and dried her by the fire. She's a fighter!

Hollowdweller · #13 02/28/13, 02:34 PM

I'm not sure. I put them out the first day but I have a calf hutch that I run a heat lamp down thru the top and put some plexiglass over the front so it's like an incubator.

bknthesdle · #14 02/28/13, 03:54 PM

This thread is lacking one thing.....pictures!!!

rootsandwings · #15 02/28/13, 04:53 PM

unfortunately it will continue lacking pictures. possibly when the tech guy gets home for spring break in a week and a half, my website will get updated and there will be pictures. possibly not as the tech guy has gotten less helpful now that he doesn't live here all the time.

Ford Zoo · #16 02/28/13, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rootsandwings

She was born day 136. She was a single and mom was a first fresher and apparently walked away without even trying to lick her. when I found her Monday morning, her mouth was still partly filled, she was soaked and still partly in her sack, breathing about twice a minute, limp, and really cold to the touch (it was 25F out). I swung her by her feet and brought her in and dried her by the fire. She's a fighter!

Kudos to you!! I have never had a premie, but from reading other posts it seems a kid that young is impossible to save!! Great job!! Maybe she deserves to be a house goat for awhile? But I'm too much of a softy that way. I agree that moving back and forth would be hard. Good luck with her transition.

Frosted Mini's · #17 02/28/13, 06:20 PM

I would think that once she gets going really strong and if you use a heat lamp and she has friends to snuggle with, she will probably be okay outside. A sweater may be helpful too. After all the work you've probably gone through to save her, I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose her now!

KrisD · #18 02/28/13, 08:38 PM

I would wait until it's above freezing for her to stay out all night. One thing that can happen when it's cold is they can of pile and the little one on the bottom suffocates. I would do house during the night and barn in the day time where you can somewhat keep an eye.

rootsandwings · #19 02/28/13, 09:22 PM

I need to be more clear about nights: I milk once a day - in the morning, so I pen the kids together away from their moms at night. currently the other kids are 17, 16, 12, and 11 pounds. the two smaller ones have another week before I seperate them. I am wondering if I put a heat lamp in the kid pen, how warm it would need to be outside and how big she would have to be to sleep with the other kids. I plan to keep her in the house at night until she can go 8 hours without a bottle. because I don't want to drag my butt out to the barn at 2 a.m.

wintrrwolf · #20 03/01/13, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rootsandwings

I need to be more clear about nights: I milk once a day - in the morning, so I pen the kids together away from their moms at night. currently the other kids are 17, 16, 12, and 11 pounds. the two smaller ones have another week before I seperate them. I am wondering if I put a heat lamp in the kid pen, how warm it would need to be outside and how big she would have to be to sleep with the other kids. I plan to keep her in the house at night until she can go 8 hours without a bottle. because I don't want to drag my butt out to the barn at 2 a.m.

There ya go! You have a goal in mind. I would agree that after saving her I wouldn't want to risk her there may only be so many goat kid miracles to go around.
I used a dog crate in house for Pebbles while she was a bottle baby (diaper and onsie worked well when she was in house but out of the dog crate)