Need help with unexpected kids

[Chickncrzylady]

I need help with two baby goats that arrived way before we expected. We got a New goat that was exposed to a buck we were told. She was supposed to be due in May. We figured we had time to get her in better condition and prepare for kids. Well, the kids arrived this evening and are Very small and thin, the dam wants no part of them, she is 3 and never kidded before. It's cold and snowing off and on. One is trying to nurse but the dam is kicking her and laying down if we try to hold her to nurse them. The other doeling won't try.
She seems thin and cold. I don't even have supplies but can buy them in the morning. Can anyone give us any advice on saving these kids? What you feed and how much how often? If the dam wont take them can we raise them in a large dog crate with a heat lamp?
Any links you would recommend for raising rejected kids? Can I do anything to get the dam to stop kicking them? Thank you for any help you can offer. I hope they can make it until I get to the farm store. Advice of what to buy? We thought we had time to read and get ready. The dam didn't even look pregnant so we weren't sure she was even bred . This all happened so fast. I would appreciate any advice you have. I'm trying to care for the kids, get the dam to feed them and look for reading material on raising kids in case she won't accept them. I ordered some books but the kids arrived before the books. I hope there are some goat people here.

 

[nohobbymomma]

I have only had 2 kids within the last year but I bottle fed a 4 week old until she was 4 months old; until she was old enough to eat on her own. Are you able to put a heat lamp on the babies in the same area as the momma? Keep trying to show the momma her babies. Let her clean them and get used to there smell. She may never take to them. First thing tomorrow get colostrum replacement. I bought sheep nipples because they were easier bit a regular baby bottle works too with the nipple cut to a bigger hole.

 

[nohobbymomma]

Here are some links to help with feeding...wish I could have been more help. https://fiascofarm.com/goats/feeding.htm https://fiascofarm.com/goats/behavior.htm

 

[Stacykins]

I need help with two baby goats that arrived way before we expected. We got a New goat that was exposed to a buck we were told. She was supposed to be due in May. We figured we had time to get her in better condition and prepare for kids. Well, the kids arrived this evening and are Very small and thin, the dam wants no part of them, she is 3 and never kidded before. It's cold and snowing off and on. One is trying to nurse but the dam is kicking her and laying down if we try to hold her to nurse them. The other doeling won't try.
She seems thin and cold. I don't even have supplies but can buy them in the morning. Can anyone give us any advice on saving these kids? What you feed and how much how often? If the dam wont take them can we raise them in a large dog crate with a heat lamp?
Any links you would recommend for raising rejected kids? Can I do anything to get the dam to stop kicking them? Thank you for any help you can offer. I hope they can make it until I get to the farm store. Advice of what to buy? We thought we had time to read and get ready. The dam didn't even look pregnant so we weren't sure she was even bred . This all happened so fast. I would appreciate any advice you have. I'm trying to care for the kids, get the dam to feed them and look for reading material on raising kids in case she won't accept them. I ordered some books but the kids arrived before the books. I hope there are some goat people here.

Those kids NEED her colostrum. You are going to have to push up your sleeves and become a hard cop with that doe RIGHT NOW.

Tie her up. Literally. Not hog tie. But tie her so she is secured and cannot get away. You want her to be able to move away as little as possible. Then you need to get in there with a kid, hold her leg up (or tie it up) and pop that kid on the teat. The doe will thrash, try and kick, yell, etc. but make sure that kid stays on and gets a good nurse in. Once the kid has eaten, do the same with the other kid. Repeat the process as needed until the kid's tummy feels slightly rounded. It won't take much as this stage.

If they are too weak to suck, you need to move onto step 2. Milk out the colostrum. Expect a battle from the dam.Then, The kids need to be tubed a few ounces of colostrum directly into their stomach using a weak kid syringe. This is an essential part of ANY goat person's supply kit if kids are ever expected. If they can drink and suck on their own, then they won't need tubed. But if they can't, then they're too weak to eat on their own. Always kink the tube when removing it from the goat, or else the contents remaining in the tube will go into the kid's lungs.

If you haven't already, bring these weak kids into the house. If they haven't had a good meal, then they do not have the energy to keep up their body temperature in a cold environment. Their body temperature must be at least 100 degrees when they eat (so if they're cold, warm them up before feeding them, or else they won't be able to digest their food). Their mouths should feel warm, if you do not have a thermometer to check a rectal temperature.

It has been ten hours since your last past. I expect a lot has happened between now and then.


At the store you need to buy several things at least. A thermometer if you don't have one. Pritchard bottle nipples (red rubber with yellow screw ons), a few bottles of pop (those nipples screw onto pop bottles), milk if you cannot get the dam to milk (whole cows milk, do not use milk replacer at the farm store. It kills so many kids. Whole cows milk is so much less prone to causing uncontrollable scours and death). I am a little pressed for time, but will probably think of other things. But other folks will likely chime in.

You need to be careful about overfeeding which is just as deadly as underfeeding. Kids can overeat. When kids are too little, we want to push them to eat more sometimes. If you fill a huge bottle with milk, a kid will try and drink it all, even if it is too much for their tiny stomachs. So you will need to do some math and calculate how much they should be eating based on their current weight. This is how you make sure you don't overfeed them.

 

[H Diamond]

I need help with two baby goats that arrived way before we expected. We got a New goat that was exposed to a buck we were told. She was supposed to be due in May. We figured we had time to get her in better condition and prepare for kids. Well, the kids arrived this evening and are Very small and thin, the dam wants no part of them, she is 3 and never kidded before. It's cold and snowing off and on. One is trying to nurse but the dam is kicking her and laying down if we try to hold her to nurse them. The other doeling won't try.
She seems thin and cold. I don't even have supplies but can buy them in the morning. Can anyone give us any advice on saving these kids? What you feed and how much how often? If the dam wont take them can we raise them in a large dog crate with a heat lamp?
Any links you would recommend for raising rejected kids? Can I do anything to get the dam to stop kicking them? Thank you for any help you can offer. I hope they can make it until I get to the farm store. Advice of what to buy? We thought we had time to read and get ready. The dam didn't even look pregnant so we weren't sure she was even bred . This all happened so fast. I would appreciate any advice you have. I'm trying to care for the kids, get the dam to feed them and look for reading material on raising kids in case she won't accept them. I ordered some books but the kids arrived before the books. I hope there are some goat people here.

How are things going? Is there anything else we can help you with?

 

[Chickncrzylady]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. It's been crazy here with the kids and everything else I have going on. It's been a battle with the doe. We do manage to get her restrained for them to nurse. She has been very aggressive to them. I think because she is 3 and these are her first kids we were told. They don't want a bottle but restraining mom to nurse them is very difficult. The first night she kicked and stomped them. I thought the kids were just cold and weak, but I wonder if one is injured. I found a farm vet and have a call in there. My regular vet didn't know anything about goats. One doeling is standing hunched all of the time and very quiet, with her head down. I thought she would perk up when she was warmed and fed but she appears to be in pain. She had some poop stuck to her behind and we cleaned her off. I am getting them on to nurse as often as possible because they don't want the bottle. I read that if they start on the dam it's very hard. The hunched up doeling also has difficulty following mom to get some sips, but the other doeling can. She also appears to have a hard time laying down. Like she's stiff and sore. I don't know if the vet can do anything for her, but I hope so. Maybe she is internally injured or has a fracture.