New Buckling Has Issues - NEED HELP

[Broke Down Ranch]

So we got my new baby yesterday. He is 7 days old and has been a bottle baby since the day he hit the ground. Yesterday when we picked him up he was trying to eat everything and was very lively. When we got home 2 1/2 hours later he was wobbly (perhaps carsick?) and pee'd a river. And has slowly gone downhill. He has refused my every aatempt to feed him. He wants attention but is almost like a little limp rag and he is sleeping a lot.

ANY suggestions? I know he may be depressed and missing his "mom" but I brought his personal nipple home and am trying to feed like they did but all to no avail. What can I do to pull him out of this funk?

 

[Goattalker]

You have to force feed him to keep him alive. Everyone holds the bottle differently and has a different technique, until he learns yours and associates food with the pleasure of attention, he will be a challenge.

 

[helmstead]

I agree - force feed him to get his energy up. If you can't get the bottle forced into his mouth and make him swallow...use a luer tip syringe and squirt into the corner of his mouth bit by bit, making sure he swallows each time.

You also might consider a B Complex shot to boost his energy.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Skyesrocket]

Sorry to be suspicous, but did you see them feed him? It sounds like he was fine when he left there....hmm
Did they have him inside or outside? Are you doing the same? Did you change what he was eating?
I would give him some b-12 gel too. Like Helmstead said. You can pick it up at tractor supply or a feed store.
It's not like a goat to go off of feed...they are always hungry. It could be that he is worn out, or scared. Do you have a goat he can buddy with?
Anyway, B-12 gel and probios if his poop gets runny. Actually you can give him probios as a preventitive. It's just beneficial bacteria for the belly. Not like an antibiotic. And keep liquids in him. (already mentioned)
Good Luck.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

You may also want to try giving him some drench. It is a high energy solution of molasses and vitamins. They have it for goat or sheep either one will work. The bottle has dosing instructions. It has a hand pump in the bottle. When we were breeding pygmy's I gave every kid drench when they were born and normally in about 30 -45 minutes you could see a difference in them.
Good luck Rob

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Quote:
They kept him inside and I am doing the same. They were feeding goat-milk and so am I. No, they did not actually feed him in front of me but he sure seemed eager (like every goat baby). All of my baby goats are almost twice his size. I think it is a matter of being too tired and me being a new person. I have been forcing the nipple in the side of his mouth so he chews at it and I was able to get almost 1/4 cup down him just a bit ago. I am trying to do this every couple of hours to try and keep him hydrated. As of yet, this last attempt was the most I was able to get down him. And so far he has not pooped anything. I don't know that he has eaten enough in the past 24 hours to have a need to poop. If it is a matter of being constipated what can I do?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I will see if I can get my hands on some drench and priobios and b-complex's.

 

[griffin45]

Did your new kid get an ear tag by chance? If he did give him a Tetanus antitoxin shot followed by a CD&T. We got 3 bucklings not so long ago and had no information on them. They had scrapie tags in their ears though. Government issued scrapie tags are bad! Bad! Bad! Anyway I would give the kid an antitoxin shot no matter what. Ours went through the not eating stage several times each, they have been completely new kids since getting their antitoxin.

Chris

 

[countryboy88]

I had the some thing happen to of my goats before. Lively one day and limp rag the next. It ended up being a problem in his neck.


Vet said to give him Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate. It is a steroid. Give the little guy 3cc for at least 1 week if it doesn't work give him some more about 1 cc everyday. We had to do this for a month. Also give him some Nutri-Drench for goats ( www.jefferslivestock.com ) and follow the instructions on the bottle.

You may have to get the steroid from your vet.

He recovered fully and is one of our bigger males we have ever had.

I hope this help you and your little guy out.