Newborn Doeling Help Please - Pics Added

sweetshoplady

Songster
11 Years
Feb 4, 2008
1,602
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Venice, Florida
Yesterday, Cleo gave birth to one doeling. She seems to like the kid, She was clean and dry when I discovered them. The mama has kidded before but the babies have always beeen taken away, so she's never nursed or raised one. The baby seems to be having a hard time finding the milk spout and when she gets near the mamas udders she kind of kicks her away, yet other than that she is kind to the baby.

Do I need to bottle feed? How much does or should a 12 hour baby eat? If theres any more babies, how long in between?
 
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You need to milk that doe out immediately and get colostrum into that baby. She's only able to absorb the antibodies for 24 hours after birth.
 
you need to catch that doe, keep her in a small pen and force her to accept the baby. hold her still, tie her up if necessary.

if baby is weak and/or dumb, you will need to put her onto the udder, force the teat into her mouth, and may even need to squirt milk into her mouth if necessary

if baby is very weak, you may need to milk the doe into a bottle, and bottle feed her, or use a syringe, or even a stomach tube if she is really weak

by 12 hrs she should have had at least 6 small feeds by now. you need to get some food into this baby now or you will rapidly run out of time. if mum is a dairy breed she also needs to be emptied otherwise you are going to have problems with both mum and baby

if the doe was going to have more kids, she would have had them by now, they are usually 5 - 30 mins apart. if she does still have more kids in there you would have a very sick goat by now. she would be depressed, lethargic, may be standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down etc, and may or may not be pushing

did she drop the placenta when she kidded yesterday?

now the kid, are her sides hollow? or is her belly rounded. if its rounded she has had a drink when you werent watching. if its hollow she's starving. does she constantly cry out? if so, she's hungry. or does she seem content and spend a lot of time sleeping, tucked up in a warm spot? if thats the case she has probably had a feed

I dont pull to bottle feed unless I have to; I force the does to accept their kids by tying them up for the baby to suckle, teach them their responsibility
 
The kid needs to nurse ASAP, even if you have to hold mama down to get her to eat. Her udders may be a little sore and after the kid relieves some of the pressure from the milk, she'll probably allow the kid to nurse more later. Just keep a eye out on them to make sure.
 
Thanks so much. Mama and baby were put into a small pen last night. After getting Kinnips advice, I just went out and milked out the mama and put the milk in a bowl as I went along. My mom gave the bowl of milk to the baby who promptly lapped it up. We gave her what she'd drink. We put the rest of the milk in a jar in the fridge. So I can use it later to feed if I need to.

When I found them, the baby was clean and dry. There was some wierd goopy stuff around Mama's hindquarters this morning that wasn't there last night. The mama seems fine, she walked right to the milk stand and right back.

The baby most of the time is laying down in a warm spot. Quiet for the most part, but she seemed hungry. I'm hoping that she will be fine. When she does cry out, the mama does go over to her.

How often do I need to give her milk? I am really hoping that mama will let her nurse. I'm charging my phone, and will have pictures up shortly.

Thanks again for all the help. It is most appreciated.
 
Momma will continue to drain birthing fluids for a couple of weeks. Totally normal. I would hold the mom and try to get the baby to nurse. Much easier to have the mom raise baby than to bottle feed. Babies fed on demand tend to grow better. Also treat the navel of the baby with Iodine or novalsan asap. Good luck!

Baby needs to eat every 4-6 hours for a couple of weeks. Then gradually reduce the # of feedings and increase the amount fed at each feeding until they are eating 2-3 times a day. That needs to be continued for a minimum of 6 and preferrably 8 weeks.
 
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I would immediately milk the doe and bottle feed it to the baby. If you want to keep this doeling as a friendly milk goat, you need to bottle feed her. It is a lot of work, but worth the effort. Bottle fed babies make the best pets and milking goats because they imprint to humans and are use to being handled.
If you just throw goats into a lot as weed eaters or meat then you can keep them on their Momma. But if you want milking goats, you should bottle feed.
 
Be sure the mama isn't just keeping the baby from eating to much. Some babies can be piggies and get poops from too much milk if mom really has a lot.!!
 
Here she is:

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Her mama:

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I went to where her mama had given birth to see if I could find the placenta. And saw an alligator and think that it is possible that the alligator may have eaten the placenta and possibly another kid. The gator was too small to eat an adult, but the little baby goatie is another story. This baby was not large. As one would expect (or I would have) had this been the only one. The alligator was where I saw the mama standing yesterday when I heard the wee one call out. which was about 10 feet from the baby. Cleo surprised me by being the first to deliver as the others looked more "ready" to me.
 
After I got that milk to the baby, after she had a nice nap, she seemed a lot better. Didn't seem so thin. Had a little more energy.

Y'all are great! Thanks so very much.
 

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