Prep Genrl Goat Babies update, it doesn't look like they are going to make it, sad

nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
We have two new goat babies, born this afternoon. We have two billy goats (two years old), one is black and white and the other is blonde and white. The two new babies look like both of them, one black and white and blonde and white. Both males, darn, we need more females. We do have three more females, and not sure if either are prego. Although they all got boinked. We'll see. Precious babies.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
There is nothing cuter than a baby goat and I agree, we need pictures.

I miss having them but not the bottle feeding. There was always one or two of the does that wouldn't let their babies nurse. Still, if I ever retire, I'm getting back into the goat biz. I never got sick once the whole time we were drinking goat's milk.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
nomifyle said:
We have two new goat babies, born this afternoon. We have two billy goats (two years old), one is black and white and the other is blonde and white. The two new babies look like both of them, one black and white and blonde and white. Both males, darn, we need more females. We do have three more females, and not sure if either are prego. Although they all got boinked. We'll see. Precious babies.
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Is the mama letting them nurse? They really need that first colostrum pretty quick to make it but after that, you can raise a perfectly healthy baby on whole cow's milk from the grocery store but it will get pricey unless you can milk mama every day..

We've had to hobble a new first time mama to the milk stand to milk her but it can be done to get the good stuff in the baby. Tractor supply should have the red and yellow nipples...can't remember what they are called but they will fit any plastic coke/pop bottle.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Wildwood said:
Is the mama letting them nurse? They really need that first colostrum pretty quick to make it but after that, you can raise a perfectly healthy baby on whole cow's milk from the grocery store but it will get pricey unless you can milk mama every day..

We've had to hobble a new first time mama to the milk stand to milk her but it can be done to get the good stuff in the baby. Tractor supply should have the red and yellow nipples...can't remember what they are called but they will fit any plastic coke/pop bottle.
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Yeah, that first colostrum is vital. We still keep a gallon of frozen colostrum in the freezer, even though with only 3 adult cows, we haven't needed it. When we had 60-70 calves a year, there were always a couple whose mothers didn’t produce enough high quality colostrum in the vital first 12 hours. They lose the ability to absorb the antibodies very quickly. So, having some frozen (always from a healthy older cow who had been around long enough to have been exposed to multiple nasties) was a literal lifesaver.

When the Miracle calf was born 7 weeks early, I had to use a baby bottle and nipple to get the 12 ounces she needed into her... normally, on one that weak, I would have used a stomach tube, but we didn't have anything nearly small enough! She could only suck for a few seconds at a time at first, before getting too exhausted, so I spent several hours the first day feeding her. But it worked!

Summerthyme
 
West

West

Senior
You can buy colostrum from most farm and gardens. We buy whole fresh cow milk that hasn't been pasteurized from our naighbors. We have successfully used the combo to save a couple kids.

However once you bottle feed a goat kid, they will become a pet like a dog kid. No fear of anything and will even try to start barking like a dog, if you have dogs like we do.

Even our Greatdane considers the baby goat kid his and the kid thinks the Dane his father, and our LGD female the mother.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Yeah, that first colostrum is vital. We still keep a gallon of frozen colostrum in the freezer, even though with only 3 adult cows, we haven't needed it. When we had 60-70 calves a year, there were always a couple whose mothers didn’t produce enough high quality colostrum in the vital first 12 hours. They lose the ability to absorb the antibodies very quickly. So, having some frozen (always from a healthy older cow who had been around long enough to have been exposed to multiple nasties) was a literal lifesaver.

When the Miracle calf was born 7 weeks early, I had to use a baby bottle and nipple to get the 12 ounces she needed into her... normally, on one that weak, I would have used a stomach tube, but we didn't have anything nearly small enough! She could only suck for a few seconds at a time at first, before getting too exhausted, so I spent several hours the first day feeding her. But it worked!

Summerthyme
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There's nothing that scares me more than having to tube a baby but it's always life or death so there is no choice. I never killed one...by God's grace.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Wildwood said:
There's nothing that scares me more than having to tube a baby but it's always life or death so there is no choice. I never killed one...by God's grace.
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Yeah...

Hubby once tubed a nice heifer calf who simply never developed a suck reflex. She was probably about 2 weeks old at the time. He ran 2 quarts of milk in... directly into her lungs! She dropped like a rock.

He grabbed her by the back legs and hung her upside down on the roof of the calf hutch, and frantically pumped on her chest. The milk ran out.

She looked pretty rough a few minutes later when he ran in to get me, and I figured she had 100% chance of dying of chemical pneumonia. I gave her steroids and antibiotics immediately. She never did learn to nurse.. we had to tube her twice a day until she was about 5 weeks old, when she learned how to drink from a pail! But she never showed the slightest I'll effects from yhe lung full of milk!

Judy, some little ones just arent born able to survive. If the mother shows no interest, it may be because she somehow "knows" something isn't right. Sometimes, giving them a few ccs at a time with a syringe on the back of their tongue several times a day can help them turn the corner, but if not... well, it happens. Give your hubby a hug... you've gotba good man there.

Summerthyme
 
West

West

Senior
Also since it's the nannies first born, sometimes their instincts don't kick in on the first born.

We will usually take the new nannies that are not good mothers to the goat sale, especially if they are bad mothers the second kidding.

This season two new mothers out of 8 new moms where bad moms. One abandoned both her kids and they both died. The other new mom rejected two of the three she had.

My step son saved one of the rejected. He's on my couch feeding him right now. Uhg...
 
Babs

Babs

Veteran Member
Can you get your doe up onto the stanchion with some grain and bring the kids to her on the stanchion?
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Yeah...

Hubby once tubed a nice heifer calf who simply never developed a suck reflex. She was probably about 2 weeks old at the time. He ran 2 quarts of milk in... directly into her lungs! She dropped like a rock.

He grabbed her by the back legs and hung her upside down on the roof of the calf hutch, and frantically pumped on her chest. The milk ran out.

She looked pretty rough a few minutes later when he ran in to get me, and I figured she had 100% chance of dying of chemical pneumonia. I gave her steroids and antibiotics immediately. She never did learn to nurse.. we had to tube her twice a day until she was about 5 weeks old, when she learned how to drink from a pail! But she never showed the slightest I'll effects from yhe lung full of milk!

Judy, some little ones just arent born able to survive. If the mother shows no interest, it may be because she somehow "knows" something isn't right. Sometimes, giving them a few ccs at a time with a syringe on the back of their tongue several times a day can help them turn the corner, but if not... well, it happens. Give your hubby a hug... you've gotba good man there.

Summerthyme
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OMG, only you could save that calf! Early on somebody told me to put the end of the tube in a cup of water once you got it down. Supposedly, if it's in the lung, you will get bubbles in the water. It may or may not have worked. I never got bubbles but expect tubing a kid is probably a good bit easier than tubing a calf.

Judy, I agree with what Summer said...give DH a hug! He did good.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
nomifyle said:
We have two new goat babies, born this afternoon. We have two billy goats (two years old), one is black and white and the other is blonde and white. The two new babies look like both of them, one black and white and blonde and white. Both males, darn, we need more females. We do have three more females, and not sure if either are prego. Although they all got boinked. We'll see. Precious babies.
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Judy, one more thing...you and DH be extra careful trying to work with those babies. I'd hate to see one of you get hurt trying to save them. With all y'all have been through with the covid stuff, I wouldn't take a chance on getting out there and falling. I know I'm not quite as agile as I was before I got a bad case. I'm hoping to eventually be back to normal but some days I think I'm going backwards.
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Wildwood said:
Judy, one more thing...you and DH be extra careful trying to work with those babies. I'd hate to see one of you get hurt trying to save them. With all y'all have been through with the covid stuff, I wouldn't take a chance on getting out there and falling. I know I'm not quite as agile as I was before I got a bad case. I'm hoping to eventually be back to normal but some days I think I'm going backwards.
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We're good, DH is very experienced with things like this, he's an old farmer at heart. Thank you for your considerations. The poor babies never could even try to stand up.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
nomifyle said:
We're good, DH is very experienced with things like this, he's an old farmer at heart. Thank you for your considerations. The poor babies never could even try to stand up.
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That just happens with goats sometimes. My girls were the worst about nursing their babies and taking care of them. A lot of people pull babies as soon as they are born because they prefer to bottle feed for one reason or another. That's what the farm did that I bought my first goats from so they'd never raised their own babies. They eventually got pretty good at it though but we had to bottle feed a lot of babies until they did...we were about 15 years younger then.

I'm so sorry y'all are having to go through that. They are so sweet, it's hard to lose them.
 
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