As mentioned in my last post, we expected kids on the ground the first week of March. But if there's one thing I've learned from raising goats, it's to keep your eyes open and pay attention to the ladies. Abigail surprised us by kidding early in the morning on February 15.
Now, if you're counting goat pregnancy days, the absolute earliest we should have had any kids would have been February 25. Nostradamus was away clearing brush with the boys at Crooked Well Farm until September 29th, and when he came home, he immediately went in with the yearling does and Gracie also saw some action. Goat gestation is typically 145-150 days, so we were not expecting kids to show up until at least the 25th of February. However when I arrived home on the 14th, I saw Abby had lost her ligaments and her udder had filled considerably. Also out of the ordinary for her, the day before she had been slightly off her food, and extremely sensitive to any touch on her back.
We put our plan in place for premature kids and prepared to do night checks on Abby. When I went out at 3:00AM, feet were showing and Abby was laying in her stall. I helped her get the first kid out and rushed it into the house where warm water and kid support was waiting. The second kid was positioned awkwardly with one foot sticking out, but somehow crossed over behind its head. I had to assist more extensively with the second kid with Devin and our friend Jessie holding Abby, who was unwilling or unable to stand, up.
Both kids were rushed inside, and warmed and started by the fire. These babies definitely were not "done." Their teeth had not erupted and their white patches of hair easily showed the pink skin underneath. Both received colostrum and amazingly did not have to be tube fed. For babies at up to 10 days early, this was remarkable. While babies were stabilized in the house, I attended to mom in the barn. Except in extreme cases, with animals other than my own, I have never experienced a doe who would not stand up shortly after kidding. These cases were due to significant internal injury or prolonged labor due to a incorrectly presented kid. Abby's labor, while certainly not textbook, and not ideal with the early delivery of the kids, was far less traumatic than other births I've experienced. I decided that she just needed some time to recover and gave her some meds and went to bed.
When Abby was still down almost 24 hours after kidding, I became extremely concerned. I had put a call in to our vet already, asking whether the frozen antibiotic I had would still be viable (the answer was yes), so when she called back, we discussed Abby's progress. Dr Mailhot's opinion was that it sounded like a sciatic nerve injury, and that I could support her with continuing the antibiotics, some anti-inflammatory medication, B vitamin complex, a selenium boost, and calcium. This type of injury is uncommon, but can occur in goats, sheep or cows during labor and delivery. I had already started Abby on calcium gluconate prior to any delivery, and continued it for several days post kidding, as well as banamine (an NSAID) and naxel (an antibiotic). Her lack of rapid response to any of the supportive therapy caused me to rule out hypocalcemia, selenium deficiency, or pregnancy toxemia, and her slow progress has inclined me to agree that this was a nervous injury. Devin built Abby a sling and pulley system to help support her during milking. She has continued to make progress. At eight days post kidding, this morning, she was able to stand on her own for several seconds after being helped up by me and Devin. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve steadily. She seems to be getting frustrated now, with her inability to ambulate, and is trying much more to get up and about. I have heard from other goat owners that this can happen, and the doe can go on to kid without any issues in the future. This certainly gives us additional hope for Abby.
Of the two doe kids, one is still with us. We lost one at around 24 hours old. I am still having a very hard time with this loss because I feel like I could have prevented it. With premature goat kids, often the largest concern is that their lungs are not developed enough, and they expire quickly. A shot of dexamethasone is typically given to try to help boost the lungs. Both babies goat a shot of dex as soon as they were in the house. Both were kept by the woodstove and warmed with warm water baths and hot water bottles. Both had drinks of colostrum. When I woke up on Thursday morning, Devin checked the kids and told me we had lost one. While at work on Friday, I got a call that the second kid had also almost gone as well. Her body temperature had dropped and her heartbeat and breathing had become erratic. Devin revived her with a warm water bath and a boost of epinephrin and dexamethasone. I can't even begin to say how proud I am of Devin for making fast decisions that kept this little girl with us.
This experience, while stressful, has certainly been a learning experience. Either Abby's kidding injury, or early kids would be a stressful enough situation, but both combined into one event has made for a crazy past week.
If I had to give advice for goat owners on how to deal with premie kids, it would go something like this:
Get them in the house as quickly as possible. Give them 0.25mL of dexamethasone to start. (This is what I gave these kids, even though it turned out their lungs weren't the most difficult thing about them.) If you are in a place where they are fading, and it can happen fast and unexpectedly, it could be better to give them a little more up to 0.5mL. Get them into a warm water bath at around 103°F to get their body temps up. Keep them in a warm place. If they are not suckling, tube feed them a small amount of colostrum. Continue to feed small amounts of food frequently, whether by bottle, or by feeding tube. Keep them warm. Constantly monitor their temperature. I think this is why we lost the first baby and came close to losing the second. They are unable to thermoregulate, and need help. The best way to do this is to keep them on your body at all times. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but with a heating pad, you have to worry about overheating, and with a hot water bottle, it eventually loses its helpfulness and actually can draw heat away from the baby. Put a diaper on them and put them in bed with you. Make sure the babies pass their meconium. Be careful not to overfeed. Have CD antitoxin on hand, and don't hesitate to give it, it won't hurt anything. If you have a chance, knit some goat sweaters well ahead of time.
I write this for myself, and with the hope that it may also help someone else in the future. As I said, I am still very sad about the loss of the second doe, thinking that I could have done something to help her had I been there minutes earlier.
We have the survivor in the house still. I always say no more house goats, and we always end up with kids in the house for one reason or another it seems! Gracie and the other yearlings are due to start kidding this coming week, so we will have little Clove join the other new babies in the barn when they come.
PS. Since we've had to decide on our naming convention early, we've decided on herbs and spices.
Now, if you're counting goat pregnancy days, the absolute earliest we should have had any kids would have been February 25. Nostradamus was away clearing brush with the boys at Crooked Well Farm until September 29th, and when he came home, he immediately went in with the yearling does and Gracie also saw some action. Goat gestation is typically 145-150 days, so we were not expecting kids to show up until at least the 25th of February. However when I arrived home on the 14th, I saw Abby had lost her ligaments and her udder had filled considerably. Also out of the ordinary for her, the day before she had been slightly off her food, and extremely sensitive to any touch on her back.
We put our plan in place for premature kids and prepared to do night checks on Abby. When I went out at 3:00AM, feet were showing and Abby was laying in her stall. I helped her get the first kid out and rushed it into the house where warm water and kid support was waiting. The second kid was positioned awkwardly with one foot sticking out, but somehow crossed over behind its head. I had to assist more extensively with the second kid with Devin and our friend Jessie holding Abby, who was unwilling or unable to stand, up.
Both kids were rushed inside, and warmed and started by the fire. These babies definitely were not "done." Their teeth had not erupted and their white patches of hair easily showed the pink skin underneath. Both received colostrum and amazingly did not have to be tube fed. For babies at up to 10 days early, this was remarkable. While babies were stabilized in the house, I attended to mom in the barn. Except in extreme cases, with animals other than my own, I have never experienced a doe who would not stand up shortly after kidding. These cases were due to significant internal injury or prolonged labor due to a incorrectly presented kid. Abby's labor, while certainly not textbook, and not ideal with the early delivery of the kids, was far less traumatic than other births I've experienced. I decided that she just needed some time to recover and gave her some meds and went to bed.
When Abby was still down almost 24 hours after kidding, I became extremely concerned. I had put a call in to our vet already, asking whether the frozen antibiotic I had would still be viable (the answer was yes), so when she called back, we discussed Abby's progress. Dr Mailhot's opinion was that it sounded like a sciatic nerve injury, and that I could support her with continuing the antibiotics, some anti-inflammatory medication, B vitamin complex, a selenium boost, and calcium. This type of injury is uncommon, but can occur in goats, sheep or cows during labor and delivery. I had already started Abby on calcium gluconate prior to any delivery, and continued it for several days post kidding, as well as banamine (an NSAID) and naxel (an antibiotic). Her lack of rapid response to any of the supportive therapy caused me to rule out hypocalcemia, selenium deficiency, or pregnancy toxemia, and her slow progress has inclined me to agree that this was a nervous injury. Devin built Abby a sling and pulley system to help support her during milking. She has continued to make progress. At eight days post kidding, this morning, she was able to stand on her own for several seconds after being helped up by me and Devin. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve steadily. She seems to be getting frustrated now, with her inability to ambulate, and is trying much more to get up and about. I have heard from other goat owners that this can happen, and the doe can go on to kid without any issues in the future. This certainly gives us additional hope for Abby.
Of the two doe kids, one is still with us. We lost one at around 24 hours old. I am still having a very hard time with this loss because I feel like I could have prevented it. With premature goat kids, often the largest concern is that their lungs are not developed enough, and they expire quickly. A shot of dexamethasone is typically given to try to help boost the lungs. Both babies goat a shot of dex as soon as they were in the house. Both were kept by the woodstove and warmed with warm water baths and hot water bottles. Both had drinks of colostrum. When I woke up on Thursday morning, Devin checked the kids and told me we had lost one. While at work on Friday, I got a call that the second kid had also almost gone as well. Her body temperature had dropped and her heartbeat and breathing had become erratic. Devin revived her with a warm water bath and a boost of epinephrin and dexamethasone. I can't even begin to say how proud I am of Devin for making fast decisions that kept this little girl with us.
This experience, while stressful, has certainly been a learning experience. Either Abby's kidding injury, or early kids would be a stressful enough situation, but both combined into one event has made for a crazy past week.
If I had to give advice for goat owners on how to deal with premie kids, it would go something like this:
Get them in the house as quickly as possible. Give them 0.25mL of dexamethasone to start. (This is what I gave these kids, even though it turned out their lungs weren't the most difficult thing about them.) If you are in a place where they are fading, and it can happen fast and unexpectedly, it could be better to give them a little more up to 0.5mL. Get them into a warm water bath at around 103°F to get their body temps up. Keep them in a warm place. If they are not suckling, tube feed them a small amount of colostrum. Continue to feed small amounts of food frequently, whether by bottle, or by feeding tube. Keep them warm. Constantly monitor their temperature. I think this is why we lost the first baby and came close to losing the second. They are unable to thermoregulate, and need help. The best way to do this is to keep them on your body at all times. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but with a heating pad, you have to worry about overheating, and with a hot water bottle, it eventually loses its helpfulness and actually can draw heat away from the baby. Put a diaper on them and put them in bed with you. Make sure the babies pass their meconium. Be careful not to overfeed. Have CD antitoxin on hand, and don't hesitate to give it, it won't hurt anything. If you have a chance, knit some goat sweaters well ahead of time.
I write this for myself, and with the hope that it may also help someone else in the future. As I said, I am still very sad about the loss of the second doe, thinking that I could have done something to help her had I been there minutes earlier.
We have the survivor in the house still. I always say no more house goats, and we always end up with kids in the house for one reason or another it seems! Gracie and the other yearlings are due to start kidding this coming week, so we will have little Clove join the other new babies in the barn when they come.
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| Clove and Satchmo. |