[Bonnie Overcash]

Needing some advice. I have a 3 week old boer doeling that got trampled by mom this afternoon. Took her to the Vet. Her heart and lungs sound good and so far no sign of bleeding. Was given some pain medication to give her and feed only electrolytes for next 12 hours. I have the Durvet brand of electrolytes in an 8oz package. Directions say to mix 1/2 package to 55 gallons of water. Does anyone know now much to mix with a gallon of water? Also she can not go back with mom so she will be a bottle baby. Vet said it is extremely hard to get them on a bottle at this age. Any advise? Is there hope she will take the bottle?

 

[ksalvagno]

There is certainly a chance of her getting on the bottle. You just have to work at it. Part of it is letting her get hungry.

 

[Goats Rock]

1/16 of an ounce (1.77 grams) to 2 quarts of water. (Or a pinch to 2 quarts!) It might be easier to get goat electralytes at Tractor Supply. It is 2 scoops (come in the package) to 8 ounces of water. (check those directions).
But, your Durvet is fine, too.

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

So she is doing much better this morning and I have started her on cows milk. She has had one bottle of milk today. Now I have another question. Since she is 3 weeks old and has been on mom until yesterday how much should I feed her? When she is on mom she gets little sips each nursing and of course nurses all day. Based on age and weight she should be getting 12-16oz 3-4 times a day. Will I overfeed her by giving her that much each feeding?

 

[ksalvagno]

No. There is enough time between feedings to digest it. I like doing 4 times a day till they are about 7-8 weeks old. Then I start backing off bottles from 8-12 or 9-12 weeks.

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

No. There is enough time between feedings to digest it. I like doing 4 times a day till they are about 7-8 weeks old. Then I start backing off bottles from 8-12 or 9-12 weeks.

Thank you. Will cows milk cause constipation? She pooped a bunch last night. Little hard pellets of poop. We had her on electrolytes for 18 hours. Now she has had her second bottle of cows milk. I just want to make sure we do not need to add anything to the cows milk to help keep her going.

 

[SalteyLove]

Out of curiosity, why can't she be returned to dam-raised?

The stress of separation and switching to a bottle will hinder her healing.

I'm assuming the trampling was not intentional. She got caught up in a spar between adults or feeding time exciting?

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

No we do believe it was intentional. She stepped on her once during feeding and so I let that go. Then she was refusing to let her eat. I checked mom out real well to make sure no mastitis etc.. and she was fine. We let her go and just kept an eye on it but mom would not let her nurse. So we tied mom up to let her nurse and afterwards she was very aggressive towards baby. Got her down and stood on her. Stood on her hard enough that you could hear the air come out of her lungs. Mom was determined and we had a heck of a time getting mom off her. She has been a great mom these last three weeks and she raised twins last year. I am not sure why she turned suddenly but she wants nothing to do with baby. I can not trust that she will not do it again. I am worried about the separation stress but not sure what else to do.

 

[SalteyLove]

Oh dear! Okay now I understand. I hope the switch to bottle goes easily. Be sure she has water, hay, and grower pellets available as well once she is on the bottle successfully. Maybe when she is less sore she could be house with any other kids?

 

[Damfino]

I was just about to ask what happened as well. It's very unusual for a goat to suddenly turn on a kid after three weeks of care. I'm guessing this is the doe's only baby this year? I wonder if she's experiencing some kind of internal pain or having hormone problems. Did she cleanse properly? No uterine infection or anything like that going on? I know you checked for mastitis, but did you also feel the teats to make sure they're not chapped or sunburned? I had one doe with a pink udder who got sunburned in wintertime from sun reflecting off the snow and it made her very touchy about milking.

Keep a close eye on the doe and see if you start noticing anything off. Hanging around by herself, becoming more aggressive or more passive with her herd mates, eating less than usual, etc. could all point to some internal issue going on.

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

Oh dear! Okay now I understand. I hope the switch to bottle goes easily. Be sure she has water, hay, and grower pellets available as well once she is on the bottle successfully. Maybe when she is less sore she could be house with any other kids?

Yes we have another bottle baby that is one day older than her that she will be with as soon as I am sure she recovered.

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

I was just about to ask what happened as well. It's very unusual for a goat to suddenly turn on a kid after three weeks of care. I'm guessing this is the doe's only baby this year? I wonder if she's experiencing some kind of internal pain or having hormone problems. Did she cleanse properly? No uterine infection or anything like that going on? I know you checked for mastitis, but did you also feel the teats to make sure they're not chapped or sunburned? I had one doe with a pink udder who got sunburned in wintertime from sun reflecting off the snow and it made her very touchy about milking.

Keep a close eye on the doe and see if you start noticing anything off. Hanging around by herself, becoming more aggressive or more passive with her herd mates, eating less than usual, etc. could all point to some internal issue going on.

Thank you for the suggestions. She cleansed good after birth and no sign of infection that I can see. She is her normal self and eating good. Her utter and teats seem to be normal without signs of any sunburn or injury. I am puzzled by it as well. She did have twins. Her other baby struggled right after birth and ended up having to be tubed for 4 days before she started eating on her own. We tried to keep her with mom but she was just to weak and mom wanted nothing to do with her. I figured that was just because she was so weak and on deaths door. Mom had a way of knowing she would not make it and focused her efforts on the other little one. Maybe not. I am not sure. But sisters will now both be bottle babies. Since sister was started on milk and the bottle right away she has not had the shock to her system so to speak. I am concerned about the shock on this ones system switching suddenly and the separation. Just want to do all that I can to help her with the transition and recovery.

 

[ksalvagno]

Cow milk will not constipate them.

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

Unfortunatly our sweet little one did not make it. Not sure why she was doing so good all day. She was up moving and energetic, took to the bottle right away this morning and was drinking milk like a champ. Had three bottles 6 hours apart. Pooping and peeing. Went to feed her 11:30pm bottle and she stood but seemed a little weaker. Took her temp and it was right at 100. So moved her by the fire and she laid there liking her lips. She started crying and carried on for about 5 minutes but was not interested in the bottle. So I held her and calmed her down. Went to put her bottle up and let the dogs outside. Came back and she was gone. Just that quick. Not sure if maybe she had internal injuries from the incident with mom yesterday or what. Just hate losing these little ones.

 

[Tanya]

I am so sorry that you lost baby. Maybe her body was just to sore.

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm so sorry.

 

[toth boer goats]

I am so sorry.

 

[Damfino]

I'm so sorry she didn't make it.

 

[MadHouse]

Aww, that is sad. Sorry to hear that!

 

[Bonnie Overcash]

Thank you everyone. Sure hated to loose her but I think I did everything I could for her. Wish I knew why the sudden turn and downward spiral but also thankful if this had to be the end result, she went quick and did not suffer for a long period of time.