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Hypothermic and hypoglycemic baby goat

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Christiestuff 
#1 ·
Well, we had a good start to our kidding season with a set of quads from our Nigerian dwarf born in the middle of a tornado warning that were small but lively. They’re two weeks old now and this morning we woke up to the littlest practically dead. Cold and completely non-responsive. She was jumping around like normal yesterday and we set up heating lamps for all the babies last night because we had a cold snap, and she and her siblings and mom were settled under one last night.
We brought her in and used the hot water method to get her body temp back up. Hubby pretty much kept her breathing until she finally started doing it on her own. Her heartbeat was slow but never stopped. All day, she has slowly improved, somewhat. I was able to coax about an ounce of goat electrolytes mixed with sugar and nutridrench down her throat around noon, and another two ounces of milk since then. We brought her to the vet and he gave her Bo-Se and recommended tubing her, but as long as I can get her to take a bottle, I really would rather not. What do you guys think? She still isn’t standing, and is extremely lethargic, but is way more alert than she was. All I can really think is that maybe mom hasn’t been letting her nurse much and the cold just put her over the edge. I did go and reevaluate siblings and they’re all still strong and have full bellies, so maybe mom rejected this one and I just didn’t notice.
So all that to say I have basically two questions. One, if this is actually caused by her starving, how much should I feed her and how often? She’s 2.5 lbs right now, and googling tells me thats about 4 ounces a day but that seems way too little for a two week old baby. My other concern is brain damage. What should I be looking for? Is there a chance that she was cold for too long before we found her? She seems exhausted now, but could it be more than that? Vet checked her for coccidia and she’s clear. Not anemic either. She has pooped and peed today so her insides are working, I think. Any guidance is greatly appreciated. I’ve never had a baby go down like this.
 
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#3 ·
Quads are pretty impossible for mom to feed. More than likely she is starving to death. You will need to bottle feed. I bottle feed differently than most people so I don't remember the formula that is usually posted. All 4 kids should be weighed daily on a scale that weighs in pounds and ounces or pounds and tenths of pounds.

I weigh the kid and then feed in ounces what the kid weighs. So if the kid weighs 5 lbs, I feed 5 ounces per bottle. I've bottle fed alpacas and goats for over 20 years so I have the experience of knowing when the amount is too much or too little. You can tell when you have experience.
 
#4 ·
Quads are pretty impossible for mom to feed. More than likely she is starving to death. You will need to bottle feed. I bottle feed differently than most people so I don't remember the formula that is usually posted. All 4 kids should be weighed daily on a scale that weighs in pounds and ounces or pounds and tenths of pounds.

I weigh the kid and then feed in ounces what the kid weighs. So if the kid weighs 5 lbs, I feed 5 ounces per bottle. I've bottle fed alpacas and goats for over 20 years so I have the experience of knowing when the amount is too much or too little. You can tell when you have experience.
So should I try to get that much in her per feeding now, or wait until she’s more recovered? I don’t think her tummy will even hold 2.5 ounces. She still can’t stand, and gets tired of holding her head up after a few minutes. I’m worried about over feeding her or feeding her too fast since she’s apparently been starved.
 
#12 ·
Thanks everyone! Little one got up on her feet today and is almost normal. I pulled her next smallest sibling and brought her in the house and now have two bottle babies. I honestly cannot believe she is the same goat from yesterday morning- if my husband hadn’t taken her and listened for a heartbeat, I wouldn’t have even tried to save her. I thought she as dead.
 
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