Difficult kidding... Now not much milk... Why?

[TheNewMrsEvans]

My friend's Nubian doe went into labor early. She has been huge and already bagged up well ahead. This is her second time, but they bought her just after freshening, without her kids last year. She has a horrible shaped udder but was easy to milk, so they bred her.
So she was laying down, pushing every 10 min or so, but no progress. Morning of the third day, we called out my vet....she said labor wasn't really active, but felt around and found a butt...so she repositioned the kid and then the doe started pushing! Out he came, but breathed only a few times and passed, darn. The next kid came and she helped because the doe was tired... Long story short there were quads! Lost the backwards boy, but are left with two more boys and a girl...wow. They are just learning about raising goats right, and I'm trying to help out. So during pregnancy they didn't give her minerals or any other supplements. When she called me to come look at her I brought sel/E gel and loose goat mineral, I drenched her with Ca gluconate to help with contractions/possible milk fever. She made it through ok, the vet gave her antibiotics and bovisera for a boost. She went off water for a day, but is now eating and drinking well. She had tons of milk in her udder when she kidded, so the kids got colostrum. Her teats are so big that we started bottling the kids, but still trying to get them on her. Now she isnt producing much and they are getting most of their milk from bottles from my milking doe. The kids are not 100% either. They took a whole day to stand, their joints are weak? The first joint, like the ankle rolls over and they lose balance. We gave bovisera, and sel/e gel on day two per the vet. They are showing progress, but I'm still worried.
Any suggestions on increasing the doe's milk or helping these kids would be appreciated....

 

[Ariel301]

As for the kids being wobbly, it should clear up in a few days. It is almost always caused by selenium deficiency and/or being too cramped before birth, I am guessing you've got some of both since there's quads and the doe didn't get any selenium before kidding. Since you are using the gel instead of the injectable, it isn't as potent, so you might try giving the kids a little every day until they straighten up. Work with them a few times a day, helping them to stretch their legs out and stand and walk around. I had a buckling born this year that walked on his knuckles for almost a week, but now he's 9 weeks old and bouncing around getting into things like he should be.

 

[20kidsonhill]

WEak joint and legs are a definate selenium deficiency, but my guess is that isn't the only problem going on.

Bo-Se injectable works 100x better than the se-gel, but the gel is better than nothing.

I think with regular bottle feeding the kids will get a lot stronger by day 3 or 4.

As far as the doe, is she eating hay? Up walking around pretty well?

They are lucky to have someone like you to help them.

 

[ksalvagno]

Is the doe still weak? How is she eating? Are they trying to milk her twice a day? Did she pass her placenta and everything ok? Pain could also be an issue with the milk, if she is still in a lot of pain.