Kid with weak legs

[Critter]

I have a boer who kidded yesterday to a couple of small kids with weak legs. The smaller one found it's feet after a few hours but the bigger one is still having trouble getting them under her. I got her up to nurse every two hours overnight and she is getting stronger but I headed to the store this morning first thing for some selenium and vitamin E gel. Neither of our feed stores have that. One has a B complex gel, or they have jump-start plus. I also have replamin plus and probios at home. Which would be best to give her? I don't have a vet to get Bose from.

 

[Latestarter]

You should be able to order the selenium and vitamin E gel online but it won't get there for a few days. Can't your farm store order it in for you?

Is it that you don't have a vet, can't afford a vet, don't want to use a vet? I mean there may come a time when you'll need vet assistance and it might be good to at least start to form a working relation with one for down the road.

Grats on the new kids. Hope they come around and do well for you. Can you share some pics of them?

 

[Critter]

It is mostly that we haven't formed a relationship with a vet yet and my husband doesn't really want to pay for one/get one involved. He'd rather just let them die than pay extra it seems like.

I went ahead and ordered the gel. Is there anything I should be doing in the meantime? She's very eager to nurse and can stay up herself pretty well once I help her out, those back legs just want to splay backward and she can't really pull them back under her yet.

 

[Latestarter]

I'd recommend splinting them in the right "direction" to put less pressure on the joints and let them tighten up a bit. As long as she's trying and eating, it's a good thing.

 

[Critter]

I ended up putting a wrap on one leg to protect it because she was making a sore on the inside of the joint from dragging it, I tried to splint it but couldn't get it to stay in the right position. She is able to get up now and is using the other leg normally so I've just been going out as often as I can and standing her up on it in the correct position and making sure when she's laying down she's keeping it up under her as well. She's a feisty little thing and gets so frustrated when her legs won't cooperate!

 

[Critter]

Here is a picture of little Violet.

 

[Critter]

Yesterday afternoon I found a blog post where someone had made a harness out of rubber bands to help keep forward tension on a leg like Violet's so I whipped one up for her, but only left it on for a couple of hours before I took it off for the night. This morning she's walking around like a perfectly normal kid!

 

[dejavoodoo114]

That's great news!