Kidding and the cold temperatures (pics added)

[Griffin's Ark]

A lot of people have started kidding now and we have a pretty nice cold snap here on the east coast. If you don't have a stomach tube for your kids take the time to order one from Jeffers ($2.85).

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=2&mscssid=44R544H3ARWU8MPS8LGP7SCW8TBDCHD3

My neighbor came and got me yesterday, because he was tired of losing kids to the cold and he had one he wanted me to look at. The kid was severly hypothermic (he didn't move the mercury to the first increment on the thermometer) he had no muscle control, but could wimper some. It looked exactly like Floppy Kid Syndrome. I milked some colostrum off of his dam, inserted the tube and gave him about two ounces. I then put him in my super duty down coat, brought him home and put him in 100 degree water in the kitchen sink (holding his head at all times). After about thirty minutes Tina took him and dried him with a blow drier and promptly took him to bed with her. Tina stayed up with him all night (till I got up at 4). He is now resting comfortably in a pet crate wrapped in a towel. He has not regained his suck reflex yet, but can swallow some.

The moral to the story is... If you are willing to go the extra mile and you have what you need for birthing and kidding there is no need to loose kids to the cold! This little guy by all rights should be dead. If you have goats and you let them have kids, make sure you have a stomach tube and don't be afraid to use it!

Chris

P.S. He is also getting Penne G x 1ml once a day for 3 days.

 

[cmjust0]

Good job!

I've never found one that hypothermic yet... I've found them dead, but never that far out on the brink. Worst I've seen was a little doeling who was starting to curl her head backward and having what seemed to be little seizures. My wife cuddled her up in a warm towel on a heating pad, in the bed, under the covers.. Took a few hours, but she started coming around enough that I got just a few ounces of milk into her with a bottle.. She zonked out again after that, so I let'er be.

In about three hours, she woke up...and I mean, she reeeeally woke up. All I heard was MA MA MA MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and couldn't get her a bottle fast enough.

I'd intended for her to go down the road with her mama...a throwaway, basically...but she's actually shaping up to be a half-decent little doeling now. Born to an 88% registered Boer and a fullblood Nubian. Not a bad little goat and, as you can imagine, she's quite attached to her human 'parents.'

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Glad you were able to help.

You should never tube a cold kid or lamb though. Their body won't digest the milk properly and it can cause problems. If you have a cold kid or lamb, you can inject glucose in the body cavity to help them warm up. Premier Supplies usually has directions for this in their catalogs, and you can probably find them online as well.

Here's a good chart for lambs though) that has great info about warming up a baby. It'd work for goats too.

Here's part of an article on goat world on kids:

The first order of business is to get that baby warm! Bring her into the house, and immerse her in warm, almost hot, water (all but the head, of course). Remember Moms normal temperature: you want to warm that kid back to "normal" (101.5 to 103). Do NOT attempt to feed it anything while warming! I realize its a normal "first reaction" to want to get colostrum into that kid, but right at this point that life-giving fluid could literally kill her. As she warms, she may start to shiver. This is normal, and simply means that some of her reflexes are returning. Keep her immersed until her body temperature is at least 100. Then dry her off (use a hair dryer on a low setting if necessary) and set her (sitting up if possible) in a warm, dry place, out of any drafts. We like to use a large box: put plastic, then a heating pad on "low", then more plastic (newborn kids pee a LOT) and finally towels or old tee shirts or other expendable warm cloth. Remember if you use a heating pad, this can quickly dehydrate a newborn, so watch fluids very carefully.

NOW, you can try to get some colostrum into her. If she can suck, use a Pritchard Teat (screw-on nipple that has a little flutter valve in it so the kid doesnt get too much liquid at a time, available in all catalogs and many local feed stores) on a clean plastic drink bottle. A gentle squeeze will drip some milk into her mouth, and she often will begin to suck, sometimes greedily. If she doesnt suck, youll have to "tube" her - but if you dont know how, now is not the time to learn. Instead, get an eyedropper and put milk into her mouth a few drops at a time, making sure you see her swallow before dropping any more. Its all too easy to send milk into the lungs (we used to call it "down the wrong pipe" when I was a youngster), thus setting the stage for pneumonia, another quick killer of newborns.

 

[cmjust0]

Glad you were able to help.

You should never tube a cold kid or lamb though. Their body won't digest the milk properly and it can cause problems. If you have a cold kid or lamb, you can inject glucose in the body cavity to help them warm up. Premier Supplies usually has directions for this in their catalogs, and you can probably find them online as well.

Interesting.. My books all talk about getting colostrum or something sugary into a comatose kid by tube, but I never really thought about the difference between a blood sugar coma and a hypothermic state.. Don't think the books really addressed the difference, either.

I'll have to read up on the subject a little more.

 

[Roll farms]

Yeah, it's always best to get 'em warm first...cold bellies and warm milk don't mix...and it doesn't take that long to warm them.

 

[freemotion]

Very useful thread! Hope I never need it....

 

[Griffin's Ark]

Great information from Aggie. Another addition to the knowledge bank! Rocky (as in the fighter) began to suck from a nipple good yesterday. I suspect the reason he did not have to much trouble with the couple of ounces of colostrum I tubed into him was because it was not warm by the time I got it in him. Anyway he has started following me around the house and is very vocal about food. He is a 50/50 Boer Kiko and the neighbor told me to keep him. Here are some pictures...

Getting Warm!

Getting Warmer!

Finally Standing!

 

[Roll farms]

Awwww, he looks just like the Boer x Kiko kids we had....congrats.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

So glad to hear he's doing well!!

 

[cmjust0]

He's got some shoulders on him, huh?