Pygmy Kid - Born in snow and very cold/weak

[smoknz28]

Ack!

Well, we are still new to goats and have a kid who was just born hours ago. We don't know exactly when, but when we went out to feed our animals, we found the kid laying in the melting snow barely breathing laying on its side.

We quickly picked it up and brought it indoors. We've dried it off the best we can at this point and have it wrapped in a warm towel next to the fireplace. Every now and then it opens its eyes and is breathing.

Currently has between 40-45 respirations per minute. I don't now where it should be.

Looking for some quick recommendation and pointers here so we can keep this kid alive.

The Doe is a first time mom as well.

 

[Latestarter]

@frustratedearthmother @Southern by choice @Goat Whisperer @babsbag First thing I think is to get him warmed up, you may even have to run a warm bath and immerse him to get that temp up as quickly as possible. Sitting him by the fire in a towel might take too long. How is mom doing? Has she passed the placenta? Is there another kid laying outside anywhere? If you can get him warmed up enough to take him back out to the mom and try to get him attached to the nipple that would be good, if not, you could milk colostrum out of the mom and bottle feed him. Don't feed him if he's cold, he has to be warm to be able to digest the milk. Hope he makes it.

 

[smoknz28]

Thank you for the quick response...

We have the kid wrapped up in a fresh warm towel now and I'm going to head back outside to check on mom and to prepare the bedding.

Mom seems to be doing good from what I can see before heading back outside... More to come.

Thank you again!

 

[Southern by choice]

One way to see if he is warming is by sticking your finger in his mouth... is it cold? warm?

@Latestarter has told you pretty much what you need to do.

 

[smoknz28]

Update...

Mom is doing very well. Yes, she did pass the placenta.

Baby is still not up and walking around yet and is weak. We did not put the baby in warm water, but rather we are alternating warm towels out of the dryer about every 20 minutes. So far, it's body is feeling warm, but the legs are still cold to the touch. Its head is warm as well. We were most worried about the body and it's head. Still trying to warm it's legs up.

Every now and then it will open it's eyes and we have seen it move the front legs....but not very often. We are trying not to bother it too much as we don't want it to use up too much of its energy.

How long will it be okay for the kid to not drink it's mom's colostrum? Just don't know how much longer it will take before it comes around to being strong enough to stand or to drink.

Any further thoughts are very welcome.

 

[TAH]

Has the baby had any colostrum?

 

[smoknz28]

Has the baby had any colostrum?

No, it's been too cold and weak to move around on it's own.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

When dealing with a hypothermic goat kid, the first thing I would do is take their temp so you know how high their temp needs to be raised.

Do the warm water bath NOW. Use a trash bag and wrap his body up until his head is sticking out of the bag and emerge him into the water. DO NOT give colostrum to a chilled kid! They must be warm FIRST! That way the kid will be mostly dry when you pull him out of the water.

Once you take him out of the water bath start to blow dry the kid using a normal hair dryer on low setting. Rub the kid all over the body! Keep that blood flowing.

Start him on some warm karo (corn) syrup to give him a boost, if you can get him to swallow it.

You need to get this kid warmed NOW because he should have had colostrum hours ago, but like I said he needs to be warm first!

When he is out of the bath can you put him on a heating pad? To you have any HOT-HAND hand warmers? If you do, wrap it in a cloth and put in between his rear legs.

This is a good link to read, if you haven't already.
http://goat-link.com/content/view/27/77/#.VsOAMvIrK1s

Warming a kid to fast can make him have convulsions, so don't make the water burning hot!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Anyone else feel free to add anything to my post, I'm just thinking of the basics to save this kid NOW.

 

[smoknz28]

Great info!

Update... As we were wrapping baby in the trash bags...it did try to cry once. We also noticed she pooped just a bit.

These seem like good signs....

She's now in the sink with warm water and her eyes are opening every now and then.