Junie has always been the problem child. When she was born we only had a few days with her before we had to go on a trip to Kansas. As a result, she is completely wild and scared to death of us. It's almost impossible to catch her unless we sneak up on her while she's eating. Even then, it's tough.
So, wouldn't you know she would give birth on the one of the worst weather nights we've had! Last night it POURED as a frontal system came through. The temps dropped from the 60's down to the low 30's. Rumor is it even snowed a little.
So I came out this morning to find one very cold and wet little buck and one even colder (dead) little buck. I dried the little guy off and put some betadine on his umbilical. Naturally, June was traumatized that I was within 10 feet of her and took off. I decided to back off and try to let nature take it's course.
I learned a lot about goats today. It was touch and go all day long and the new guy seemed very weak. The day finally warmed into the 50's. We set the new baby in the sun where he started warming up. I didn't want to have to bottle feed this baby and I wanted June to accept and take care of it. I was afraid that if I did too much, she would never accept it.
We managed to catch June and calm her down with some feed. I held her while my wife tried to get the kid to nurse. He would start, and then lose interest quickly. We tried this several times with very little success. After some quick research on the Web, I decided that we were going to have to bottle feed the little guy.
I made then run in to TSC to buy the required supplies. Forty-three dollars later, I came home and mixed up some kid milk replacement with colostrum replacement and took it out to the new kid. He would not have it! He was warm enough, I think (Here's where I learned that I need a goat rectal thermometer). He just would not have the bottle. We held June again and tried to get him to nurse with some limited success. June was attentive to the baby so we decided to let her handle it herself.
As of this writing, the goats are bedded down in straw under the shed. It is a cold night and it's supposed to get colder. I have wrestled with the idea of bringing the baby in to keep him warm, but I think I will let June and nature handle it and see what happens.
If the little guy lives, I'll post a picture of him tomorrow.
So, wouldn't you know she would give birth on the one of the worst weather nights we've had! Last night it POURED as a frontal system came through. The temps dropped from the 60's down to the low 30's. Rumor is it even snowed a little.
So I came out this morning to find one very cold and wet little buck and one even colder (dead) little buck. I dried the little guy off and put some betadine on his umbilical. Naturally, June was traumatized that I was within 10 feet of her and took off. I decided to back off and try to let nature take it's course.
I learned a lot about goats today. It was touch and go all day long and the new guy seemed very weak. The day finally warmed into the 50's. We set the new baby in the sun where he started warming up. I didn't want to have to bottle feed this baby and I wanted June to accept and take care of it. I was afraid that if I did too much, she would never accept it.
We managed to catch June and calm her down with some feed. I held her while my wife tried to get the kid to nurse. He would start, and then lose interest quickly. We tried this several times with very little success. After some quick research on the Web, I decided that we were going to have to bottle feed the little guy.
I made then run in to TSC to buy the required supplies. Forty-three dollars later, I came home and mixed up some kid milk replacement with colostrum replacement and took it out to the new kid. He would not have it! He was warm enough, I think (Here's where I learned that I need a goat rectal thermometer). He just would not have the bottle. We held June again and tried to get him to nurse with some limited success. June was attentive to the baby so we decided to let her handle it herself.
As of this writing, the goats are bedded down in straw under the shed. It is a cold night and it's supposed to get colder. I have wrestled with the idea of bringing the baby in to keep him warm, but I think I will let June and nature handle it and see what happens.
If the little guy lives, I'll post a picture of him tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment