New Roads Farm's first Kids!

[Will White]

Well I’m glad I worked from home today because the birth didn’t go as well as I had hoped.

The first kid, a buckling, was breach and my doe spent about 3 hours in labor trying to push him out. I wasn’t sure what was wrong so I called my mentor who tried to walk us through how to tell what position the goat was in but my hands are too big and my wife wasn’t too keen on putting her hand in the goat. We end up calling the vet but by the time she arrived the first buckling had come out but wasn’t alive after all the stress. The second buckling came out right after the first and he’s doing well. A few minutes later a doeling came out, in all the excitement I almost missed her but got her cleaned off in time.

The vet gave the doe some IV fluids and a bunch of shots. She also gave the kids colostrum through a feeding tube. Everyone is now doing well and we’re excited to have our first new additions to the farm. The buckling is the one with more white.

[Lyn Adams]

Congratulations, sorry to hear you lost one kid. That must be a hard thing to do. :0(

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I'm so sorry she didn't make it. Sometimes when they have a rough start, it's just too hard to recover. It's bound to get easier for you after all of this. Most kiddings here are uneventful. We're having a rough one this year, but it was smooth sailing all the way back to 2005. I'm looking forward to more routine birthing myself!

Will White said:

Unfortunately I have a sad update to report.  This morning the doeling was pretty weak so we tube fed her around noon and she went right to sleep.  At around 6 we tried to get her up to nurse but she wasn't interested in eating and was having a hard time even standing.  We called the vet and by the time I was done talking to the vet the doeling had died. 

 

She had a rough time from the start with the long labor, cold temperatures, and the heavy breathing.  She was a good little goat and she'll be sorely missed.

[Will White]

 

Unfortunately I have a sad update to report.  This morning the doeling was pretty weak so we tube fed her around noon and she went right to sleep.  At around 6 we tried to get her up to nurse but she wasn't interested in eating and was having a hard time even standing.  We called the vet and by the time I was done talking to the vet the doeling had died. 

 

She had a rough time from the start with the long labor, cold temperatures, and the heavy breathing.  She was a good little goat and she'll be sorely missed.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Glad the doeling is improving. You'll be able to handle it in the future.

Will White said:

We had both a first freshner and a big kids which I think was part of the problem.  It would have gone much faster if I had known to help pull.

 

We've got the doeling on Antibiotics and she's still breathing fast but she seems perkier.  She's eating well so that's a good sign.  The buckling continues to grow like a weed.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Hooves, nose, butt, hocks are all okay. Neck, ribs, spine are bad. Breech just takes longer to push out. If it'll fit forwards, it'll fit backwards. It's just harder to push out a bowling ball than a torpedo, even if they're the same circumference.

Melissa Johnson said:

Along those same lines, what we should see pointing out is hoofs and nose or hoofs right?  otherwise something needs to be repositioned right?

[Melissa Johnson]

Along those same lines, what we should see pointing out is hoofs and nose or hoofs right?  otherwise something needs to be repositioned right?


Will White said:

We had both a first freshner and a big kids which I think was part of the problem.  It would have gone much faster if I had known to help pull.

 

We've got the doeling on Antibiotics and she's still breathing fast but she seems perkier.  She's eating well so that's a good sign.  The buckling continues to grow like a weed.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Just grab the hocks and pull when the does pushes. If anything is sticking out, you don't need to be able to get your hand inside; just grab what you can. Breeches are not usually a big deal unless it's a first freshener or the kid is really big. Then it can be more difficult, but only because they're trying to push out something shaped like a bowling ball rather than a torpedo (nose). You really just need one end or the other -- nose or butt. The only real problems are when the kids try to come out neck first or ribs first. Then you have to be able to get your hands in there and rearrange them, but that happens so rarely. We're had one of each of those.

Will White said:

So here's a question.  The first kid was presenting breach with the hocks pointed out.  What do you do to solve this problem?

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Congratulations! Those are some flashy kids! Sorry you lost the first one. If you want to talk about it some more (for future reference) after you've had time to process it a bit more, just holler! I'm sure you can handle it on your own in the future.

[Will White]

We had both a first freshner and a big kids which I think was part of the problem.  It would have gone much faster if I had known to help pull.

 

We've got the doeling on Antibiotics and she's still breathing fast but she seems perkier.  She's eating well so that's a good sign.  The buckling continues to grow like a weed.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Just grab the hocks and pull when the does pushes. If anything is sticking out, you don't need to be able to get your hand inside; just grab what you can. Breeches are not usually a big deal unless it's a first freshener or the kid is really big. Then it can be more difficult, but only because they're trying to push out something shaped like a bowling ball rather than a torpedo (nose). You really just need one end or the other -- nose or butt. The only real problems are when the kids try to come out neck first or ribs first. Then you have to be able to get your hands in there and rearrange them, but that happens so rarely. We're had one of each of those.

Will White said:

So here's a question.  The first kid was presenting breach with the hocks pointed out.  What do you do to solve this problem?

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Congratulations! Those are some flashy kids! Sorry you lost the first one. If you want to talk about it some more (for future reference) after you've had time to process it a bit more, just holler! I'm sure you can handle it on your own in the future.

[Melissa Johnson]

that's awesome!  congratulations!  nice lookin' kids!

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Just grab the hocks and pull when the does pushes. If anything is sticking out, you don't need to be able to get your hand inside; just grab what you can. Breeches are not usually a big deal unless it's a first freshener or the kid is really big. Then it can be more difficult, but only because they're trying to push out something shaped like a bowling ball rather than a torpedo (nose). You really just need one end or the other -- nose or butt. The only real problems are when the kids try to come out neck first or ribs first. Then you have to be able to get your hands in there and rearrange them, but that happens so rarely. We're had one of each of those.

Will White said:

So here's a question.  The first kid was presenting breach with the hocks pointed out.  What do you do to solve this problem?

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Congratulations! Those are some flashy kids! Sorry you lost the first one. If you want to talk about it some more (for future reference) after you've had time to process it a bit more, just holler! I'm sure you can handle it on your own in the future.

[Julie Quilligan]

Cute babies!  Congratulations!