I have a 2-day-old doeling who is really weak and unable to stand well. This is not an entirely new problem, but she was able to stand and nurse on day 1, and I know she got at least some colostrum from her mom. However, she has been kind of hunched in her back legs as if she is squatting and she can't stand long at all. She became hypothermic and was shivering a lot. I took her temp this morning, and it was 99, so I warmed her up, and she is now at 102. However, she doesn't seem to be able to suck well. Im keeping her inside for now but what should I look for to know if she is either improving or getting worse? What else should I do? I did give a little coffee on her gums and nutridrench mixed with milk in a bottle. She swallows but does not suck.
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There are so many reasons why a kid might die within a day of birth, but starvation is near the top of the list. That's why we weigh the kids at birth and then daily for the first two weeks, just to be sure they are getting enough colostrum and then milk. We want to see a 4-ounce per day weight gain. A kid that is starving will become hypothermic as its body is shutting down. If you really want to know, a necropsy is the only way to figure that out.
On your new challenge ... I have had two does co-mother multiple times, and it's worked out beautifully. I have never had the does get aggressive with each other, so it's hard to say what to do when I can't see exactly what's happening. If everyone was happy, I'd say to leave them all together.
So I think it was a combination of hypothermia and fluid in her lungs. I was not there for her kidding and when I found her and mom she was dry and nursing. Because of this I didn't go through the steps I usually do when I'm there including suction. I also do not know if the delivery was long or hard. Mom was a second freshener who had an easy first kidding despite delivering two large boys and seems to have done fine this time. However the kid always seemed to have trouble staying warm. Even when the two kids born two days before didn't. She was definitely hypothermic when she first came in with me and despite being able to warm her a bit it quickly went back down. On top of that when she did die a good amount of fluid leaked from her nose.
Now I have a bit of another issue and I'm not sure if I should just leave it or intervene and how. Since the mom lost her kid and she was a singleton, she has started to take the two kids born two days earlier. At first one kid nursed off of both moms. One kid stayed with her real mom. Now both are nursing more off the second doe than their mom and the doe who is not their mom has become aggressive with the actual mom. Should I just let it be and milk the mom who isn't nursing as much or should I return them and remove the mom who lost her kid?
Hi there Maggie
I am so very sorry that this little kid passed away.
What temp is it where you are and how big was this kid? This could just be a classic case of hypothermia. When the body gets very cold, it burns through the glucose stores super fast and that results in floppy muscle tone and no suck reflex in newborns.
If not hypothermia, it could be selenium deficiency, but you did say that she was stronger at birth and was standing and nursing, so that makes me question it. Selenium deficiency impacts the muscles of the tongue and the legs in newborns and may present in the way that you are describing. Were their other kids born? Did mom have any issues getting pregnant or passing the placenta? What minerals do you use?
Tammy
So the kid died, and I am even more curious about what anyone thinks it could be.
I should add that she is peeing and pooping normally but has gotten increasingly weak and floppy and her temp has continued to drop again