Bottle feeding frustration

Really this cannot be this hard! But seriously, its only been 4 days and I'm about to be crazy.

Every time I fed her the first day I took her out to see her mom and tried to get her to nurse. If I filled the teat and showed it to her it would take her some time to latch and then she would be ok for about 45 seconds and we would have to try again but she would not do it consistently and was still not able to get up easily so I supplemented with the bottle . Unfortunately that hasn't changed at all and I think she thinks I am mama now and won't even try to suck from Indiana. So I am resigned to the fact that she is a bottle baby.

Day 2 went so well with her walking and getting up after she fell that I decided to leave her out with the rest of the goats yesterday after the first feeding. I checked often to see how she was doing. She was always warm when I checked her, and about as many times as I found her far away from the heat light, I found her next to it, so she knows when she's cold and where the warm spot is. However, she still has a light tremor which the other kids don't have, and I am not sure if there is anything I can do to help her with that.

The feedings though... We have gone from using syringes to using bottles. I have tried the lamb nipple on a soda bottle it works well because she can suck it ok and not very much gets lost. I cut the hole bigger in a baby bottle nipple and she does ok with that too. She doesn't like to try too hard. If I use the lamb nipple it takes her 15 minutes + to drink an oz. and she bumps me a lot. If I use the baby bottle ones she can drink more but also some gets lost. She drinks about 2 oz in a feeding assuming that the other oz would not make it in. I don't have a pritchard nipple and I have called around to the feed stores and they don't have them...so that's why I got the lamb nipple. The soonest I could get a pritchard nipple from some place online is about 7 days. So I don't know if it would be worth trying by then.

Yesterday morning I did not get enough milk for Madison from Indiana to last the feedings I would be at work for so I had David give her cows milk for those feedings and I am doing half and half and watching her for scours...so far so good.

The biggest issue is that it takes so long to feed her, and I have to hold her head and open her mouth to get the bottle in. Other bottle babies I have seen come right over to the bottle and suck it right down. Without having to hold their head. If I don't hold her head she wont suck and the latch breaks after about 3 seconds.

I feel confident that she could drink at least 3 oz. in a reasonable amount of time. Is this just user error or what? I am praying my mentor likes her best because if it lasts like this for 3 months I might have to be committed.

Does anyone have any suggestions for her shakyness and bottle issues?

As long as you can get 3% of her body weight into her in 24 hours, that's the important thing. This is really unusual. We've only had one kid that had this much trouble, and she was dead by a week. Of course, she also made a horrible squealing sound after every feeding, so we were concerned for a couple reasons. Something wasn't right with her digestive system.

Adrienne said:

So Madison and Aurora are a week old today. Aurora is a perfectly fine normal goat, and growing just fine so I started separating her from mom at night. Last night was the first night.

Madison on the other hand is still only eating around 2 oz every 4 hours ( 7,3,11 am and 3,7,11 pm). Sometimes she will only eat 1 oz and on rare occations she will eat 3. The most she has ever eaten in one feeding is 3.5 oz. As I mentioned before it takes her forever and a day to eat, and she still won't do it unless I hold her head.

With her everything seems unusual...At what point do you think it would be safe to increase the length of time between feedings?

Replies

Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 12, 2011 at 6:28pm

Oh, Adrienne, I'm so sorry. You did everything you could, but it sounded like there was something wrong with her. If you want a necropsy, I've been told that freezing will destroy some tissue. They usually just chill them while waiting. Some things can still be done if she's been frozen, like checking the liver for mineral levels. Hugs!
Elyse Nicholson February 12, 2011 at 4:12pm

Oh, so sorry to hear of your loss Adreinne.
Adrienne February 12, 2011 at 3:53pm

Lost Madison today. I left David here to go get cattle panels for the new pens and she was fine. When I got back there was a near dead goat in his lap. I took her from him. She seemed hot so I sat in front of a fan with a bottle and some nutri-drench but she died within 15 minutes.

David took a few second video of what was happening when he found her. It looked like she was having a seizure.

I cried for her.

I can't take her to the vet until Monday, so I wrapped her up and put her in the freezer. I hope next year is way better.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 11, 2011 at 9:01pm

102 is normal temperature for a goat, but 101 is also fine. It's not bad until they get down into the 90s. Checking her mouth is a good way to assess her body temp. If it's warm, she's fine.
Adrienne February 11, 2011 at 8:02am

I decided to leave her in last night after her 11pm feeding because she drank nearly 3 oz of warm milk and even after I held her in a towel she still shook. She ate 2 oz at her 3am feeding. This morning I think my thermometer is wonky because it said her temp was 101.3 and she was not shaking. I am about to feed her again and put her back outside. I'll make her the sweater if she gets cold again. I guess she was still cold but when I checked her mouth throughout the day she was warm. I noticed though that last night she was sneezing a bit but her nose and lungs are clear.
Adrienne February 10, 2011 at 11:08pm

This is turning from a bottle feeding thread to " the trouble with Madison Thread." My mentor advised me to take her temp, and I could not find the thermometers we have so I had to run to walgreens and get one. I didn't shove it in there real far just enough to cover the metal tip. And the temp was low.

Temp 102.9

Heart rate aprox. 120BPM

Respiration aprox. 8o BPM

She has been under the heat light much of the day, but our temps are 26-48.I am about to make her a sweater and probably put her back with the others.

any other suggestions?
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 10, 2011 at 9:39pm

Yay!!!! Congratulations on the milk intake!!! The shaking and falling don't sound good though. I had four kids born last night in this horrid weather, and they're doing better than her. I hope she turns a corner for you soon! I know it's frustrating and worrisome to have a little one who isn't quite sure they want to be with us. The increased milk intake is a good sign though.
Adrienne February 10, 2011 at 7:30pm

Madison has eaten 10 oz today! If I can get her to eat at least 2 more oz @ her next feeding she will have eaten 12 oz in 24 hrs! YAY!!! She had not been shaking for a few days but it started again yesterday. I gave her some nutri-drench, calcium and silenium last night but it doesnt seem to have made a difference, She's been hanging out under the heat light today for the most part, but she's still shaking, and falling on her face. I checked her mouth and it is warm. Sure wish I knew what to do for this goat!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 9, 2011 at 12:56pm

As long as you can get 3% of her body weight into her in 24 hours, that's the important thing. This is really unusual. We've only had one kid that had this much trouble, and she was dead by a week. Of course, she also made a horrible squealing sound after every feeding, so we were concerned for a couple reasons. Something wasn't right with her digestive system.

Adrienne said:

So Madison and Aurora are a week old today. Aurora is a perfectly fine normal goat, and growing just fine so I started separating her from mom at night. Last night was the first night.

Madison on the other hand is still only eating around 2 oz every 4 hours ( 7,3,11 am and 3,7,11 pm). Sometimes she will only eat 1 oz and on rare occations she will eat 3. The most she has ever eaten in one feeding is 3.5 oz. As I mentioned before it takes her forever and a day to eat, and she still won't do it unless I hold her head.

With her everything seems unusual...At what point do you think it would be safe to increase the length of time between feedings?
Adrienne February 9, 2011 at 10:30am

So Madison and Aurora are a week old today. Aurora is a perfectly fine normal goat, and growing just fine so I started separating her from mom at night. Last night was the first night.

Madison on the other hand is still only eating around 2 oz every 4 hours ( 7,3,11 am and 3,7,11 pm). Sometimes she will only eat 1 oz and on rare occations she will eat 3. The most she has ever eaten in one feeding is 3.5 oz. As I mentioned before it takes her forever and a day to eat, and she still won't do it unless I hold her head.

With her everything seems unusual...At what point do you think it would be safe to increase the length of time between feedings?

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