Difficult birth

Hi all, I had my first kidding of the season 4 days ago and it was a doozy. My 3 year old (3rd freshener) went into labor early in the day and did not progress much all day long. She had streaming mucus that was normal, clear and milky for many hours. Then that night after about 12 hours of this, she had some "wrong looking" discharge-- brownish and looked like tissue. I knew immediately something was wrong, perhaps (probably) a dead kid. I called the vet for help and his mobile truck was in the shop so he suggested I bring her to his animal hospital which thankfully is only about 10 minutes away. My friends helped me load her up and away we went. She was fully dilated but the kid was very weirdly presenting... she was upside down! One hoof came out and it was a front leg but upside down! It took a lot of working at it but she finally came out and was ALIVE! Then the second kid came right out in a few minutes and she too was alive! Then things got weird. A big red bubble came out that was clearly placenta. It was hanging there and she was still pushing! We knew a third kid was behind this placenta. Sure enough after much working at it, the vet pulled the last baby who was still encased in a thick sack and dead. He was full term as well and probably not dead for long-- maybe just that day. I took him for a necropsy and found that he had a congenital birth defect called a "Diaphragmatic Hernia" which means there was a hole in his diaphragm that allowed his stomach to be pushed up into his lungs. He never had a chance. 

But the drama was not over yet! I got to bed about 3:30 after getting them settled in their pen where they nursed before I left. I woke up to the sound of a screaming kid (in the baby monitor). I also have a camera in there and could see the kid running around the pen screaming for mama while she was laying in the corner ignoring her! My first thought is my doe is sick-- maybe bleeding out. I ran down there and she was fine but she would not even look at the kids! She would sniff them and say no no no, that's not my kid!! I got her onto the milk stand and milked her colostrum out and fed the babies with bottles. I did that for the next feeding too... meanwhile she is running out to the gate and screaming for her long lost kids! Suddenly it occurred to me (because of Deborah saying this), that they must have a smell on them that she doesn't recognize! When we were drying the kids, I noticed that the towels smelled like bleach (strong!) and I was actually concerned about it at the time but it was all we had. So, (remembering what Deborah said to do) I smeared my hand on my doe's backside (eewwww) and rubbed the scent on the kid's heads and butts. I also put some colostrum on their heads and butts. IT WORKED. In about 15 minutes she was so happy to see them and started taking care of them! WHEW!

Thrilled with my 2 beautiful doelings and my doe is making a wonderful recovery. I was worried sick for her after how much pulling and prodding it took to help her deliver. Today she took her girls out with the herd (day 4) because it was sunny and warm. 

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Replies

  • Adorable.  Can't wait till I get some.  Congratulations and so glad everything turned out okay in the end. 

  • Yes Michael, this is the doe that was so huge! The kids were 4lb 1 oz and 3lbs 7 oz and we didn't weigh the buckling but he was at least as big as the 4lb girl, maybe bigger. 

    By the way, BOTH the doelings are POLLED like their mama! Yay!

  • Julia,

    Congratulations after the difficult birth.... The two which made it are sure cute! By the way, do you know their birth weights?

    A related question: Was that the doe which was so absolutely huge in pregnancy? If not, what happened with her, how many kids? Or is she still holding?

    -Michael

  • That's awesome! Congrats on that production!


  • A pint and she's nursing two? Wow! Don't suppose either of those doelings is available...(she said hopefully)
    Julia @Woody Glen Farm said:

    It's hard to lose a baby (he was reserved too) but the silver lining is she is producing a big surplus of milk! This morning I checked her udder (after seeing them nurse several times) and she was FULL. So I put her on the stand and milked out a pint of milk! I guess I'll start milking her every morning after the kids have breakfast and try to keep her in so much milk. YAY me!! I didn't expect to get to start milking so soon! She is 1 week fresh today.

  • It's hard to lose a baby (he was reserved too) but the silver lining is she is producing a big surplus of milk! This morning I checked her udder (after seeing them nurse several times) and she was FULL. So I put her on the stand and milked out a pint of milk! I guess I'll start milking her every morning after the kids have breakfast and try to keep her in so much milk. YAY me!! I didn't expect to get to start milking so soon! She is 1 week fresh today.

  • Wow! What an incredible story!!

  • That is quite a story! Hopefully the drama is over, and you can enjoy those two little cuties! Thanks for sharing.

  • Wow, what a story! I'm so glad you got two healthy babies and a healthy mama at the end of it. Thanks for sharing this story, I learned a lot. 

  • Awe, congratulations on these two beautiful does! Thanks for sharing your story.
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