Hi there,
looking for some advice, sadly one of our goats delivered an early kid this week. It was not fully formed so I presume it was early (we bought them when they were pregnant and the seller didn't know when they were due). She usually delivers twins - would it be possible for a second kid to still be in there and healthy, and how would I know? And secondly, is it possible for me to milk her now? I have tried but nothing there...........
Thanks for any advice
Katharine
Replies
That is a very sad way to start! :( Sending you a big hug and hoping for a better outcome next time.
Thanks - helpful - but gross!! Thanks so much for your comments, great to have a forum to ask, thank you! Sad that our first experience of kidding was a sad one, and also sad to get no milk!! Next time.
Blessings
Katharine
Here are a couple of pictures of placentas in full-term pregnancies:
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/photo/placenta?context=user
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/photo/placenta/next?context=user
It takes a couple of hours for the placenta to come out, and if you weren't there when it passed, she might have eaten it. It's hard to know what to expect when you don't know the age of the fetus.
Deborah, thank you so much for your comments. I will go and look for the copper deficiency discussions. Since writing, I have read around a bit, and am wondering should I be waiting for a placenta? She delivered the unformed baby (which was about 6 inches long, and also a long, thin thing about the same length, but around the size of a pencil in diameter. Could that have been the placenta? Btw, she seems totally fine and normal, she's eating well, moving well etc.
If you've tried to milk her and nothing is there, then she gave birth too early to be producing. We had a doe give birth two weeks early one time, and we didn't even get enough colostrum to cover the bottom of the bucket. If her udder doesn't look like it's filled up, then there is nothing there.
As for a second kid ... if it's been a few hours since she kidded, then there wouldn't be a healthy kid still inside. Usually if there is a problem that causes a doe to go into labor, she will give birth to all of them, so if she is acting normal, there probably is not another kid in there. I personally would NOT check in a situation like that because you could create a problem where none existed. If she is screaming her head off and pushing like crazy, that's a different story. My motto is, "if the doe's happy, I'm happy."
I really would not be that surprised that she only had one if she gave birth prematurely. Single kids in senior does and premature birth are both symptoms of copper deficiency. There are a lot of conversations on here already on that topic.