I am a first timer with goats and I have a question about birthing. My Nigerian just gave birth to two kids about an hour ago. She has a large sack of blood and fluid hanging out of her still. The sack is about as big as a quart sized plastic bag, maybe a bit bigger. Does that mean that there is another baby coming? Should I be concerned? She is not pushing anymore and hasn't since she had the second kid.
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The vet told me to just tie it in a knot so that she's not dragging it around and doesn't try to grab it and yank it out herself. Even better is to put a long plastic bag on it (like a newspaper bag) and tie it in a knot to keep it cleaner. The infection usually happens because the placenta hanging out gets dirty, starts to deteriorate, etc. I haven't seen research on this, but I imagine the risk of infection would be worse in the summer because the part hanging out would start to deteriorate sooner, and you'd have flies going for it. The only retained placenta we had was in the middle of winter, so it was essentially refrigerated and still looked "fresh" after two days.
I keep red raspberry leaves on hand for does in labor and afterwards, and I let them eat as much as they want, up to about a handful. It does NOT act like oxytocin, but it's just a good herb for the uterus.
Margaret Langley said:
Since I've only had one retained placenta, it's less than 1% on our farm.
*Angelica Archangelica might be a good choice - if you use anything.
*adherent placenta can, with the decidua, slough-off over time (over couple days - though rare, have heard of longer)
*might choose to prophylactically (as "preventitive") use herbal medicinals with effective antibiotic action.
* apparently, low vitamin E levels in sheep & cattle are seen to be a cause of increased rates of retained placenta. Any body know what the rate of occurrence is, even roughly?
Sandra Hess
Heartland Midwifery
Fresno, Ohio
Thanks, that helps! But what if it just keeps hanging out?
I have been reading to try to find some herbs that act like oxytocin, to see if I could find something to give them after delivery that might help if they don't expel it.
Depending upon which vet you talk to, some say to give oxytocin, and some say to just watch the doe for signs of infection and/or start her on antibiotics after about 36 hours. One vet told me that some cows don't pass the placenta for up to three weeks. I had a sheep that didn't pass hers for a week. I started her on an antibiotic after the second day, and she was fine. I had one goat that took a couple of days, and I didn't start her on an antibiotic, and she was fine. The thing about oxytocin is that is doesn't seem to work very often. As one vet told me, it is rarely a lack of oxytocin that is causing the problem, so giving oxytocin isn't going to help the situation.
Congratulations on the new babies! :)
Roni, You likely know this, but I thought I'd be reminder...that it is very important to have calm, quiet, non-disruptive, non-alarming environment for doe (& for kids). Anything the doe is not used to ought be avoided and attention given to keep her environment comfortable to her senses. This helps so much to ensure that her hormones will release into her bloodstream (normal) and thus optimize having the postbirth physiological processes (passing of the placenta & membranes, nursing & caretaking of kids, involution of the uterus) precede normally.
Sandra Hess
Heartland Midwifery
Fresno, Ohio
Deb if all the placenta is not passed in a certain (how long should we wait) length of time what are our options? I have been told before by someone not to try to pull it! Not sure what to do without having oxytocin and I lost a doe a few years ago who did not pass hers! Never want that to happen again! Don't think I would be able to get the right kind of vet around here to be able to get a script for it!
You're welcome! I just added a couple of placenta pictures to my kidding album:
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/photo/albums/kidding-pictures
Thank you so much!!
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