Last Saturday, I became the delighted owner of two beautiful nine week old Nigerian Dwarf wethers. Unfortunately, on Monday night one of them died without any warning -- he hadn't shown any signs of illness or distress, and I found him curled up with his brother in the morning, looking exactly as he had when they went to sleep, only he was dead. After recovering from the shock of it myself, I realized that I had a serious problem in that I don't have any other goats to comfort the surviving twin -- just chickens, a dog and a cat. A neighbor kindly brought over a 3 1/2 month old wether she was planning to place, but he is MUCH bigger than Brownie (the survivor), and he's really rough with him whenever he gets the chance (not just shoving and head butting, but butting him up against the fence and grabbing his ears and shaking), plus he is undergoing his own stress from being separated from his mother and sister.
At the moment, I am letting them be together under supervision as often as I can, and then keeping them separated by fencing when I'm not there. At first it seemed like they just made each other more stressed with all the calling and yelling, though now it seems less intense and I did find the older one sleeping pressed up against the fence near Brownie a short while ago.
My question is, what the heck am I going to do? It's hard to imagine keeping this separation up until Brownie is big enough to hold his own, and the added problem is that the older wether is polled, whereas Brownie has horns. I am searching for available wethers closer in age to Brownie who haven't been disbudded, but so far without success. Part of what I am needing is help looking at the situation more objectively, as I feel like I may not be thinking as clearly and logically as I might since I have been totally unsettled by the whole experience. Any input would be appreciated.
(There's no indication that Niblet, the little one who died, was in any way contagious, or even sick -- all I can think of is that he somehow found something deadly in the pen and ate it, though I can't begin to image what that might have been as there are no plants or other poisonous or dangerous things in the pen where they have been during their transition to being here.)
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Thanks Jan. My best guess is that he found something he shouldn't have eaten, and ate it. We had named him Niblet because he was in constant nibble mode. It's still weird to me that he wouldn't have shown any signs of obvious distress at any time, even as he died. The second little one was actually the one I was a little worried about because he seemed more stressed by the change in surroundings. He seems to be doing really well now, though. I am continuing to look for another kid the same age (thanks for confirming that idea -- I feel pretty insecure about everything right now...), and the owner of the older kid is wonderful -- letting us keep him here as long as we need. I will definitely keep you posted!
I'm truly sorry for your sad situation! Who knows what may have happened...The first thing I'd have done was call the breeder & see if she can't help you figure it out. You don't want the 2nd one dying from the samething. Did he get into a bunch of grain? Did he come from a REPUTABLE breeder? My advice would be to continue to look for another kid the same age as the one you have or close & see if you can continue to borrow the other wether until then. Keep us posted! Hugs from Oregon
Thanks -- I truly appreciate your kindness...
I'm so sorry for your loss, and the stress of this situation for you and your goat friends. I wish I had any kind of answers for you, but unfortunately I don't. Just a virtual hug. :)