Hej from Sweden,
I'm not so sure which category to put this , sorry if I chose wrong.
We have had a very busy month of August. We had 3 does that kidded.
Pumpkin had kids for the first time August 22. One doeling and a buckling. The buckling was born second and was slow to come around. We were afraid he would not make it through the night . So little Miracle made it and was doing fine until today. Now he is breathing quite rapidly and has his mouth open. I thought he was warm so I brought them out to the baby play yard. He eats well but just seems to stand and not play like his sister does.
Any ideas about this and suggestions. I am not sure if I need to get him to a vet.
Thanks for anything you may have to offer!
KSweden
Replies
Hej from Sweden,
We here in Sweden do not have all the regulations and ability to show our goats, or even purchase goats with great milking histories, but I do take pride in my little herd and try to do my very best by them. You all have such beautiful goats with wonderful pedigrees while ours are only goats from homes who love them take good care of them.
Thank you for the hugs. That really means a lot.
KSweden
Thanks for sharing your blog. The pictures are beautiful, and I got all choked up reading your post.
Hugs,
Deborah
Hej from Sweden,
You are absolutely right about the fence! I just have to muster my nerve and do it. I planned to take just the mothers and babies into the large enclosure, but we had straw delivery and that kind of changed our plans. I needed my husband's help if I was to have 5 tiny ones running around and possibly into or through the fencing. So that was that for today. I made new plans. I decided to bring all the babies out in the "baby yard" to meet each other and I think I really had little Rose in mind. She just seems a bit lonely since Little Miracle has been gone.
After reading your reply to me, I decide we should bring little Miracle's body in for Pumpkin to be able to touch him and smell him and to say her good-byes. I really had a difficult time watching her, I had to walk out , I began to cry again. She needed that time with her little buckling to mourn his passing and to understand that he was gone. I knew all of this but when you are in the throws of grief yourself, you forget what should be done. Thank you for reminding me and snapping me to. Pumpkin is not as loud as she has been and I will just give her the time she needs. I sit in her box and spend a bit of extra time with her and Rose. This whole thing has been a really tragic thing and I hope not to have to go through it again. I hope , but I also know that I might. If it does happen again, I will be ready to act properly.
Here is my little blog: http://gullringstorpgoatsblog.wordpress.com
I will add a post today about the mothers outing with babies that happened yesterday and what happened today. If you log on and don't see a post dated today, please check back. My blog started in May, so try to start from the first one to see the progress here at Gullringstorp.
Thanks Deborah,
KSweden
You can definitely post a link to your blog. You can put it in this thread if you like, and you can even make it feed onto your personal page on here. If you look at my page, you can see mine. I don't remember how I did it though, because it's been a couple years.
You really should not turn off your electric fence. If the babies run through it, they may not respect the fence when they get older. It know it's hard to see, but they have to learn to respect the fence now. When we got our first three goats, one was a kid, and we didn't have the electric strands close enough together, so she could go through without getting shocked, and even after we fixed the fence so that the wires were close enough together to shock her, she didn't care at that point. Then it was kind of funny to watch because she'd stare at the fence and get a running start, so she could get through as quickly as possible. But it wasn't so funny when she grew up and had kids and started teaching them to go through the fence.
Hej from Sweden,
Thank you for your kind words Deborah! I am learning and have been so very surprised at just how emotional goats can be. I just have to know that they are forgiving and resilient. This has never been tested before.
We still have Little Miracle's body because my husband is going to bury him on the farm. We thought about bringing him to Pumpkin last night but we were both so unsure. Maybe we should do this today.
I took her and Rose out with Frida and her two girls to the big enclosure. There was a lot of head butting but Frida the herd matriarch, set everyone straight right away. Pumpkin was looking for her baby the entire time. When one of Frida's babies cried , she ran to her. Tomorrow I think I will just take the mothers and babies to the enclosure and see how that goes. We turned of the fence but stayed with them the entire time, about 2 hours. The babies did run through the fence a couple of times in the beginning. Then they settled down and even the other goats went about their business. The only one not really comfortable was Pumpkin. I guess it will take some time.
Thank you again
KSweden ( I have a blog where you can see them all, am I allowed to put my blog on this site?)
I'm so sorry to hear that Little Miracle died. I'm sure Pumpkin misses her baby, but I'm sure she'll eventually move on. Goats are very emotional animals but also very forgiving and resilient.
The last time that I had a kid die, I just couldn't take it away because the siblings were cuddled up to her like they would be if she were still alive, so I left her there overnight. By morning, everyone was ignoring her, so it seemed that they had accepted the situation, and I removed the kid. Since then a couple of people told me that animals do need time to mourn and that that was a good thing to do.
As for the electric fence and your kids, they will just have to learn about the fence the hard way. I wish we could explain to them to stay away, but we can't. The first day they are out there, I stick around for an hour or two just to make sure no one runs through the fence when they get shocked. I think some of the kids learn from seeing the others get shocked because some never touch it. At least it is rare that a kid gets shocked more than once.
Hej from Sweden,
Deborah thank you for your comments. Little Miracle died yesterday. He had a very large heart murmur and an enlarged kidney. The Vet was surprised he lived as ling as he had. It is a very sad atmosphere here on our farm. But I suppose in the larger picture, we had 3 does who delivered and are doing well and 5 out of 6 babies thriving and doing well. It is still a very sad and debilitating situation. I suppose this city girl will just have to get more accustomed to the ups and downs of farm life. My daughter said to just move forward and remember all the goats you do have and that I couldn't have bonded that quickly with little Miracle. Then she took it back, and said of course you did, who am I talking to. I feel so terrible when I go back into the stable and Pumpkin his mother searches me for her baby. She wailed all night . My heart just broke. I said I would bring him back but I didn't. Will she ever forgive me?
Thanks for the info about integrating the new families with the herd. We have 3 doelings under one year and two 2 yr olds that go into the enclosure when weather permits. Because our barn is actually a stable with 8 boxes, I have been able to let out Hilda's babies who are very adventurous and born Aug 8, into the corridor as I tend to each box. They have met one of my little does who is a Pygmy and under a year. That went well. But they have not met the older goats yet, but there is an awful lot of chatter that goes on in the stable. What about the electric fence? That scares me. They have so far been able to play in a small "baby yard " just outside the stable door with no electric fencing. They are so tiny.
Thank you,
KSweden
Typically the smaller an animal is, the faster their heart rate, so I would not be alarmed by his heart rate, if that was the only thing you noticed. I don't think I've ever seen anything that states what a baby goat's heart rate is, but I'd guess it well over 100. A human baby's heart rate is 120 at birth, while adults are 60-80.
Three is a good number of does to integrate. I would put all of them out together. USUALLY if there are more than two, they seem to spend less time butting heads with each other when you put them together. When they are first put together, it is inevitable that the babies will get beat up a little. Some will inevitably try to nurse on the wrong mother, and the doe will push them away. I have a doe who once grabbed a kid by its tail and tossed it. I try to wait until kids are at least a week old before integrating them into a group, and even your youngest are at that age, so it should work out.
Hej from Sweden,
Thanks Deborah. He seems to eat quite well, because Pumpkin is a really good mother. They are both also starting to nibble on hay and straw and fresh greens I bring in from the garden. I guess I will just continue to keep a close on on little Miracle .
We did however call to our vet who has yet to get back to us. My husband picked him up and felt his heart beating like crazy. I felt it was something either with his lungs or heart.
I have another question that maybe you may have a suggestion for us.
We do have 3 does who kidded this past month, August 1st, 8th, and 22nd . So far I let one little family out at a time in the "baby yard" just outside the stable door. Then I alternate so each family has time outdoors, but separate from the others.
We are wondering when is it time to integrate them into the large enclosure with the rest of the herd. I am just afraid to have any of these new little babies bullied and hurt. they are so safe in the "play yard" but I know they need to become members of the herd. Any ideas?
KSweden