Wow, it has been a tough goat year - not just for me, but all the breeders in the area... For me, it began about a month ago with the loss of my favorite buck due to Urinary Calculi. By the time we got him to the vet, his bladder had already ruptured. I didn't suspect a thing until he was shivering because I never give my bucks grain and they usually eat a mostly grass hay. A month later, one of our does who was not pure bred (who was HUGE) went into labor, but after several hours was not progressing like she should. I could feel HUGE front hooves, but could not find the head, so I had the vet come out. To make a long story short, it took him a while to pull the doeling out (he guessed her between 7 and 8 pounds) and she didn't make it. As he was feeling inside for more kids, he noticed the uterus had a tear in it. He tried to prolapse it so he could stitch it up, but couldn't get it out. He told me she would have less than 50% chance of surviving and would never bear kids. With much sadness we decided to put her down. About a week later my favorite doe went into labor. She was 3 days past the date I thought, but I wasn't too concerned about that. However, it was an odd labor. She had a thick brown discharge the entire time. Her contractions were strong and she was slightly pushing, but I couldn't get my hand in there and nothing was coming out. I ended up taking her to a vet as well. He did a sonogram and could only find a sack with tiny blobs that didn't look like anything. That was Monday. We have been supplementing her with probios, a nutridrench and oral B vitamin, her temp has been up and down, but fairly close to normal and she has been eating and drinking... until last night. She is definitely "off " today. Not eating much, her poop is round and light brown, doesn't seem to be drinking, temp going down farther than it has been and no rumen evidence. I gave her some cud from another goat, amped the supplements, added raw fermented cabbage, garlic, goat yogurt, and a Thiamine injection SQ. I know she is depressed, she takes it hard when she doesn't get pregnant. Any other suggestions? How long will it take the Thiamine to work?
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I am reading through old post :( when I was giving Thiamine - it was IM for 5 days, but at the time my goat had a respiratory thing going. This has been a bad year for kidding on my street! Does in labor with no progress..... more than one baby at once - heads out - no legs. 3 legs..... horrible for us and the does.
It HAS been a hard year with goats. I sure hope we all have a reprieve next kidding season. I'm so glad GumDrop is improving. :) Hopefully you'll catch her contentedly chewing her cud soon.
Update: GumDrop has improved greatly! She is back to her old self, eating, drinking, quiet... the only thing I haven't noticed is very much chewing cud. I don't watch her all the time, but when I am out there I look and haven't seen her. Is that anything to be concerned about if she is eating, drinking and otherwise acting normal?
Wow -- 105 is a pretty high fever for a goat! Glad to hear she's on antibiotics.
You just never know why a kid stops developing. It could have been trauma, or it could have simply not been put together correctly from the start. I had a kid born once that had its intestines on the outside of its body. Unfortunately it was born alive. I called U of I, and the vet said that sometimes those weird things just happen, and they don't know why.
Do you have more left to kid?
I did end up taking her to the vet today, she just wasnt herself... He took a blood sample, which indicated infection, but her sugar levels are good... gave her some antibiotics, B12 and CMPK (sent the rest home with me). Her temp was 105 and heartrate was up. She is acting much better. I will keep an eye on her... Hopfully nothing left in there! I did try to check her, but couldnt get my hand in past my knuckles or past her pelvic bone.
Thank you all for your thoughtful words! Yes, others around here having many issues too... Lots of kids turned the wrong way, c-sections, kids dying at less than a week old, one fighting polio... And thats only 3 other breeders! Wow!
Please accept my condolences with all that has happened to you and your animals and good wishes for better things to come. Even before our tragedy here (that of Capri and me), I had been feeling it has been a horrible goat year. Though people lose animals each year, it seems like this year has been especially bad.
I sincerely hope it gets much, much better for you (and for all of us). Again, I am so sorry for your losses.
At that size, it probably stopped developing at least a month ago, but you never really know. I've had a 1# 3 ounce kid survive.
If there was something hanging out right after she had the kid, the placenta might have passed after you left, and she ate it. If you never saw anything hanging out, sounds like there are more kids.
Does she still act uncomfortable or off? I'd probably be driving myself nuts right now if I were in your position, trying to decide whether or not to check her internally to see if there are more kids. Hugs!
Is anything hanging out of her back end? If nothing is hanging it, there could be more kids. Usually you see at least a few inches of placenta hanging out if there are not more kids. If she seems odd, I'd continue to check her temperature as there is a risk of infection when you have a mummified kid.
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