# preemie kid goat help!!



## avillarreal29 (May 8, 2013)

Our 3rd time pygmy mother just gave birth to 3 kids prematurely. Two died and one made it. We took him to the vet and he was given antibiotics and steroids to help him out a bit. At the time she gave birth it was very cold (30's) so we brought the kid in and bought a colostrum replacer to feed him. After 2 days of being inside it finally warmed back up outside and so we took the kid out to his mom. She is not feeding him and everytime he tries to nurse she pushes him away. She wont even really let him get near her. If he comes close she just moves away. What do we do?!? Is there a way to get her to nurse him or are we going to need to take care of the kid ourselves?


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## NavaBoerFarm (Dec 15, 2012)

From what I've read the mother needs to smell her milk in his poo otherwise she won't know it's hers. You can try and hold the doe and force her to allow him to drink milk for a few days untill she gets used to it (I've had no luck with this). Or you can milk the doe and feed the baby with a bottle and then try again with the doe and see if she will accept him. Or you can strictly bottle feed him using the mothers milk or whole milk/ milk replacer. 

Do whatever you are most comfortable with. for me holding a doe to force her to allow the baby to nurse is very stressful for the human and goat involved. So I chose to bottle feed when one of our does did this.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Since the colostrum was never milked out of the doe, she's not going to have any milk come in anyway. You could try milking her about half out and forcing her to feed the kid but, I really don't see the point now. You'd just have to try if it's that important. She's probably already starting to dry up though.
A premie usually isn't strong enough to live outside 24/7. They get cold very easily.


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## NavaBoerFarm (Dec 15, 2012)

Oh yeah I overlooked that point goathiker.

Great observation


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## Bambi (Jun 10, 2012)

That is great advice goathiker and navaboerfarm gave. I would bottle feed the baby with milk replacer , if you can't get goat milk. We had a premature doe born in similar conditions. I had to carry her around inside my jacket for half a day until she warmed up. We ended up bottle feeding her with milk replacer and she did just fine. She is a healthy old lady of sixteen now and one of the healthiest sixteen year olds I've ever seen.  Good luck with your baby. If you can get them eating well , it should grow up just fine.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

More than likely you have a bottle baby. I would just feed him whole cow's milk from the store. Not all milk replacers are the same and some have killed many a kid.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree..a bottle baby he is...I agree with Karen on whole cows milk if goats milk is not available..you can add bit of mineral oil of any cooking oil to help his stay regular until his system is really off and going...also be very careful how much he drinks at once..even when babies are not fragile they can only digest so much at one time..he is fragile...weigh him often and multiply that by 16 to get his weight in oz..then multiply his weight in oz by 10% to see how much a day he needs...the divide into 4-5 feedings..Keep C D Antitoxin on hand in case he needs help..Im sorry for the loss of the other two and wish you the very best with this little guy


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## avillarreal29 (May 8, 2013)

Thank you all for all the great advice. We have been and will continue bottle feeding the kid, I don't mind! I have a couple more questions now though....being that he was 2 weeks premature is whole cows milk really ok to be giving him or is it better if we give him goats milk replacer. We tried making mom let him nurse and like was said it was just more stressful for us and her as well. Also now that the weather has warmed up to 80s during the day and 60s at night is the kid ok to stay outside or should we bring him back in? He is in an enclosed area because we didn't want to leave him with our 8 other goats.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Cows milk is better than replacer...some babies cannot digest the replacer and can cause illness and death..I would add about 1/8 tsp. Of oil to the bottle to help him stay regular until he is really up and going well.
Being outside during the warm hours is fine but do watch him careful..he can get cold very quickly...


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## lovemydoats (Mar 25, 2013)

I have to agree on the whole cows milk. I've raise tons of bottle kids this way and have had little to no health issues with my babies. I am totally against formula. Good luck with your little guy.


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## littlebuckshot (May 5, 2013)

I have heard different things about formula and the cow's milk. I currently have a bottle baby and he is on Kid Milk Replacer and is doing well. If you get Milk replacer, make sure it is made from whey/milk proteins and does NOT have any soy in it. Most baby goats cannot digest the soy and end up dying. Just read your labels  Also, supplementing with Probios gel helps keep them regular.


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