# swollen teets and an ignorant owner please help



## allsec4jdo (Jun 4, 2014)

Ok, last winter we rescued 2 goats, 10 chickens, a goose, and mare that were not being fed. The animals were in extremely poor condition having not been fed on a regular basis for months. 
We manaeged to get the weight back on and all are doing well. To our surprize the doe started putting on extra weight in the belly and began to bag up. We have never had goats before and do not know much about them. 
Last week she gave birth to to really cute kids, a male, and female. The babies started feeding imediately and the mother has tried to take very good care of them. I noticed the babies appeared to only want to feed off of one teet, leaving the other side alone. The doe became extremely sore and very large on the vacant side. 
I have never had a goat so I started reading on how to milk. 
I have gently milked the goat a few times trying to relieve her discomfort.The babies refuse to eat off of that side and today she got so large it was dripping from the teet. I have been reading about mastitis and she does show alot of the signs that indicate this would be her problem. I tried the dish soap test with no change in the milk and what appears to be a negative. She does have a small amount of blood in her milk leaving a pink hughe and settling to the bottom of the bucket. Now the babies are milking her dry on the one side and trying to milk the othere teet. Mom is so sore on that side she will not let them feed. 
I really am at a loss on what to do. I dont want any harm to come to her and the babies. We did not intend on keeping them, just wanted to help them get healthy and find a good home. That has been harder than it looks and of coarse we do not want to seperate this family unit so it has become even harder. I believe I am in a situation that until these goats are able to survive on thier own I will be raising them and in charge of thier care. I have no idea on what I am doing and could use some advise. 
By the way, I have seen allot of babies in my day but none compare to babie goats.They are absolutely adorable. Any help on what to do for these animals would be very much appreciatted. Thanks in advance


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

If they're nursing on that side you won't want to infuse the udder. Milk it out as often as possible, and you can do hot compresses and/or massage with essential oils. The key is to relieve pressure and stimulate circulation. Hopefully if you can get her a little more comfortable she'll start letting them nurse, and with them taking the pressure off it will likely clear up.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You do want to totally milk out the one side.


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## Sweetpea8 (Jun 6, 2013)

I'm a newbie and am having a similar problem with my Saanan. I am trying to make it out there 4 t
Or 5 times per day to supervise the babies nursing/ hobble her so she can't kick them off if they want to eat more, then when they finishing massage udder well her with a mint cream and milk her out the rest of the way. Just In case it could help!


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## allsec4jdo (Jun 4, 2014)

Well, Thanks for your responses. The doe has had a heck of a time. She has mast in both sides. We seperated her from the babies and have been bottle feeding for about a week. Nothing like babtizm by fire. They seem to be doing alright. The doe is doing better also, the swelling is going down slowly and she is not hurting near as bad.She did get the runs for a little bit but I think it is from the antibiotics.
All I wanted to do was help some animals that were being starved. I had no intention of starting a small ranch.
Can anyone tell me how long to bottle feed. We have been feeding small amounts of grass as we go but I have no idea how long it will be before they will be able to fend for themselves.
I need to find them a home. Unfortunately most of the folks looking for goats around here want to barbeque them. My wife gets teared up everytime she thinks about that. It doesent take long for her to get attached.
I fear I will not be able to find them a home.
Anyway please advise.
When to stop the bottle?
When to get the lil buck cut ?
Horns????
General care shots, wormer, etc.
Thanks All


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Most people bottle kids for 3 months. I bottle until 3 months of age or the kids hit the 3 lb mark on eating grain/pellets - whichever comes first. I band at 2 months of age, but you can wait until 3 if you prefer. They need to have had both CD&T shots, or be given tetanus antitoxin when banding. If you're going to disbud, it needs to be done early - like in the first week. Your vet should be able to do it. Shots usually consist of CD&T. Give the first one around 2 months of age, then give another one 2 weeks later. After that they will need yearly boosters to keep the protection going. I can't help you with the worming as my goats are dry lotted so I don't have to worm. As far as general care goes - they need hay, grass, or forage, as well as a good loose mineral 24/7/365 and fresh, clean water. The bottle babies need grain because they cannot eat enough hay, grass, forage to support their development and growth. You will also need to figure out a cocci prevention program.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I disagree with "need" in those statements. My kids get nothing but forage or hay until they're old enough to milk, and my cocci prevention program is "treat them if they have diarrhea."


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree, kids being bottle or momma raised, do better, if fed a good protein grain with their hay ration to achieve maximum growth at least for their first year of growth.


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

You will find that there are many ways to feed goats and opinions will differ. You might want to read through the various opinions and chose what would work best in your situation.

We dam raise, but obviously that is out for you right now. So, besides the milk, whichever way it is administered, we offer hay right from a few days old. They nibble on it when they are ready and they continue to do so, male or female, for life.

Once they are eating hay nicely, in addition their milk, we start offering some grains. Just a little. No more than 1 cup per kid/per day. They usually start trying grains at a couple, three weeks old or so.

As they grow, we will slowly increase grains up to around 3 cups by the time they are 5 months old. They are also eating pasture leaves and grasses, too.

We decrease grains after 4 to 5 months for bucks until they are on only pasture and hay.

We will decrease to a cup or two for does until changes are needed due to breeding/pregnancy and such.

When they are a little older, several months, we may offer them BOSS, Sweet Feed, Alfalfa Pellets and/or Beet Pulp. We also have minerals, baking soda and nutritional yeast out for them at all times.

Of course, always have a lot of fresh water available.

As far as shots, we are a closed herd and our goats are very healthy, fed organically, and watched very closely. We have never given them shots and unless it's medically unavoidable, we will continue to keep things as natural as possible. Not a lot of people do things this way, but it has always worked for us, as well as several herds here in our area.

We use Molly's Herbs for worm prevention, and again, we have never had worm issues to deal with. www.fiascofarms.com is where we purchase the herbs.

We do not dehorn our goats, but if you do, it should be done when they are very young. You can do it later, and you will find good info in this forum by those who have done so with success.

Some things to remember: 
Goats are herd animals and don't like to be alone.
Stress can cause illness in goats, so keep them happy.
Use probiotics if you put them on any anti-biotics or if they have stress to deal with.
If you change anything in their diets, please do it slowly, as drastic/fast changes can cause illness/bloat/stress, etc.
Keep an eye on their condition. If they look like they need more food, increase it slowly. If they look like they are getting too much, decrease slowly. Just use common sense.

That's all I can think of right now. You'll get tons of awesome advice here! You came to the right place!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

If you post your location you may find people who are willing adopt/buy them. Just a thought


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Wild Hearts Ranch said:


> I disagree with "need" in those statements. My kids get nothing but forage or hay until they're old enough to milk, and my cocci prevention program is "treat them if they have diarrhea."


That is your prerogative, however, I stand behind my statements. I've raised kids, calves, and a few other animals both ways and the ones who received grain always grew out better.


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