# Blind 2 wk old kid being hand reared



## cassie (Apr 3, 2013)

Hello all. I'm very new to this and just joined from windsor UK. thought it was the best place to get advice and support. 
I rescued a 3 day old blind kid... Now 2 wks and going strong. Have experience with hand rearing lambs as grew up on a farm but not with goats. 

Would like to know is anybody else has had experience with blind goats or any information greatly received. Thanks


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

Its great that you have some experience! This is an amazing thing you are doing for this goat, a lot of people probably would have culled! In my experience I'd imagine that rearing lambs and goats are very similar, just different nutritional needs. But I'm still somewhat of a newbie, so I think I'll let someone more experienced handle this


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## Selah123 (Mar 24, 2013)

Is the kid completely blind? I have seen some documentary's where blind animals have an animal friend / mother who acts as their eyes for them..one was a sheep whose lamb acted as the eyes for the fully blind mum...another was on tv - two dogs in the spca -who paired up and the little dog acted as the eyes for the big blind dog......just a thought... I have a sheep blind in just one eye and it does fine. You are doing an amazing thing. Do you have pics of your kid?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That was really nice of you to rescue her. Sure helps that you have experience with lambs. Have you tried giving her some Thiamine?


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## cassie (Apr 3, 2013)

Hi all thanks for the response. Cassie, the blind kid, 'saw' the vet when she was about 4 or 5 days old, yes she is fully blind at present. One eye didn't form properly and the other is normal and clear but no reactions, there is a chance that she could see a certain amount and that this vision could increase with time but we will have to wait and see. I feel she is able to see something... Shapes, maybe shadows but certainly something. Will try and post photos. Can I post video on here?
And to answer the other question, I haven't tried any additional things just yet... Should I?


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## cassie (Apr 3, 2013)




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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Welcome to the goat spot!  What a PRECIOUS baby.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I used a blind buck once for breeding my does. He was a sweet thing. At first he would run into things since he wasnt use to my set up but after a few days he was moving about the pen no problem. He bred my girls just fine and then left to go back to his home. Thats my only experience with a blind goat.


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## cassie (Apr 3, 2013)




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## cassie (Apr 3, 2013)

I think my plan will be for her to have a friend in the long run once 'cassie' is more secure on her feet. My Gsd loves her but wouldn't trust that relationship completely


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

She's very pretty. I'm glad you took her in. I would try to use your voice to train her where things are. Goats are smart and will learn voice cues so maybe you could teach her things like step up if there is a deviation in the ground so she will test it out before walking forward. You could even go as far as teaching her to stop, back up or turn right or left too in order to help her navigate things. I would sometimes blind fold my horses to play trust games like that (I don't recommend that anyone try that unless in an incredibly controlled situations). They learned quickly that my cues correlated to things on the ground and such.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Another goat her size and breed would be wonderful...they grow together they will be very bonded . You can add a bell to Cassies buddy so she always hears where she is at..If you choose a goat buddy, which is what I might do, I would not tie the together as the rope could get tangled and be a danger...I would instead put them in a safe and not too large pen to bond and play...Once they are fully bonded...begin outings with supervision...soon they will be big enough and secured enough to roam freely with your guard dog on the watch : ) 
I would def. add Thiamine ...it could help and certainly wont hurt : ) 

She is a beautiful girl!! She is blessed to have found you..other than copper needs this will be much like a lamb...but so much better..goats are just more fun lol (I have both too)
Welcome to the forum..


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## Selah123 (Mar 24, 2013)

She is absolutely gorgeous  And looks like she is very well cared for! Love her little jacket. Animals are amazing how they sometimes look out for each other! Ksavalgo - does thiamine help? and how do you buy this / give this?

Lovely pics! PS what breed of goat is she?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Thiamine is B1 ..goats make this on their own..but when things are not quite right in the gut, do to moldy feed/hay: severe Diarrhea; off feed, then the body cannot produce it. This will cause Goat polio, blindness, weakness and death...Thiamine is RX from a vet and is fairly cheap...I buy the whole jar...My goats get some anytime they are off even a little. 1 cc per 25# sub Q : )


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

It is very wonderful what you are doing for this little goat. The reason they mentioned giving thiamine is that some conditions that present with blindness can be from a thiamine deficiency. There is no harm in giving thiamine since it is a water soluble vitamin. You can either get it from your vet or you could use a fortified b complex.

To me it sound like the vet has deemed the blindness from the eyes not fully developing which could have been just a cause from errors during the dam's pregnancy. I actually use to train and retrain horses that were either born with blindness or vision impairments or those that had trauma's that later caused the blindness or vision impairments. One horse I took on as a personal horse had he vision until he was about 20 years old. What I did with him was to teach him all verbally commands at first and I was always very verbal when near him so he knew where I was. When he was coming to a change in the ground, if the ground was on an incline I would start saying easy up, easy up. Depending on how fast the incline was depended on how fast I would express the command. If it was getting pretty steep I would talk faster so he knew to pick his feet up higher. Same with down slopes. I did use left and right for turn commands. Since your little guy is a goat you probably would not be using very many direction commands, but you can try teaching some to him.

One of the biggest things to do would be to teach him the fence line. Have it to be a safe fencing material and walk the fence with him numerous times. Teach him where his stall or shed opening is and where he can find the water and feed buckets. What I did when teaching my horse about the turn out was to start small. Walk out of the shed along the fence line about 20 to 30 ft then turn and come back. I did this for the whole 20 to 30 foot area near the shed. In the beginning you don't want a huge turn out or lot for them to be in until they feel more comfortable. In the end I would let my guy out in the big riding ring and he knew every inch of it by heart. They are big with smells, too. They will smell and listen to everything when you lead them around a new area. I did have a companion for my guy but at times he really just wanted to hang out by his self. Since he loved to run and I would actually just put my hand in front of his chest and we would run through the fields so he could feel like a real horse. Basically he felt more confident when he knew I was there and he could feel me. I never used bells on the other horse's halter because it actually scared him (for some reason the blind horse hated the sound of bells). Now it's not a bad idea to try a bell on your little one's buddy but if he doesn't take well to it no worries. Not every body likes the same stuff and like wise not all of the same training methods work for every animal.

On a side note for a buddy get someone that will stay the same size or smaller, same age or younger. Someone without horns, as even if they are very friendly your blind one may end up some how hurting their self on the other ones horn on accident.

If you little one does have some vision as in shapes or shades of color they may actually have fears that will arise. So basically don't worry if for some reason one day your little one is afraid of one end of the turnout as it could just be how the shade/shape of something may appear like a big goat eating monster. If that happens put them on a lead lead them close to the area talking kindly and petting the whole time. A lot of the time when an animal has had vision at some level and starts to lose it everything is scary then. Even if it was not much vision that they had in the beginning.

I hope this helps to answer your questions and if you have any questions that I did not cover just let me know. I am not always on the forum lately with a heavy load right now so if I don't respond fast you can always email or pm me too. I spent about 13 to 15 years helping blind/vision impaired horses, I may not know everything but I have handled a lot of unusual situations.

Now on feeding differences as the mentioned above sheep/lambs don't get copper so you would need to supply a goat mineral that you can find at your local farm store/co-op etc. Wormer dosage is a bit different so you can check out the fiasco farm page to know what dose for what brand you use http://fiascofarm.com/goats/wormers.htm

I know when I use ivermectin in the sheep the percentage is 0.08% for sheep when it is 1.0% for the goats. If you vaccination use a basic CD&T and not the Covexin 8. The Covexin 8 has things in it the goats do not need and if you use it you will most likely get a reaction either at the injection site or some times an allergic reaction. Goats and Sheep both can have kelp which in my opinion keeps them healthy and happy.

I love the pictures as your little one is cute as a button. Keep up the good work!


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