# Baby Boer goat cannot stand



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

Hello,

I have a new Boer goat doeling who is unable to stand. She is one of triplets, her sister did not make it but her brother is thriving out with mom. She was born on 11/30/17 in the early morning. I took her to the vet around 8 hours after birth and he gave her a shot of selenium and Vitamin E. I currently have her living in a large dog crate with a heat lamp that I have used for bottle babies previously, and I'm bottle feeding her with colostrum replacer, mixed with warm water and an ounce or so of Gatorade for the electrolytes. She appears to be a little stronger, she can support her weight for a few seconds before falling down, but cannot rise up on her own. Her appetite and sucking ability are both perfectly normal. I'm also trying to use a cardboard box so she can support her own weight, but I'm not sure if I should leave her in there or just do it in sessions. Any help y'all could give is much appreciated!


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Never mix electrolyte and milk. Give one or the other. Definitely stop the colostrum. It is only needed the first 24 hours. Just slowly switch over to whole milk from the store. I would give her a B complex shot.


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

ksalvagno said:


> Never mix electrolyte and milk. Give one or the other. Definitely stop the colostrum. It is only needed the first 24 hours. Just slowly switch over to whole milk from the store. I would give her a B complex shot.


Ok, I'll work in milk and switch her over. I will give b-complex too. Whole milk from the store preferable to a powdered milk replacer for goats? I've always used the replacer, I am definitely not an expert though.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

As long as the replacer has no soy in it. I know some people have success with replacer but I never have.


----------



## cbrossard (Oct 4, 2014)

How old is the kid now? And I always use whole milk from the store instead of the milk replacer when I have to supplement.


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

So she was born like this? The vet did a great job with the selenium and vitamin E, now she just needs to work on getting stronger and her legs under her. This is not a very uncommon thing to happen with triplets. A few years back every single set of triplets I had one that couldn’t stand. Even had one poor little guy that would drag his back legs for a week!
Keep putting baby on her feet and steady her. I have found that this has helped out a lot! The more often you can do it the better


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

cbrossard said:


> How old is the kid now? And I always use whole milk from the store instead of the milk replacer when I have to supplement.


She's roughly 3 days old now, she was born on 11/30/17, so Thursday this past week.


----------



## PippasCubby (May 13, 2015)

Is she improving? I would expect to see some improvement over the course of a couple days.

I often will have kids that have trouble standing, especially their first day. Some take a little longer than others, but as long as they are getting fed, are staying warm and are getting up and using their legs, they are usually better in no time.

My personal preference is a goat-kid-specific milk replacer. I like Land'O'Lakes Doe's Match.


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Did the dead doeling look fully developed? Did she have hair?


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Did the dead doeling look fully developed? Did she have hair?


Yes, she was I think fully developed. She had all her hair as well, she was delivered live and could stand up, but refused to eat. We tried to use a syringe to oral drench her with colostrum/milk to no avail and she died the first night, a little over 12 hours later. If we had been able to tube feed her she may have survived a little longer, but we were completely unprepared and it was too late by the time we could try it.


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

PippasCubby said:


> Is she improving? I would expect to see some improvement over the course of a couple days.
> 
> I often will have kids that have trouble standing, especially their first day. Some take a little longer than others, but as long as they are getting fed, are staying warm and are getting up and using their legs, they are usually better in no time.
> 
> My personal preference is a goat-kid-specific milk replacer. I like Land'O'Lakes Doe's Match.


She seems to be more stable when she is put into a standing position. Minor improvement but there is some. She is about 3 days old. She's warm and her appetite is just fine. Now when I pick her up and set her on her legs, she seems to hold herself up but cannot take any kind of steps. Yesterday she would just collapse flat. I'm using a cardboard box wider than her body and placing her in there for a few minutes every 4 or so hours, which lets her brace her legs against the sides of the box and stand up on them to make her muscles work. When she lies back down, she still ends up splayed out almost like a starfish with her legs straight despite trying to stand.


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Does the doeling have a swollen thyroid gland?


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Does the doeling have a swollen thyroid gland?


Not at all from what I can tell, nothing seems swollen in her neck


----------



## PippasCubby (May 13, 2015)

Sounds like you are taking care of her well. Make sure she is eating enough so that she has the energy to get better. My rule of thumb is to feed approximately 20% of their body weight over a 24 hour period (some need more, some need less). When they are this young, I like to break it into 5-6 feedings a day. It sounds like she will get better.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Hugs! You are doing great. Here is what I think.

I've never had any kind of luck with replacer, not even with calves. Goat milk from another goat (not from the store) Whole milk from the store (or a cow, if you are so lucky) with a bit of buttermilk (from the store, not a churn) mixed in.

During the day, can you drape her over something, like an upside down shoe box, for a few hours? Getting on her feet and standing may be easier from an almost-standing position. Then when she can't stand any longer, she'll collapse into an almost-standing position again. It may help.

Last thing has nothing to do with this time, only next time. To me, it sounds like your doe was selenium deficient during the pregnancy. Next time, more attention to that may head off a lot of this problem? I'm not faulting you, really I'm not. SO much of my education has been for "Next Time"

Just, If I don't make note of it "This Time" I may forget next time.

She is going to be very precious to you by the time you get her up and jumping like a normal kid. And she will. Hang in there.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All have great advice, praying for the little one.


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

Thank you so much to everyone!! She is doing better at standing so far, she seems to be getting stronger each time I feed her and able to use her back legs more, her front legs are still pretty weak but improving. I gave her a B-complex shot last night as well. She's on milk replacer currently because we had it, but I have no problem switching to whole cows milk from the store, if you think her gut can handle a switch. I noticed this morning her poop is runny and yellow, still fairly thick but looks like scours. Any ideas what I should be doing for her? Her appetite for the replacer seems to be completely normal, do I need to put her back on just electrolytes for a day or so? Thanks again in advance to everyone.


----------



## RockinRRanch (Dec 2, 2017)

mariarose said:


> Hugs! You are doing great. Here is what I think.
> 
> I've never had any kind of luck with replacer, not even with calves. Goat milk from another goat (not from the store) Whole milk from the store (or a cow, if you are so lucky) with a bit of buttermilk (from the store, not a churn) mixed in.
> 
> ...


Thank you. I will try to get her over a shoe box to keep her legs up. She's pretty feisty, she wants to stand and she's able to crawl along the ground so it's not a lack of will. I saw on another page that putting her inside a box will help as well, as she can use the edges to support herself and we've been doing that for a few minutes every feeding time.

As for next time, I'm planning on giving a selenium booster during pregnancy. One of our does hasn't been able to conceive, so it's possible she is deficient as well. Also I'm going to get our soil tested to see the levels and put out free choice minerals. I'm still learning, so this has definitely helped a lot. Thank you


----------



## PippasCubby (May 13, 2015)

Glad to hear she is getting better. Yellow poop is normal for a milk fed kid. As long as her poop has fair consistency to it, I would not switch to electrolytes. Even my dam raised kids poops vary consistency sometime. I would keep her on the same feed for a little bit so that her stomach can adjust. In the meantime, do your research and decide what is best for you as far as feeding goes. You'll likely find a 50/50 split on the whole milk or replacer debate, so you need to do what makes sense, and is best for you and your situation.

I was thinking along the same lines as mariarose about the selenium deficiency so I am glad she mentioned it. Free choice minerals, testing and boosters are a great idea.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

RockinRRanch said:


> I noticed this morning her poop is runny and yellow, still fairly thick but looks like scours.


Newborn poop is paste-like in consistency and a mustard yellow color. It can actually paste things shut back there so keep it cleaned off. Good moms will keep it licked clean (no, you are still a good mom if you don't do that)

Is that what you are seeing?


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

We invite you to join the discussion about mineral mixes on this thread, if you like

https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/excellent-minerals-you-know-how-i-love-me-those-minerals.194612/


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with what has been said.

Yes, do the switch to whole milk, the powder milk may be causing more liquid like stool.


----------

