[RKAcresGoats]

I'm a junior Nigerian Dwarf Breeder. Last month my doe kidded for the first time. B1 was born an hour before the B2 and B3, B2 and B3 were up and nursing within a couple of minutes while B1 just lay there. My doe licked and pawed at her trying to get her up and we tryed to help her stand up but she just couldn't. We took B1 in the house and fed her with an eye dropper for the first 2 days. Still no standing, she had floppy ears and a "floppy" neck. On day three we were able to get her to nurse from the bottle and with help she could stand up and sort of control her head.
We've given her all kinds of kid supplements and she seems to have developed normally other than the fact she's half the size of her sisters, still has the greyish eyes of a newborn and is still wobbly at a month old. She has good eyesight and hearing and is EXTREMLY smart. Her only hold back is that she'll get up and walking but then lose her balance and start spinning around until she falls down. Her eyes are steady, no bouncing.

Do you have any sugestions??


P.S. I tried putting this in the Health section but it wouldn't let me

 

[doublebowgoats]

This is the right place to put your post. I am sorry you are having trouble with your baby. You mentioned giving supplements, did you give any selenium and vit E? There is a prescription called bo-se that can be used and can help in these situations, but if you don't have access to that, you can get a selenium gel for goats online on Jeffer's or Hoegger's, ValleyVet, etc...This may help her. At this point, i wouldn't give her anything else but milk and the Selenium gel or bo-se. She is probably eating grain and alfalfa at this point too, or at least she should have access to it, but I wouldn't give her any nutridrench or things like that. Also wondering if a vet has looked at her. Around here we don't have many good goat vets and have to do most things ourselves, but if you have one, he might be able to help.

 

[hsmomof4]

Agreed with everything Michelle said (and the Health and Wellness section is a reference section, so yes, this is where to ask your questions.)

 

[RKAcresGoats]

Thank you for your reply! We have taken her to a vet, the vet really had no idea what to do when we took her, other than selenium and vit E... For the first 2 weeks she recieved a little bit of probiotic paste but now we have been giving her nutri-drench as it was high in selenium and vit E.

We have offered her alfalfa and grain but she isn't interested. Every time she goes outside she gobbles down dirt, mulch and dried grass. We're afraid she'll get an impaction from her love of dirt so we've offered her goat minerals that I feed my adult does but she doesn't want it.

 

[RKAcresGoats]

Thank you for your reply! We have taken her to a vet, the vet really had no idea what to do when we took her, other than selenium and vit E... For the first 2 weeks she recieved a little bit of probiotic paste but now we have been giving her nutri-drench as it was high in selenium and vit E.

We have offered her alfalfa and grain but she isn't interested. Every time she goes outside she gobbles down dirt, mulch and dried grass. We're afraid she'll get an impaction from her love of dirt so we've offered her goat minerals that I feed my adult does but she doesn't want it.

Oh, we have looked a little at Bo-se but for some reason we decided against it. I'll try and convince the family to look into it again

 

[doublebowgoats]

Be sure and treat her with something to prevent coccidia and other parasites. With her weak health, she could succumb to either, even without signs of diarrhea.
It really sounds like she needs minerals, although babies tend to eat dirt and rotten logs usually anyway. Bo-se is more convenient and more easily absorbed than the gel. Did she only get one dose of selenium? She could have more at this point. I have given it several days in a row for kids that are having problems.

 

[RKAcresGoats]

Thank you everyone for your replies! We gave her many vit. e and selenium supplements but nothing really helped. She is no longer quite so wobbly and goes out with her sisters for a couple hours each day. Our only idea now is that she possibly has a pinched nerve, we're hoping that someday she will completely outgrow her wobblieness. Until then she is our little house baby!