Comments on: Survival: Caring for Orphan Lambs and Kids

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:58:49 +0000

1becca, sounds like you have your hands full. Bloat has always been a hard thing to deal with – sad experience, big knowledge gain. What you are doing is on target but I’m sure you know each birth and baby are different. Good luck in days to come!!!

By: 1becca

1becca — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:32:19 +0000

I have 2 goat babies in my house right now. We heat cold babies in a warm bathtub. I make sure to use iodine on the navel afterwards and give an antibiotic shot also. After the kid/lamb is warm,dry with the hairdryer on low and held away from the babies. Sometimes I get the kids back to mom and she accepts them, sometimes it’s just to cold or too long to try.
I have lost some babies in the past to bloat. Be sure not to mix the formula too strong. I even add a little extra water. If you catch it right away, Pepto will help take away bloat. Have your vet or feed store owner show you where to use a needle to release bloat well before you have a problem. Tubing can release bloat too if it’s not too bad. I have learned so much from lost kids, mostly that it really hurts and every one we save is a victory.

By: Diane McIntyre

Diane McIntyre — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:44:41 +0000

Oh, what memories!! We always had lambs, kids, and calves – even piggies – in the kitchen in the spring. Our Main Coon cat, the oldest of our pet family, would jump over the baby gate (wondered why I kept it after our daughter was grown), approach the newbie, give it a really good sniff-up, hiss loudly, smack them on the snout, turn, and jump back over the gate. It was his way of letting the newbies know that he was the alpha “whatever”. The only time he didn’t evoke his seniority was when my husband brought our donkey up the back porch and into the kitchen so I could clean and medicate scratches on her upper lip. I had the flu and couldn’t go outside. The donkey wouldn’t let my husband touch her lip. In August 2007, we had to put our sweet Puddy Tat down. At 12, he developed hyperthyroidism and, as hard as we tried, we could not regulate the right dose of meds. Besides the “livestock”, he “showed the ropes” to 8 dogs and 5 cats. To ever imagine that someone had thrown him away still boggles my mind.

By: Patty MorningRamble

Patty MorningRamble — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:47:21 +0000

Have done it many times. We have a special baby play pen that we use for raising our “kids” the first few days of life. Since we have always milked our goats, we take the kids from the mother at birth and care for them.
One day a woman came to the door to buy some of my home made soap and she saw the corner of the pink and blue playpen and heard tiny cries. Sure that we must have a new baby of the human variety, she asked to see the new babies. I hadn’t caught on that she thought they were human babies, and assumed she knew they were goat babies. She walked through the door, ready to do the ohhs and awws of seeing a sweet baby and shrieked a bit at the sight of 4 new born “kids”.
We raised more than a couple lambs this way too. But like AmazingGraze said, we are always glad when they are ready for barn life with the others !

By: suesteiner

suesteiner — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:31:09 +0000

I enjoyed reading of your adventures in your kitchen! This brought back some fond and some heartwrenching memories of all the baby lambs and kids (and kittens, birds, pups, calves and foals) I have nursed along. I had a few years off but this spring I am eagerly anticpating some more furry babies! Thanks for sharing.

By: AmazingGraze

AmazingGraze — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:17:55 +0000

Yes we could. We have had to do that for several of our lambs and also we did it on purpose with out baby goats. It is fun, but I am always glad when they are able to join the others.