Nutmeg’s littlest baby girl, the black one, did not make it today. I’ve never had triplets before and they were tinier than the other babies at birth. This one was nursing at first, but this morning she was weak and having trouble getting up to Nutmeg. I took her inside and started bottle feeding her, but over the course of the day, she just got weaker and weaker until she wouldn’t eat any more and then that was it…… Sigh! That is the only time I have ever lost a goat baby in quite that way. Goat babies are usually pretty strong, but this one was just too tiny….. So make that three girls and a goat burger. The rest are doing fine!
Make That Three
Feb
13
13
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cindyinohio says:
So sorry Suzanne. It is so cool having farm babies and so sad when we lose them.
On February 13, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Anita says:
DANGIT! Now I has a sad. 😥
On February 13, 2013 at 4:05 pm
STH says:
I’m so sorry, Suzanne. Life is hard sometimes. Sigh.
On February 13, 2013 at 4:39 pm
justdeborah2002 says:
I’m sorry for your loss.
But I have a question…and I really hope it doesn’t come across as insensitive, but I don’t know the answer to it.
When you have a death of livestock like this, what do you do?
Do you bury the animal on your property? Is that legal? I know in some cases you would take the animal to the vet for an autopsy, but if they pass at home….???
I’m hoping to one day have a few animals in my care, and would like to know to be prepared.
Thank you.
On February 13, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
justdeborah, hmmmm, I’m not sure I want to go into that! I hate it when people attack me. I do what =I= can do. Which doesn’t involve digging a hole.
On February 13, 2013 at 5:15 pm
nursemary says:
So sorry for you and Nutmeg. 😥
On February 13, 2013 at 5:23 pm
margiesbooboo says:
Sorry I didn’t see this post before I wrote. She was a cute little thing. I know every loss touches you hard, especially the goats. Hugs
On February 13, 2013 at 6:20 pm
MousE says:
Oh Suzanne, I’m so sorry to hear this…. I know how much you love all your animals.
On February 13, 2013 at 6:41 pm
SpinnersEndFarm says:
🙁
On February 13, 2013 at 7:15 pm
Auntie Linda says:
Sadness….my thoughts are with you.
On February 13, 2013 at 7:18 pm
tractor57 says:
Suzanne it is really easy for someone to to complain from their easy chair. Nature is as nature does.
A sad turn of events for sure. She was a cutie.
On February 13, 2013 at 7:39 pm
DancesInGarden says:
Aww, poor thing. Such pretty frosted ears, too. My daughter read this, and was sad at first, then said “Now she can eat it!” ROFL! I know. Kind of macabre. But at least she knows where her meat comes from, right?
On February 13, 2013 at 8:34 pm
farmershae says:
Sorry for the loss. I was just commenting to my husband how tough farming is and how we need to toughen up. Not just physically, but mentally. Hang in there, you’re doing a great job!
On February 13, 2013 at 8:34 pm
lovetogait says:
So sorry for your loss….I have tried to will so many babies to live…but nature selects those that will survive…but I never give up trying to assist!
On February 13, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Cheryl LeMay says:
That’s too bad. I know it’s hard when a little one dies but there was a problem with her that wasn’t obvious. You did all you could. She sure was a cutie though.
On February 13, 2013 at 9:10 pm
whaledancer says:
I’m sorry. It must be so hard, when you fall in love a little with each baby born on your farm. This is what makes me wonder if I would have the toughness needed to have livestock. Thank you for allowing us to share the sadness as well as the joy.
On February 13, 2013 at 9:26 pm
holstein woman says:
Well Suzanne, I hurt for you as I have lost babies on this farm also. Bless you and keep your chin up.
On February 13, 2013 at 10:09 pm
GrammieEarth says:
Aww, I am sorry Suzanne. I know you did all you could for the little one. I was thinking they were looking really tiny, as triplets often do, but it is hard to tell from a picture!
justdeborah2002 MY experience of ‘what happens’ may or may not be what happens with Suzanne’s losses. Small animals such as this are taken (preferably NOT farmland) and is left for the scavengers of the food chain, giving them protein and calcium. Doesn’t sound nice, and it’s not. It is reality.
Pam
On February 14, 2013 at 2:23 am
beforethedawn says:
Aww poor little baby goaty. I was just thinking of what you do with the passed on critters like this. Honestly, I feed raw “gizzards” to our dogs from the organic chickens, and the best thing to feed our cats and dogs is raw animal meat and bones. Seems a waste of food to bury a farm animal if it can feed another, no? Just thinking out loud…
On February 14, 2013 at 11:13 am
StoneSiloFarm says:
Suzanne,
I am so sorry for your loss.
We have had Nubian and Nubian-Alpine cross goats for several years, and when we have one go weak on us, we use a solution of coffee, warm water and corn syrup to try to boost them up, as well as they regularly get a shot of BoSe shortly after birth.
We have also lost our share of little ones, and it hurts every time.
Steve @ Stone Silo Farms
On February 14, 2013 at 1:08 pm
Rose H says:
Only just catching up…so sorry to read that you’ve lost this little one. Farming can be tough 😥
On February 14, 2013 at 8:20 pm
VAfarmer says:
:hug: So sorry Suzanne! It’s awful to lose them, especially when it seems so sudden and unexpected.
For the folks considering (or who have) goats, I have two thoughts that I feel could have happened here.
The first being (and I don’t know if you vaccinate your mama goats so can’t be sure) pneumonia. Baby goats can and will get pneumonia and be dead within 12-24 hours (often times without obvious symptoms). I vaccinate all my mamas at a year old, and do their annual boosters when I breed in the fall, to ensure they pass on immunity when the babies are born in the spring. If this was the case, there’s not much you could have done unless you caught it right at the outset and flooded her with antibiotics.
The other being that she wasn’t getting enough milk from Nutmeg because she was the smallest, and the others weren’t letting her. I had a very good mother birth triplets last year. The little doeling was bullied by her two brothers and didn’t get enough to eat. By the time I pulled her and started bottle-feeding, she ate way too much on the first feeding (which I didn’t know because I wasn’t sure how much she had been getting from mom) and got what ‘goat people’ call “floppy kid syndrome”, meaning when she over-ate, her body reacted as if it was poison, and her whole system went septic. My future strategy is to pull one kid if any of my mothers birth trips again, and start bottle feeding immediately after they have the opportunity to get some colostrum from mom (even milking her and giving it to the baby if necessary).
Not everyone manages their animals this way, but I just wanted to put it out there, in case it helps someone. Again, so sorry for your loss Suzanne! I am starting my kidding in about a month, so I’m sure I will have many a late night, and will pray I don’t lose any this year.
On February 15, 2013 at 9:21 am