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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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 Posted - Mar 05 2016 : 11:07:55 PM
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36 hours milk withdrawal for the Banamine. But we aren't using the milk yet for humans.
We had a rough day today. Tansy labored off and on for most of the afternoon. This evening my daughter sat down to feed Adora and saw two hooves peeking out of Tansy. I got a frantic call on my cell from the barn ... I can still run pretty fast! The first kid was wedged a bit. Tansy is small but the kid was positioned correctly. She needed help to deliver it though. I got both feet and made sure the head wasn't caught up on the top of the pelvic bone, pulling with every contraction and then resting when Tansy rested. Finally, the kid was born. Another doeling!!!!! Owen named her Jasmine. Then, I knew there was another one but Tansy's contractions slowed. Finally another hoof popped out but this time there were problems. No head and this was not a breech presentation. You can tell by the way the hooves present. I had to reach in, gloved and lubed, to feel things out. The head was turned back. My heart sank. The sac had already broken and I did not know if the umbilical cord was still intact or if the kid was without oxygen. I tried and tried to get that head turned. However, I was so concerned about how far I could reach in, was I going to rupture her uterus, was the baby dead or was I going to kill it??? Time to call in reinforcements. My sister (the vet) came ASAP and did the same thing I had been doing only she went further inside. We were praying out loud and comforting Tansy. My sister warned us that the kid might be dead. I sent Cecily over to check on the first kid born. My other daughter was caring for that kid. Owen had tears in his eyes and the rest of us were trying to keep it together. Finally,my friend felt movement and said the kid was alive. And, after several tense minutes the second kid was born! A buckling! We named him Tamarack. Boys get tree names.
Six doelings and one buckling ... No more kids until the 20th. This will give me time to get Marigold and Tansy back on their feet. Tansy needed some oxytocin to help stop the bleeding from the trauma to her uterus. She is also on antibiotics since we needed to enter her uterus, and more Banamine to help her with her discomfort. I'm still waiting for her afterbirth. And we put a coat on her as she was shivering a bit afterwards. So not all births are easy but I was prepared with our kidding box.
What a night! But seven babies all alive and mamas too. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
Edited by - CloversMum on Mar 06 2016 6:58:12 PM |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 06:54:37 AM
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| Sounds like you and the goats could use a rest Charlene. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 07:05:34 AM
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| charlene, i am continually impressed by your efforts. hugs to you and the family after the ordeal. and six doelings and a hardy little buck, just beautiful. |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 07:12:45 AM
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| Impressive indeed. The new additions to your goat family and the love and care given to them by their human family are wonderful. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 3:44:33 PM
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Andrea, I'd like to hear more information regarding the small ruminant birthing webinar that you are participating in this next week.
As I think about last night, I was doing the correct thing ... just not enough, reaching far enough into Tansy's uterus, pushing the kids' feet backwards, etc. I really wish there were goat mannequins that we could practice on, cow mannequins too! With a calf or kid dummy that we would feel out the parts inside the fake uterus and practice delivering different positioned animals. Call me crazy! But I want to know the feel BEFORE the emergency strikes. How far can a person reach into the uterus without rupturing the uterine wall on a goat or cow? I can read and look at diagrams but it usually doesn't say the length or more specific details. I know each animal is unique; however, there must an average of everything.
Wishful thinking and I'll be talking all this through with my sister |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 6:57:45 PM
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Here are my goat kids that were born last night ... the little buckling loved to snuggle in my lap and then his sister joined him.
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 06 2016 : 6:59:43 PM
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| MaryJane, the milk withdrawal time is 36 hours for Banamine ... I said the wrong time in an earlier post which I edited. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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Andrea0509
155 Posts
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Posted - Mar 07 2016 : 08:44:51 AM
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Charlene you have done such a wonderful job through the entire birthing process. It's been a great learning experience for myself in just reading through your posts :) And you're right, mannequins would be useful!
The birth management webinar is this week, March 9th. The online registration is closed but you can still call or email them to see if you can sign up. It's a free class. http://agrinews-pubs.com/Content/Auction-Calendar/Livestock/Article/Webinar-to-address-kidding-and-lambing-/15/7/14424
I also just registered for a seminar at Michigan State University this weekend on sheep & goats that I'm really looking forward to! Thankful to live nearby to a great university that offers classes like this. Very similar to your WSU with a veterinary college, agricultural programs and other resources through the Extension. |
Hobby farming with my husband & two kids in beautiful Michigan ~ 1 Jersey; Miss Persimmon, 2 Olde English Southdown ewes; Lula & Clementine, and chickens to come Spring 2016. Loving the adventure! |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 07 2016 : 5:55:52 PM
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Tansy has a retained placenta ... I'm posting more details about this because as goats are small ruminants, perhaps it can relate and help with cow deliveries as well.
According to the WSU vets and my sister, Tansy will continue to be on the antibiotic Naxcel and pain/fever reducer Banamine. Placentas are normally delivered a few hours after birth. If it is longer than 12 hours, then it is considered retained. Tansy has had a retained placenta for almost 72 hours. Never cut or pull on the placenta. The weight of it helps to naturally detach. And pulling on it can cause permanent damage or fresh bleeding in the uterus. I was advised to do an uterine flush every day to wash out any detached tissue. The flush is an IV bag filled with 0.9% sodium chloride with added chlarohex (sp) and I insert the IV line into Tansy's vulva into her cervix which is still slightly open at this point.
She's acting fine so far, although this morning she wasn't quite as chipper. I take her temperature a few times daily and she has not yet had a fever which is a very good sign. I will need to continue to be vigilant in my care for her and my observations.
Two possible reasons for her retained placenta are a poorly positioned kid which required human assistance inside the womb and manually trying to stretch her when I thought she was overdue (which she actually wasn't ... I had messed up her breeding dates). My sister thinks that I can still breed her next fall ... I really cannot afford to keep her without her milk production. But I am still thinking about it and will do more research on it. Another goat had a poorly positioned kid one year and has never had another one.
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Mar 08 2016 : 02:14:56 AM
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| Let's hope the care you're giving Tansy gets her back on her feet. Seems like with all the knowledge you're gaining, you should open up a birthing center. Any ideas how much longer her cervix will remain open/receptive to the flushing? |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 08 2016 : 1:44:27 PM
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Tansy FINALLY delivered her afterbirth last night ... a full 48 hours past the birth of her twins. She is still on uterine flushes which is the bag of saline drip with Chlorohex added to it, Naxcel IM injections, and Banamine SubQ injections.
Andrea, I was still able to sign up for the small ruminant kidding and lambing webinar that is tomorrow evening! Thanks for sharing that link!
The flushing is done with IV tubing so incredibly small ... I've flushed out goats up to five days post delivery. Not sure exactly when the cervix closes up tight, but you can tell. It seems to vary with each animal and the type or severity of the delivery that they experienced.
Tansy is acting much more chipper today although she's still calling for her babies. I still think it is due to raging hormones since she just lost her afterbirth. She's giving good milk for her babies.
In about two weeks, we'll use the milk for human consumption after we get it tested. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 09 2016 : 5:24:55 PM
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Just finished the webinar class on lambing and kidding and learned a few new things; although, most of it was review which is also a good thing.
MaryJane, I think you asked earlier about the length of time that the cervix stayed open after delivery? I asked the speaker, Dr. Jennifer Miller, that specific question. She said that it would could stay open in varying degrees up to a month after delivery! Of course, the opening significantly gets smaller and smaller as time goes on. But that explains why I can insert IV tubing when I am performing an uterine flush on my does that require a bit of extra help.
Another item that I learned was that that zoonotic diseases can be transmitted in the birthing fluids. I always gloved up when I needed to palpate but not as a normal procedure. Guess from now on, I will automatically glove up when I'm attending a birth! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 09 2016 : 5:48:46 PM
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| Andrea, were you able to log-on to the webinar? |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Mar 10 2016 : 05:22:27 AM
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Good to know about the cervix. I thought it closed up fairly soon in order to keep out bacteria. Having done a bit of AI and knowing how complicated a cow's cervix is, I was trying to picture doing that to a cow.
I was just reminding Nick the other day to wear gloves. In order to make it easy for him, I purchased several more XL boxes of disposable gloves for placing around the farm so they're more handy. Glove up! I always say. I should make one of those cute little blackboard signs to that effect. Glove Up!!!! The life you save may be your own AND the life of your cow.
Here are the gloves I like. I also put them on for cheese making. I buy a size medium for me:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CF49TYC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 10 2016 : 4:18:04 PM
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| A little blackboard sign would be a great reminder. Do you find the best price for these gloves on Amazon, MaryJane? |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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![[flourish]](/images/flourish-txt_mobius.png)
Baby goats have arrived!
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