Welcome to the world, Edward Jacob.

[Dakota Sunrise]

Well we had our first goat kidding of the year yesterday afternoon. I missed the birth but I came down to do chores around 4:30 and found the kids not too long after they had been born.
The one kid, a doe, was stillborn I think. She was gone when I found her.:( I've raised animals since I was 5 years old and growing up on a farm means death is a part of life that you see too often. When you are surrounded by lots of animals all the time things happen that somtimes can't be helped. But I never have been able to accept that, I'm too softheared to be a real farmer. Finding that little one dead just about broke my heart.:cry:
But, since there is nothing I can do about the doe kid, I'm just going to focus on little EJ. He's doing well. His real name is Edward Jacob, which seems like a big name for such a little guy but I'm obsessed with the Twilight Saga and that name is mentioned in Breaking Dawn, lol.:p

His mom is having some trouble with her milk... her bag is hard and full and doesn't feel right but only a tiny bit of milk is in the teats.:huh: Edward is getting a little bit but I took a bottle with milk replacer down to him this afternoon because he seems hungry. We fought through one ounce before we got frustrated with each other and gave up. Most of it went down his front and my arm but he drank about half of it, and towards the end I actually had him sucking and swallowing. He'll get the idea eventually.
Jenna (his mama) had this problem last year too, but it resolved itself after a while. I wanted to call the vet but my mom said no and we went back on forth on it for a long time. Now history is repeating itself and I'm once again all for calling the vet and asking his opinion and seeing if he has any idea why she is having this problem and if there's anything we can do about it. Vet visits are really expensive, but we can't have little EJ going hungry. So now it looks like I'll be bottle feeding him which wasn't something we planned on. Fortunately for EJ I love bottle feeding and he's a cute little guy, lol.
We won't be breeding Jenna again though, I already told my mom that. Which is a shame because she is full Alpine and so is our buck and they have the prettiest kids together, but I'm not playing this milk game again another year.

I tried to get some pics today. He wasn't being real cooperative and they kept coming out blurry but I got a few.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/dakota_92_2007/EJ028.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/dakota_92_2007/EJ026.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/dakota_92_2007/EJ022.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/dakota_92_2007/EJ019.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/dakota_92_2007/EJ008.jpg

[WashingtonBay]

Lil Monster! :) Sorry about the other lil one, :( And I hope mom is OK.

[oursarge]

What a little cutie! I love the black & white ones. I want goats so badly but am too afraid of loosing them to the coyotes or bobcats. I am also too softhearted to be a real farmer. People down the road raise sheep and loose lambs all the time and it's just a way of life for them, for me it's more heartache. I'm so sorry you lost one. I am glad this little buckaroo is doing fine though. He's so sweet.

[jeezitsjacki]

what a cutie.. I love his facial markings

[lovesfortune]

Hmmm... Edward Jacob. I knew right away you were a Twilight fan! ;) Cute little guy!

[Gypsy Rose]

Awww! He's cute! So sorry you lost the other one!

[firstlovesong]

So cute!!! I love it. We used to have baby goats I miss them!

[pandorasmom]

He's adorable, and I love the name!!! :d Congrats!! We've had some complications with several of our pregnant does, and we won't be having many if any kids this year. :(

Hope you don't mind If I run across a few things here incase something may help.
Regarding mom's bag, if it's hard, is it possible she could Mastitis? Can you get anything at all out of her bag? If you can, is it just milk, or is it stringy,bloody, thick, etc.?
We've dealt with Mastitis before and with her bag being hard, and her being Full Alpine, I was wondering if she had it. Regardless, some goats can just get a hard "congested" udder and it be nothing, so it may not even be Mastitis. Here's a great link. Not sure if you've seen it yet or not, but I thought you might like to read it, Molly's a great gal:
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/mastitis.htm

I hope things go smoothly for you! Congrats again. :)

[Dakota Sunrise]

Thanks everyone.:)


He's adorable, and I love the name!!! :d Congrats!! We've had some complications with several of our pregnant does, and we won't be having many if any kids this year. :(

Hope you don't mind If I run across a few things here incase something may help.
Regarding mom's bag, if it's hard, is it possible she could Mastitis? Can you get anything at all out of her bag? If you can, is it just milk, or is it stringy,bloody, thick, etc.?
We've dealt with Mastitis before and with her bag being hard, and her being Full Alpine, I was wondering if she had it. Regardless, some goats can just get a hard "congested" udder and it be nothing, so it may not even be Mastitis. Here's a great link. Not sure if you've seen it yet or not, but I thought you might like to read it, Molly's a great gal:
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/mastitis.htm

I hope things go smoothly for you! Congrats again. :)

Thanks for the link, Pandora! My first though was mastitis but I'm not sure. Her milk is normal and there is a little tiny bit in her teats. But her bag is hard and lumpy feeling, not normal at all. It doesn't seem to bother her-- we've tried to massage it which isn't helping-- but I sure wish I could so something about it so her milk would come in and little EJ could nurse.:(

[Dakota Sunrise]

I just looked up treatments for mastitis and found an all-natural option (they say it can't really be treated with medicine?). Don't know if it's worth a try or not and I'm a little concerned to give her anything out of the ordinary since Edward Jacob is still nursing from her a little bit...

This is the remedy I found: The treatment of mastitis in goats may not always be satisfactory, because the organisms causing mastitis in goats are among the most difficult to kill with medication. the best Natural treatment, is to give 2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar, twice daily. Add the following herbs to the animals diet. Mix any or all of the following, and give one handful of the mix, twice daily, for 7 days. Thyme, Garlic, Rosemary, Oregano, Sage, Mustard seeds.

I also found this salve. Which I know my mom won't agree to order (and we kind of need it now anyway so I can't really blame her there) but maybe it can be found somewhere else, like at a feed store or something.. http://fiascofarm.com/herbs/oils.htm#mastitis

[shewasmyshadow]

Okay, I am not a big goat fan BUT my mom is. That said I've dealt with that utter problem before. Our female was never bred but her milk kept coming in like she was. So we'd have to milk her down. Anyways, before we knew what we were doing she got all hard with milk and the vet came out. Somehow he was able to massage those lumps and milk them out. However, he said anything that is in the utter with the lumps is not good milk. So, it's probably better you bottle feed anyways. If I were you I'd try again to milk out the clots. It can be done, but it's hard to do. Also, they do have shots for that problem. You vet might just give you a couple doses and let you do it. You just poke the needle up in the teat.

[JackieB]

He's an adorable little guy. And you're just the best goat mommy/garegiver! Bless you for caring so much about them. I love goats.

[PoniesRock101]

Cute little think Lizzy :) Havn't had a chance to read everything else. Sorry bout the still born, I know thats alwys hard.

[pandorasmom]

My sister had a doe get Mastitis once. I had to kinda tell her what needed to be done so I'll try to remember it all.
I used a CMT kit to see if it was that. It indeed was. I think we ended up treating her with warm compresses held on her udder atleast two times a day for atleast 5 minutes, 10(or more) if she'd let us, gave her a round of penn shots,and milked whatever we could get from her into a cup(threw the milk out afterwards). The milk is not good, and therefore we didn't want the other does or babies coming in contact with it. Once we did that we'd clean her teats off real well(with a teat cleaner), and then rub peppermint oil on her bag. The Peppermint oil is very expensive. For a little 1/4 oz bottle (I think that was the size), it was like 3 dollars I think. During all of this we did pull her kid, so the kid wasn't getting any of this near it. Her's was a bad case of Mastitis. She was a milk goat(half alpine half saanen).
They recommend pulling the kid if the doe has mastitis, however since you don't know for sure if that's it or not, I'd definately not pull him unless ya just have to or you find out she does have it. The reason they recommend pulling them is because the milk is basically infection and could make the baby sick.

The home remedy treatment you found, I personally would give a whirl. It seems all natural and none of that should hurt her even if it's not Mastitis.
I also have found this a while back on a natural goat website:
"For treatment of Mastitis: Garlic, echinacea, and ginger given frequently is the best treatment internally. Hot compresses can help when applied directly to the udder, afterwards rub in some peppermint oil to stimulate the blood vessels within. Good nutrition prior to freshening will help to prevent this from occurring, as well as good nutrition (free choice minerals, quality forage) during the entire lactation. To avoid the painful swollen udder that might occur when trying to dry off or wean the does, sage given dry or fresh, free choice or added to the water, will help a great deal to dry up the milk. If you have a set weaning date for your kids, it would be wise to add sage to the water for those mothers a few days in advance of that date."

The Sage will help dry her milk up, and I've heard Vitamin C sometimes does. So I wouldn't give her that if there's a chance she could get over this and be fine, while still giving milk to EJ.
I hope that makes some sense. I know for me it's overwhelming in dealing with anything like this, but if there's something I can help with I'll try my best to help. :)

Also, I completely got wrapped up talking about Mastitis, and failed to mention how sorry I am about the stillborn. I know it's not easy, but I hope EJ helps fill the void some, and from the sounds of it, he will. ;)

[pandorasmom]

I went digging through my old records and back on February 15,2006 it was 1.49 for the .04 ml (I think that was the size) bottle. It doesn't list the size of it on the receipt, and I have the bottles downstairs locked in the goat cabinet.
Dad picked it up for me from A.C. Moore. I had him get it for one of my goat's who is pure Nubian because I wanted to have it incase she had problems. She ended up not having problems, so when my sister's goat got sick I let her use some. It doesn't take alot of it. So one bottle may do you if you were to get it. You know what they say, A little dab'll do ya.

ETA: Did some more digging and went to AC Moore's website. This (http://www.acmoore.com/p-31506-candy-baking-flavoring-oil-0125-ounce-bottle-2pkg-peppermint-oil.aspx) is the exact kind(brand,size,etc.) I have, I just didn't get it in the twin pack, cause they didn't have it like that.

[Fjords <3]

Aw what a CUTIE!! And I love the name XD

[Gliderider]

Aw he is soo cute..

[CaddoCinnamon]

I love little kids. He is so adorable beautiful markings. I hope that moms milk comes in better in the next couple of days.

[offgridgirl]

What a good looking "kid"!! Congrats on EJ....RIP little doe!:(

[Country Girl 43]

What a cutie... but dump the Jacob... Team Edward all the way!!! :)

[XshadowfoxX]

Im voting Jacob. =P
adorable kid.

[iluvbo]

Awww how cute!!! Next time you have a girl goat, you can name her Renesmee and call her Nessie. Haha! :)

[Dakota Sunrise]

Thanks everyone!:)


What a cutie... but dump the Jacob... Team Edward all the way!!! :)

Never!!!!!!:nono: My mom is Team Edward, but I'm totally Team Jacob. I run with the Wolves.:cool:

Next time you have a girl goat, you can name her Renesmee and call her Nessie. Haha!

Hehe, I said the same thing right after EJ was born.:p

[Dakota Sunrise]

Little Update:

EJ is officially on the bottle. He's still with his mom but she doesn't really have any milk for him so I'm feeding him the saw way I always feed bottle babbies. He still isn't too sure what to think of the whole thing, but I have him drinking 4 to 6 ounces at a time now without much trouble so he's catching on. Give him another couple days and he'll love me and come running to get his bottle, lol.:p

I took a couple more pics yesterday. (ignore his crazy eyes in the first pic, lol.)
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1198&pictureid=16759

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1198&pictureid=16758

He thinks she has milk but he's not getting much. I think he nurses more for reasurance than food since I just got done feeding him from the bottle when I took these pictures. It's a real shame Jenna is having trouble with her milk because she's such a good mommy to him.
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1198&pictureid=16760

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1198&pictureid=16761

[CaddoCinnamon]

They are both adorable goats. I love goat babies.

[Scout1026]

What a cutie!!! I LOVE the name!!! Sorry to hear about the other one... :-(

[Nudge_gurl58]

Aww he is so cute!! Sorry to hear about the stillborn, I love his name by the way :)

[Country Girl 43]

Never!!!!!!:nono: My mom is Team Edward, but I'm totally Team Jacob.




hmmm.... I really like your mom! She has good taste... rofl!! :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: I just thought of how that sounded... hahahaha

EJ is a cutie! Love his markings!

[Gypsy Rose]

Glad he's taking to the bottle well! He's sure a cutie!

[Tiz]

Dakota, mastitis hurts, and it creates heat, from the infection. She wouldn't be able to stand having her teats touched, it's that painful.

I wonder if you could try to milk her out. If her bag was emptied, then she may produce milk normally. I wonder if there is anything you can inject into her teats, that would soften up whatever is in there? Maybe you could google her symptoms and figure it out.

Sure is a cute little guy, and pretty mama. Pretty serious name though, I must say!

[pandorasmom]

I personally think it depends on the goat as to how much they can handle. The doe that my sis had who had it, handled it well. She wasn't thrilled no, but alot of goats aren't thrilled with you touching them. lol :p

There is a medicine called Tomorrow or Today (it's a medicine for Cows I believe), and I've known some people who used it and injected it into the teat. I've never done it so I can't say how or what to do, I just know some people who have done it.

PVFB, I'm glad he seems to be taking to the bottle. He sure is a cutie, and momma is so pretty!! :) Good luck with him and please keep us posted.

[Arrow]

Wow, he's adorable! Sorry that you lost the other one, but glad that this little boy is thriving!

[vicklynn]

OH my gosh, he is adorable!! If I were to own a goat, it would be him.

[Dakota Sunrise]

Thanks.:) He's over 4 weeks old now and growing soooo fast. He's huge!:p I really need to get some new pictures of him. He's a cutie.:D

[Dakota Sunrise]

Wow, I just checked the calander (sp?) and he's actually going to be SIX WEEKS OLD on Wednesday!:eek: Omg, little Edward Jacob is growing up so fast!

[vicklynn]

And the new pics are Where?

[Dakota Sunrise]

And the new pics are Where?

Right here!:D http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/showthread.php?p=293797#post293797