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Posted by Justine on February 26, 2002 at 16:52:09:
The goats that I refer to in my messages are at the small residential school where I teach. We have had 4 kiddings so far this year and are coming to the end of our season. Dixie, a gray pygmy mix went today. At 9:00 one of the houseparents brought a tiny gray kid into the classroom to show the boys that Dixie had her kid. I thought, "only one?", but didn't think much about it as I was more concerned with keeping the boys under control. The day went on as normal. After lunch, a different house parent took her 4 year old son out to see the baby goat. She said she heard something wimpering almost but it was very faint and she didn't know what it was. Underneath the pallet that we have in the goats shelter was another kid. (This is 4 hours after the birth and in the hot Florida sun) LouAnn, (the houseparent), was shaking in fear when she brought it to my classroom. I was absolutely amazed that it was alive. We milked the mom for colostrum and the kid took it immediately. I told them to continue giving it to him the next day every 15 minutes for a while, but then every hour or so. This kid is so tiny! I asked Vince, the housefather, to turn it over so I could iodine the umbillical chord. When he did he held it in the palm of his hand. It can't weigh more than a pound. Since then, it has really improved quite a bit. It is not walking just yet, but standing on it's own and doing every thing else it should. Right after we gave it colustrum we put it down an it peed. We all said, "Praise God! It works!!!"
I wanted to share this story with you all and ask for your prayers for him. Also, is there anything else that needs to be or can be done to help him? Mom has not rejected him completely. After we got him cleaned off, (he was still caked with dried gook, when we found him), and got him to stand, we reintroduced her to him and she licked him and let him nurse.
Thanks for your help and just for listening, I called my husband and my mom from work, but I really wanted to share this story with those who would really appreciate it!!!
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