Sometime here in the barn bad things happen even when you have taken every precaution possible to ensure every animals safety. Sometime the animals have different ideas. In late January when all our kids were being born we had one such incident that has caused a lasting effect on one of the kids.
One of our mommy goats decided to have her kid a few weeks early. This came as a surprise to all of us as she showed no signs of being ready to deliver. Every pen we have set up has a shelter but this doe decided to attempt her first delivery outside vs. in the provided shelter. Because we were unaware she was going to deliver so early we had not moved her to a birthing stall in the barn. This doe also belonged to one of the youngest 4H members we have been helping with her breeding project. As a mentor it is hard when something awful happens to one of the kids you are helping.
Unfortunately, this kid was born outside in the snow which resulted in some issues with frostbite. This was our first experience with frostbite and what a lesson it has been. I decided to discuss this with you because he recently lost part of each of his ears due to the frostbite.
We were all very fortunate he only experienced frostbite on his ears and not his legs as this would have been more life threating. Once we found him in the snow we rushed him and his mother into a stall in the barn. They were both placed under a heat lamp. The kid was wrapped in a blanket to help warm him. We knew within days that he had frostbite because his ears began to swell. Once the swelling went down we noticed the tips of his ears were dead. This last week the tips started to fall off.
This isn't our goat but this is very similar to how his ears look.
This has been a very upsetting series of events for us here in the barn but it has also been a very educational experience. First thing you must do if you expect frostbite: start to warm the animal. You will want to warm slowly and provide a warm place for them to rest. Second: watch the progress of the impacted area. We have inspected his ears daily since his birth. We have watched to be sure he is healthy and eating appropriately. Fortunately for this little kid he has been very healthy other than his ears. He has been gaining weight and is very strong. Third: When the ears come off you want to monitor for a clean break. If they come off leaving an open wound you will want to be sure to treat the wound. We were very luck with our kid that they came off in a clean break. The good news for this whole event is he only lost the tips of his ears, not his whole ear.
Many things can go wrong in the barn and while most of what we experience is the joy of watching each of the kids grow and develop sometimes these life lessons are also priceless. I would like to say Marica has done an amazing job not giving up hope on her little kid and she has decided even with his ear issues she will still show him at fair.
From My Barn 2 Yours
Bradley
