Hi all,
We had a surprise pregnancy, and our netherland dwarf delivered 2 kits yesterday, one was a stillborn. The surviving one seems to be lively, kicking about and wriggling when we handle it.
The doe seems calm at the moment, loafing around all over the place. She hasn't fed the baby yet (checked for full stomach and firm skin) and it's been about 22 hours since birth. She had trouble finding the kit at first (kept hopping all over the nest box and looking around it) so we took the nest box out and kept it with us for the night. When we put the kit back into the cage this morning, mother goes over and starts to lick it, I think? makes a little burrow in the fur and hay for it, anyway. At first, though, she seemed to take fur in her mouth and go into the corner and ... eat it? We were very confused.
We're hoping she feeds the baby tonight, but I checked her teats just now and whilst they're way larger than they were before the pregnancy, they're also... dark? I've read about mastitis, and they don't seem to have a blue-ish tinge to them, she's been active enough during the day, I think, but barely touched her hay. Seems to drink plenty of water. We filled up her food bowl again this evening and she's eaten a bit but not as much as I expected. Also gave her curly kale and a bit of spinach.
Anyway, there's no inflammation or redness around the nipples, its just the teats are dark and I'm worried that they're infected or dirty.
While I'm here - I'm also a little worried that the baby might not be able to stay warm as there's only one of it, and I've read a lot about how several babies are important for preserving heat.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
I've got a photo of her teat here
http://imgur.com/a/Fcmn8VO
Thanks
We had a surprise pregnancy, and our netherland dwarf delivered 2 kits yesterday, one was a stillborn. The surviving one seems to be lively, kicking about and wriggling when we handle it.
The doe seems calm at the moment, loafing around all over the place. She hasn't fed the baby yet (checked for full stomach and firm skin) and it's been about 22 hours since birth. She had trouble finding the kit at first (kept hopping all over the nest box and looking around it) so we took the nest box out and kept it with us for the night. When we put the kit back into the cage this morning, mother goes over and starts to lick it, I think? makes a little burrow in the fur and hay for it, anyway. At first, though, she seemed to take fur in her mouth and go into the corner and ... eat it? We were very confused.
We're hoping she feeds the baby tonight, but I checked her teats just now and whilst they're way larger than they were before the pregnancy, they're also... dark? I've read about mastitis, and they don't seem to have a blue-ish tinge to them, she's been active enough during the day, I think, but barely touched her hay. Seems to drink plenty of water. We filled up her food bowl again this evening and she's eaten a bit but not as much as I expected. Also gave her curly kale and a bit of spinach.
Anyway, there's no inflammation or redness around the nipples, its just the teats are dark and I'm worried that they're infected or dirty.
While I'm here - I'm also a little worried that the baby might not be able to stay warm as there's only one of it, and I've read a lot about how several babies are important for preserving heat.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
I've got a photo of her teat here
http://imgur.com/a/Fcmn8VO
Thanks
