This winter, my plans of 'kidding with the seasons' fell apart. Thinking my girls were all settled, I ran the bucks until early October. November went by with no kids on the ground, and as late December came around, udders swelled. Luckily, in between the nights at 20 degrees, there was a warm spell. Our babies on the ground were tucked neatly away in a 'lambing jug' with a creep and thermostatically controlled heat lamp. The girls were given additional rations of grain and Crystalyx Sheeplyx. This unfortunately removed our Certified Naturally Grown status, but I knew my lactating girls couldn't find the usual nutrition out on our pastures and woods at this time of year. One kid was born in the cold and promptly froze due to our lack of assistance and the dam's kidding spot choice. One kid was lost to the cold on a balmy 9 degree evening.

Disaster struck when one of the favorite doelings was found limp and wobbly. We brought her inside, immediately dunked her in a hot bath. Temperature rectally read 98, which is, in goat health, dead (Your goat should be 102-103 degrees). After what seemed like forever, actually 30 minutes in a hot water submersion - her temperature was 100 degrees. Then the treatment began. Not knowing the root cause of her condition, we concentrated on hydration first.

I'm not big on endorsing specific products; in fact, I'm more of suggesting specific plants from my herbal remedy cabinet. But Manna Pro's Bounce Back was indeed a lifesaver. I will never be without this inexpensive, yet very effective product in my first aid kit. As soon as the kid was holding up her head relatively well, I drenched her with ½ a cup of this product, mixed in warm water. Her temperature soared. After the drenching, I also injected the doeling with Vitamin B Complex AND C&D Antitoxin. ProBios daily was also used. After about 5 days of monitoring, she was released back with the herd.

Upon observation, I realized the doe was being pushed off by her much larger twin brother. She was not getting as much of mom's milk. I began supplementing her with a bottle 3x a day until she caught up.

This incident could have been prevented if I had been weighing the kids more often. I have since gone from a loose 'when I have time' schedule to once a week weigh-ins. This not only has helped more accurately represent ADG's, but enables me to catch potential problems.

- Andrea Minicozzi, A Rare Breed (www.arare-breed.net)