Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Birth Story

Before going to bed last night I went out to check on Piper one last time. I looked through the window with my flashlight and saw that she jumped out of her nest box looking stressed. I didn't see any fluffy hair or anything to indicate something was different but deceided to go in and check anyway. I think my heart stopped a beat when I pulled her nestbox out to see 4 kits inside with NO hay or NO hair pulled to keep them warm. Piper had peed on them and they were ice cold. She had 1 giant(REW), 1 peanut(REW), 2 normals(1 REW, 1 Siamese Sable). The giant and normal REW baby were obviously dead as they were blue and very stiff. So I immediately scooped the peanut and sable baby up and put them under my shirt against my skin for warmth. I thought the sable baby was a gonner for sure as it took him a long time to start moving. The most vibrant and active baby is the tiny peanut. Sadly, peanuts are a product of the double dwarf gene and have defective internal organs~they rarely live more than a three days.

So anyway, I grabbed a bag of hair pulled off of Big Daddy when he was moulting a couple of months ago-I am SO glad I saved it.;-) Brought the nestbox in and put hay in, added the hair and got the blow dryer out and warmed it up making the hair fluffy too. Put the warmed kits in and Hannah and I giggled at their cute little happy squeaks. By this time it was nearly midnight and we both were too excited to sleep.:-) The nestbox was right by the bed in the warm house. They both made it through the night and now, nearly 4:00pm, they have been in Piper's cage for two hours now and she is showing no interest in them. This morning at around 5AM I put them in her cage and she peed on them and started eating the hay out of their box.:-( What do I do?? I don't have a foster doe and Piper isn't doing good in the milk department-I feel nothing, no swollen anything. Hannah is going to be heartbroken when/if these two don't make it. I knew the heartaches of kindling coming into this hobby, it's my little girl I worry about...:-/

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4 comments:

TLR said...

Lindsey,

Have you tried placing Piper on top of the kits to stimulate them to suckle? This can help with the "LET DOWN" of milk in Piper. Since she is ignoring them, perhaps this is the only option that you have. You can turn Piper around (in trance mode) and allow the kits to suckle as well.

You did great with using Big Daddy's fur but I think the scent of Big Daddy on the fur may be causing Piper to ignore the kits? Just a thought.

And just to share, I normally rub my hands on the doe to get her scent on my hands before handling her kits.

Hope all these help and will still be praying for the 2 little kits.

November 11, 2008 at 6:17 PM
TLR said...

I must admit that pinky is really small and seemed like a peanut. But Charlyz was born that size compared to Moesha. I thought she wouldn't make it but she did.

I am still very much optimistic about this!

November 11, 2008 at 10:59 PM
The Kings said...

Thank you Timothy for your comments! I learn so much when you give some imput-it's great to have other breeders give ideas/suggestions. Thanks so much!

November 12, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Anonymous said...

aww, lindsey... :) I hope things turn out better, and that the remaining normal lives. :) I don't know what to do about them not having milk or anything though.. Kitten Milk Replacement? Or also what Tru-Luv said. Tell me what turns out!

November 13, 2008 at 5:51 PM

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