Wrong yogurt!

[elvilla]

My Priscilla had a litter of 3 today! I'm very excited but am nervous at the same time because the runt is so tiny and her younger brother keeps fighting with her over mommy's teats. It looks like I may have to hand-feed.

I ran out to the grocery store but they were closed, so I hit the pharmacy because I knwo0 they have a dairy section. They had no goat milk but they did have yogurt, and I read on Tunes' info page that yogurt was ok. I figured I'd use yogurt overnight and hit the grocery store tomorrow for goats milk.

Unfortunately when I got home I saw that I had picked up vanilla yogurt rather than plain by mistake. Could I still give them just a little bit, just for tonight?

:hmm:

 

[threewingedfury]

Yogurt is not a substitute for goats milk. It is an optional add in to the formula that some people use, just like Karo syrup. I would not give vanilla yogurt to your kits.

 

[tunes]

Ditto what Tiff said. If you re-read the recipe, it says you can "add" yogurt to the goat's milk, not replace it. Straight yogurt would be very hard on the kits and it wouldn't give them the nutrients they need.

I have never used yogurt or Karo syrup for my hand feeding and my kits have never turned away from it when they are hungry.

Is there a reason you are hand feeding already? Hand feeding is a last resort, not a first one. Rotation is the first thing you should do, then hand feed if they lose weight or don't gain with rotation.

 

[elvilla]

ah, gotcha. i'll eat the yogurt myself instead.

i was going to try hand-feeding already because i had it in my head that priscilla isn't producing enough milk for all 3 kits. they've been under her for a long time now and at one point priscilla was yipping, i think the kits were biting her teats trying to get milk. i read somewhere (this site?) that regular cow's milk is bad for kits so i was going to try yogurt until the stores opened tomorrow.

someone on another thread said that the milk may not be ready yet since the litter came only today and that production will be stimulated now that the kits are suckling.

 

[greychins]

It's possible that they're biting her, because they're not getting milk so they're trying harder, which could be causing her to yipe.

Is this the litter with the 26 gram kit? I feel like I've posted to several newborn kit threads today. If it is, I would give it until at least mid-day tomorrow, keep weighing them, and if they're all losing, then I would at least start handfeeding the 26 gram kit. Course if they're all losing, she may not have gotten in the milk, but it wouldn't be wise to wait until they lose too much before starting to handfeed.

Chances are, they'll be fine overnight with no food. If one was to pass tonight, food likely wouldn't have helped it. We've had several litters where the milk isn't in the second the kits are born, and by the 2nd or 3rd day, the milk is in, and they're gaining and doing fine. Hopefully by tomorrow you'll see a gain and they'll all be eating and suckling happily. But if not, then go to the store and try to find some goat's milk. If you have a walmart by you (are there walmart's in Canada?), they have canned (they may have fresh as well). But really, any grocery store may have canned (in the baking aisle) or fresh (near the regular milk).

Good luck.