Taylor and I Need Serious Help and Advice, 3 Kids Died in 48 Hours

[jennig]

We finished our kidding season last month. We ended up having a total of, I think, 6 babies. (we are a small farm). Every one of the kids was thriving. Doing great. Fat, healthy and happy. We have pygmys.

We have a small "kid lot" that we put all kids and new mommies in after they give birth and they stay there until they are weaned and then we put them in the large lot with the others. The kid lot is not very big and it is not big enough to put either of our LGD's in. This kid lot is adjacent to the large lot but not connected. It has a small barn for shelter.

Tay went out day before yesterday and found one kid in the small barn dead. This little goat was very healthy, fatter than a pig and getting along just fine. Yesterday when we got home, we went out to feed and Tay found 2 more babies dead in the barn. These are babies that are still nursing, 2 - 3 months old, they were thriving, fat and healthy. Their mothers are in the lot with them and all seemed to be doing great. We are shocked and completely sick about this. We having thought and thought what in the hell could be going on. We checked around the small lot and found a hole that seems like something has dug out to get into the little lot.

We have had some pretty serious weather in last month or so. I am wondering if it is possible that some animal is getting into the litttle barn and killing them - one by one- They are not chewed up, they are simple laying there - dead. I thought with this weather, that animals out in the woods are probably getting hungry because they are not able to get nurishment due to the snow and ice on the ground and so they are seeking out food......but the babies are not "eaten". They are not chewed either. If this is the case, what in the world would be doing this? Fox, weasel? I am clueless. What would kill them and not eat them? Additionally, could this be possible when the moms are in there with them? Wouldnt the moms protect them? But if the moms have more than one baby then they probably could not protect both babies at the same time?

I dont know but I am sick about this. I am not positive that this is happening but it makes sense....kinda. If this is it, what would do this? If this is not it, what the hell else could it be? These are happy healthy and fat babies! My herd is very healthy and has no problems.

Please help. We only have 3 babies left and I have not been out this morning to see if we have lost any more.
Thanks, guys.
Jenni

[jennig]

Should I take the lack of response as no one knows how to help us?

[MichiganEllyMay]

Oh, that is so sad Jenni - and to lose three so quickly.

Are there any markings on the bodies, like teeth which would be probably on the underside or neck ?

The one thing that will kill for the fun and not necessarily for the food is a weasel - - - they are EVIL. They are so small, they can get into the smallest places and then they attack from underneath to the jugular vein of the neck area to paralyze and kill their victim.

If they were asleep, their dams may not have even known that something was in the barn until a commotion would happen which of course would scare the weasel away out the hole where it came in.

I lost a flock of ducks and chickens to a weasel in the yard. They will leave utter chaos and mayhem in their wakes. I made the mistake once to leave a batch of small kittens in the barn overnight one summer - not a pretty sight and I was able to save 2 of the 11.

Set a trap and caught three of those little evil things and they each ate a bullet.

[jennig]

Damn it - that is what I thought! I am not sure but it seems like this may be what is happening. UGH!! How big are weasels? About the size of what in comparision? What trap do I use? Do I put it in the barn with the goats or where it is getting in or what? I fear the goats would get trapped in it......I dont know. 2 summers ago we had silky chickens , about 10 of them, and we went out one day and every single one of them were laying there dead - laying exactly like these baby goats are. That makes me so damn mad I cant see straight. Do they enter in day or night? or does it matter?

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it! [pray]

[MichiganEllyMay]

The are dark brown like a mink and can stretch themselves which is why they can get into a hole probably the size of a half dollar if not smaller, so under doors if there may be a gap or any spot where a board may be cracked at a corner. The weasel only weighs about 10-12 ounces and would look like a baby squirrel without the fluffy tail. For such a little thing they pack a lot of evilness.

We used a small cage trap and put chicken eggs (not washed) and handled with gloves so they won't get human scent from the oil on our hands. I also used the dead chicken for the second one as I figured it would come back because of the smell of blood.

If you can find where they are getting in, I would place the trap outside just at the entrance. Of course if you find a hole or gap, close it up immediately. I have used the lids off of cans to nail to a small hole in our coop area as a blocker and it works really well. I nailed it from the outside.

The main thing is to find out where they are gaining access.

One thing that could help in the meantime is to provide the goats a way to sleep on a platform up off the ground.

[denise]

[thinking] here is a picture of a weasel [thinking]

but since their not chewed on, i'm wondering if them may have piled on top of one another to stay warm & squished the others. my daddy lost 3 baby goats like that a couple years back. they were up running around, healthy, but we had a cold snap & all the babies huddled up on top of one another & the ones on the bottom died. [idontknow]

[sad] sorry for the loss of your baby goats, it's always heart breaking when we lose them. [sad]

[MichiganEllyMay]

Quick shoot that evil thing :o

[Jamie]

This is out in left field but had you treated them for Cocci? I don't see how one could die from Coccidia and be that healthy but it was the first thing I thought of for some reason. Just brainstorming here..........

[rinestonegoat]

I'm with Jamie on this one...if it was a animal, you would have seen bite marks or at least blood.
Sudden death can happen from a couple of things....E.Coli, Enterotoxima, Coccidia, worms or pnemonia. And Pasturella pnemonia will take them suddenly with hardly any visable signs...
I would watch the remaining babies carefully, do you see them nursing on a regular basis? are they eating grain and hay? Are they jumping and playing as babies should? I would also suggest taking a fecal in and having them checked for worms and coccidia.
You can get the pasturella vaccine really cheap from Livestock Concepts. I use it and haven't had a snotty nose since...This will make the third year....
Just some suggestions.