Hi Everyone, I have a tiny, 5 day old Nigerian Dwarf, she is sick with pneumonia and I am treating her with antibiotics. My question is would she do better if I brought her in the house, with warmer temps and dry air? How long would I have to keep her in the house? I live in MIchigan and it is very cold right now, I believe the temp change did this. She is so little, only weighs two pounds.

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), January 31, 2002

Answers

I wish my congrats to you (your first baby?)were under better circumstances. I'll defer to the more experienced on this board, but if it were me and I had a kid only two pounds with pneumonia in cold winter, I would bring her in. Did the vet see her? Is she improving? Is she being bottle fed? What color did you get? Was this a single kid? I'm pulling for you!

-- Lynn (moonspinner@bluefrognet.net), January 31, 2002.

Barbara, I am also in Michigan and my bathtub frequently has a "goat bed" in it. Last year I had one inside for almost 6 weeks (she was a lone doeling and terribly spoiled) They can be "house broke" in that they don't like to wet their box and will cry to go out if you pay attention. Our Muffin didn't wet her box from the time she was a few days old.

If you are opposed to having her in the house until the next warm spell, you can always use a heat lamp. We use a plastic drum with a hole in the bottom turned upside down and the lamp cord fed up through the top. It keeps the heat in the drum from the 100 watt bulb we use, but keeps the lamp up out of the reach of the kids. Just cut out a little "doorway" for the kids to crawl in and they will go in when they want to sleep and still play around in the stall and do their "business" outside of their "nest". I have frequently had them in the house for a few days until they were stable and eating well and then put them out with a lamp. Never had a problem with them adjusting. (other than crying when I would leave them :>) )

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 31, 2002.

We also had to bring in a few this time, because of very cold temps + wheezing. We have some one week olds still coming in at night. The almost 4 week olds have been back out full time all this week, and seem to be fairing very well despite single digit overnights. They are under heat lamps.

We kept our "indoor goats" in large boxes, lined very well with newspapers and/or feed sacks, then hay, and sitting on large garbage bags as a moisture barrier. We changed the boxes daily. Most days, the goats were able to go out for a while in the afternoons, wearing their little "sweaters".

As small as she is, she shouldn't be terribly messy for awhile yet. Since it's a doe, you could use a diaper. If she were mine, I think I'd bring her in at least for the coldest nights until her breathing improves.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 01, 2002.

hi everyone, i decided to bring her inside, she is doing great... we go out everyday for 5 min, with little coat on. it is warm and dry in here, she is so sweet and spoiled already...boy will i miss her when she goes back out in a month or so. the barrel idea with light is great...

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), February 02, 2002.