Yesterday was interminable. My favoprite doe went into labor at 8;15. Not hard labor, but she was getting ready. Around noon I called Vicki for advice;). Then her water bag broke at 1:15. I decided to go in at 2...there was one huge rear leg and a small foreleg. I couldn't get it sorted out at all. The one big rear leg had a tail near it. I tried and tried. Finally I called the vet to come out. He and his helper showed up, he couldn't get it sorted either. So he said we needed to take her tto the clininc for a Csection or lose all of them. Off we went.

It took a long time to get Peaches into twilight sleep. Finally she was calmed. Then he gave three injections along her umbilical line of some local anesthetic. She had a apron on and was laid on her back in four points. I administered the gas. He pulled out one huge kid. His helper took him to clean him off, and that vet felt around and found no other kids....the helper came back and said the kid was deformed. My friend took over the gas and I went to have a look . 7 legs, and a head inside the pelvis of the main body, three spines, and it's intestines were outside the body. My goodness. The kid was alive, too.

This was the strangest thing I have ever seen. The vet had never seen an animal with so many legs either. We took some photos. Right now I am worried about my doe, although I did speak with Vicki and get suggestions for her aftercare. Wow.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? What on earth can cause it? The vet said, a virus, serious malnourishment, or heavy inbreedingare the usual culprits. The only real possibility then is the virus. Crazy.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002

Answers

Doreen, so sorry about your terrible experiance. Hope all is well with your doe. I've never heard of such a bizarre deformity. But after reading this and Vicki's story I am wondering, is this just a bad year for kiddings or are deformities not unusual in goats?

-- VickiP. (countrymous@webtv.net), March 06, 2002.

Kinda sounds like siamese kids.I would guess an egg did not fully split and you got this deformity .How long did it live ? Can you post the pictures then , it would be interesting to see.Hope all is well with the doe and the rest of the season goes well.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

Oh Doreen you are having a heck of a time. I am so sorry you had to go through such an ordeal.

-- sherry (chickadee259@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

So sorry Doreen. I agree with an earlier post, it sure sounds like a form of conjoined twins. Hey, it happens to people too, and we typically don't inbreed, it is just one of those things to be chalked up to bad luck I think. God Bless, Julie in OK

-- Julie (okwilk213@juno.com), March 06, 2002.

Heavy inbreeding? :-/ I'd be surprised if that was true. Inbreeding only brings out traits that are already there.

I would be more inclined to think it was a chromosonal defect. I have seen some very scary pictures of what happens when two sperm fertilize the same egg, or when a chromosone or two is missing or defective somehow. The pictures were of human babies. I think this is just a freak occurence, you shouldn't feel that you were in any way to blame for it. Just a weird mutation or something, and the odds are against it happening again to you IMO.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 06, 2002.

These pics are in a regular camera so I will need to get the film developed and then take digitals of them. It was horrible. I sure hope nothing like this ever happens again. Once is MORE than enough. I don't think deformities in goats are terribly common at all. Of course things just go wrong sometimes.

It didn't take long for it to die, took a couple of breaths, and that was it.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

Hi Doreen, I have looked up everything I could. Though the Akbane virus you sent me info on could be the culprit, Peaches would have had to taken a vacation to Africa or Asia :) I know that in deer if you give Ivermectin in the bone formation time of pregnancy they can have fused joints, the Akbane virus site talked about this. I think it was just a fluke. The idea that some folks have about inbreeding, like getting a thrid eye etc. is nonsense, and shame on your vet for even thinking this. Yes parrot mouth, extra teats, or long and level with an udder to die for :) I hope she pulls through for you, keeps you in milk all summer, and you take the plunge and breed her again, she is way to lovely to become a pet! If you had a virus or weed, or chemcial on your place that caused this, you would have seen more than just this one monster. What I find strange is that she didn't abort this fetus. With Bishop having normal kids out of your other does, and Peaches having had normal kids before, it just doesn't seem plausible that this is anyones fault. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

I have never in my life heard of anything like this in goats. But I guess I shouldn't be shocked if it happens in humans. You lived through a Ripley's Believe it or Not experience. It's a good thing you called the vet or sounds like your doe wouldn't have made it. I would tend too, to believe it was a freak of nature. I'm no medical professional, but a virus? That doesn't even sound remotely logical. It sounds to me like something flukey happened at conception, like an egg not splitting or something. Please know we're all with you and pulling for your doe. I'm sure it's something you will never have to deal with again. But haven't we all had our share of kidding troubles this season! Keep us posted.

-- Cannot believe what you went through! (moonspinner@bluefrognet.net), March 06, 2002.

Doreen, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this. It's no fun at all to have deformed babies show up. The last week I worked at the petting zoo we had a buck kid born with no anus or rectum. That was bad enough for me! A friend of mine told me that her aunt had a similar experience as you did with one of her ewes this spring. We surmised that it was just a set of conjoined twins also. I hope your doe is doing well. I have two due in the next couple of weeks and with all this talk I'm a little antsy.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), March 06, 2002.

Last January a doe I had recently purchased gave birth to only one kid a beautiful stillborn doeling. The mom had successfully kidded several times before and was absolutely huge; I had guessed maybe even triplets this time. The doe was normal sized but its left foreleg stopped at the knee and had only a rudimentary hoof below. The other three legs were standard. No clue as to why this happened. Never got a chance to rebreed her; she slipped into the orchard and choked on an apple that summer. Sad story all the way around...Sorry about your problems.

-- Debbie in S IL (dc1253@hcis.net), March 06, 2002.

Thanks so much for all the commisseration folks. It was wild. She seems to be doing okay onight. The only thing is a little bit of possible prolapse, or she could just be terribly swollen from all the turmoil. She actually ate and fought me on giving her probios. And she is mad because she isn't with the other does:). These are all very good signs!

Vicki, the thing that really struck me about the Akbane was the vector is mosquito and then the loss of sucking...plus the deformities. I did catch the Mid Asia and Africa locations of the virus, but with some of the weirdness this spring, I just wanted to get your opinion on the finer aspects of the thing.

I'm sure this was just one of those bizarre flukes- and I am taking a lot of comfort in that thought!!!! God bless all of you and may the rest of the kiddings be mostly does and all easy!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), March 07, 2002.