4.5 week old kits dying off?

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Fall mom

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My littler of 11 is slowly decreasing. About 4 days ago I went out and two kits were dead. Yesterday I found one more dead. I looked them over and did not see anything external that would have caused the death. What in the world is going on?
 
With so little information to go on, it is difficult to be sure what is happening. However, the most common reason for losses at this age is weaning enteritis. Sometimes kits have trouble making the transition from mother's milk to solid foods.

What are you feeding them?

Try giving the kits some grass hay and kitchen oatmeal (the large-flake, old-fashioned kind). These foods aid digestion and may help prevent further losses and it's a good thing to do in any case.

Another possibility is coccidiosis. If you lose another, it would be a good idea to open it up and take a look at the internal organs. Coccidiosis shows up in the liver or intestines. I'm not personally familiar with the intestinal form, but liver cocci results in whitish nodules on or just under the surface of the liver.

Hope this helps!
 
You are not alone in this one, I have lost two in the last week at this age.

No idea what sparks it off in my herd but its always a surprise. The doe whose litter has lost two had no problems with her last litter and of the ones she has lost this time, one was her own and one was a fosterling.

Not much has changed from this litter to the last one, other than the year is more advanced and I was feeding quite a lot of bread this time.

I hope your losses stop, a few years ago one of my litters went from 11 to 3 but then that doe never lost another one.
 

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