This little guy was born yesterday – just a couple days short of 11 months gestation. Not extremely early, but he exhibits all the signs of being premature: teeth not erupted, floppy ears, weakness. His dam – who is usually a very good mother – doesn’t have a lot of milk yet, probably due to the early birth. The cria has a good sucking reflex and, after tubing him with plasma, we’ve been able to bottle feed him. He’s getting stronger and is able to cush in a sternal position for short periods.
The cria decided to be born on a day that was 50 degrees and raining. His temp was on the low side, so we needed to warm him up. After drying him off with a blow dryer, we put him in our” body bag”, which works well to warm up and keep warm a weak or premature cria. The bag is a sort of survival suit that I used to carry when I did a lot of winter hiking in the White Mountains. It’s made from a material similar to a space blanket and is reflective on the inside. We tuck a couple of hot water bottles in beside the cria. The system is simple, low tech and works very well.
Suzanne Larson
How’s the premie doing?
Terry
He’s holding his own. but not standing yet. That means we have to hold him under his mother to nurse or bottle feed him. We’re doing both. We’re assuming, at this point, that his lungs are not fully developed and he doesn’t have the energy to stand. He does move a little bit. I hope to see some improvement in the next few days or I will start worrying that there’s more going on…we’ll see.