WEAK  KIDS  or  FLOPPY KIDS
How To Tell The Difference

The causes and treatments for Weak Kid Syndrome and Floppy Kid Syndrome are very different.     If a wrong diagnosis is made, the kid will die.

WEAK KID  Syndrome occurs in newborns and very young kids. A weak kid  is a starving kid, either from a stressful birth resulting in hypothermia (sub-normal body temperature) or from other conditions   beyond its control.    The kid may have failed to bond with its dam,   might have gotten separated from her,  or  could have been denied sufficient milk by  more dominant siblings.    The potential for weak kids is high when triplets (or more) are born, especially if the more naturally food-aggressive boys outnumber the less aggressive girls.

The dam might have mastitis or congested udder, resulting in starving kids.   If she did not receive  adequate nutrition during her pregnancy, the dam can't  produce enough milk.

A weak kid born to  a doe infected with an abortion disease is starving because abortion organisms cut off the placental food supply to the fetus at about 42 days of gestation.  If she is infected in the early to mid part of her pregnancy, the fetus will starve,  die,  and hopefully she will abort it, or she will also die as a result of the dead fetus decomposing inside of her.   If the dam is infected in the latter part of her pregnancy, the kid can be born weak but unable to stand and nurse. To survive, the kid will require your assistance.

FLOPPY KID Syndrome  occurs when  a kid that has been overfed on milk, usually the result of bottle feeding too much milk at a time.  Dam-fed kids may develop Floppy Kid Syndrome if  the dam and kid have been confined in such a small area that she cannot keep the kid from nursing too frequently.    Newborn kids do NOT have Floppy Kid Syndrome.   This usually doesn't   occur until a kid is about 7 to 10  days old.  The kid is unable to digest the contents of its milk stomach quickly enough before more milk is put into it.    This accumulation of undigested milk turns toxic and the kid is  poisoned from within (enterotoxemia, in this  case overeating on milk).

No vaccine exists to prevent pre-ruminal kids from overeating on milk. If the kid is being bottle fed, you must learn how much milk can be fed and at what specific intervals of time for the kid's weight, age, and activity level to prevent Floppy Kid Syndrome.  See my article on Overfeeding Bottle Baby Goats on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.   I also have detailed  articles on how to treat Weak Kid Syndrome and Floppy Kid Syndrome on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, ONION CREEK RANCH, Texas   4.1.23

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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