At first, I thought it was dead... it was flat and cold and limp... only the tiniest noise alerted me to the fact that there was still life. Its heartbeat was faint and slow

a hot water bath (warmer than me , but not scalding) with continual running water to KEEP it warm slowly revived the kid. Support the head out of the water and massage the body and limbs until you feel the heartbeat strengthen and the legs begin to move and "swim". This may take half an hour or so.

a drop of thick colostrum on the tongue (see his lips) can help give the kid some energy as you are working to warm it. Do not give anything it has to swallow at this point.

You can see the kid is beginning to move his legs and raises his head to the warmth. Be sure to iodine the umbilical cord. (You may also wish to give a dose of antibiotic since that fresh umbilical cord was soaking in "dirty" water). Concentrate the blow dryer on the belly at first, then the sides and last the legs. Rubbing and stimulating with your hands all the while

Then wrap the kid (s) securely in a towel or blanket with a heating pad . Wrap the heating pad around the belly if possible. This part of the warmup may take an hour or two... so while they are warming, I run out to the shed and milk as much colostrum as I can steal from the mother. When the kids start to wiggle and bleat, and are able to hold their heads up, offer a bottle of warmed colostrum.. thinned with water if necessary. Offer frequent small amounts. Keep in a warm box until the kid can get to its feet, move around the box well, and suck vigorously.

When kid is ready to go outside (probably the next day), cover with a sweater or coat to help the kid maintain his newly acquired body heat. If you have been feeding the kid colostrum from his mother, he will smell like her and will usually be readily accepted back... but watch carefully and MAKE SURE that he is actually getting milk from the dam. Usually when they get that flow going, their little tails will wag like crazy! Check frequently to see that he stretches when he rises, and that his mouth is warm. Both are signs of a happy baby.

This little goat is doing well as of this writing... I am giving a supplemental bottle a couple times a day to make sure he is getting enough to eat since his "brother" is a larger kid.

KID SWEATERS I have some of my handknit kid sweaters available at Herbal Maid Gallery on Ebay if you want to try one. They are machine washable between kids and last for years. The 2006 model sweater is bright crayon colors/multi.