No discharge?

[Nanno]

So, I've got a question... Nubbin kidded two days ago and still has no discharge and never had any contractions (that I saw) after the the actual birth. Is this a form of "normal" that I'm not aware of?

I can't be certain she passed the placenta because she never had anything hanging after she gave birth. I'm not experienced, but the few does we've had that gave birth always had contractions until they expelled the afterbirth. Lilly's first took a little over 12 hours and I had to tie the afterbirth up so it wouldn't drag the ground while it slowly came away. Others were quicker, but all of them at least had something hanging out within 1/2 hour of kidding, and all of them had contractions throughout the next day, even after the afterbirth was expelled. If I remember correctly, all of them had bloody discharge right away and for about 2-3 weeks after.

Nubbin not only had nothing hanging for at least six hours after she had the kids, but she's had no contractions at all that I've seen and she doesn't have any discharge. She expelled something during the night because there were two bloody wet patches in the straw next morning, and she did expel a little pink goo a couple of times the next morning, but nothing else. I washed the dried goo off her udder yesterday morning and it's still perfectly clean. I hope I'm just worrying needlessly, but it seems a little odd and certainly different from the other births we've had here, so I felt compelled to ask.

Also, she's very lame on her left hind leg. It came up quite suddenly Wednesday or Thursday and got progressively worse. Yesterday she was barely hobbling on it. I can't find anything wrong with the hoof or joints, and there are no hot spots or swelling. She seemed better this morning but once again got worse as the day wore on. She hardly laid down all day, which probably contributed to it getting more sore. I'm *guessing* she either pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve while getting up and down with her fat, pregnant belly and that it's just going to take some time to heal. Does that sound it could be the cause of her lameness? As far as I can tell it's just the one leg.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

There is no real normal with after kidding things. Some can pass the placenta within minutes after kidding (which is the more correct way) while others can take 24 hours. Once passed though, they shouldnt contract anymore. As for discharge, that can go from almost non to lots. Just depends on conditioning (good mineral levels) and how hard the labor was. If it was an easy labor, with both kids coming out in their sacks and her passing the placenta right away, there really wouldnt be much discharge. The back leg thing might be related to kidding. With the ligs going all soft for kidding, their hips can hurt em a bit.

I would keep an eye on her, and check her temp a couple of times a day. If she did retain anything, she will start showing signs of a fever and scrunching up her back and maybe looking a little off. Other then that, sounds like a super smooth kidding

[Nanno]

Well that's good to know. I was really surprised not to see any contractions or afterbirth after the kids came (and we checked on her for the next five hours). Even if it takes a few hours to come away, there's always been at least something hanging within 1/2 hour of the last kid.

The funny thing is that Nubbin didn't even have that many contractions during the birth. She just laid down, pushed a few times, and out came the babies. And that was it. All the others had to strain a good bit more than that! Of course, these were also smaller babies than the others had.

[Nanno]

Nubbin's leg was even worse this morning and I could actually feel tensed-up muscles in her thigh today, so I gave her some ibuprofen. I read that it doesn't pass through the milk like aspirin does. I'm hoping she can get over this soreness because her other leg is getting very tired from taking all the weight. I also gave her a dose of Nutri-Drench since I know muscle soreness (in people at least) is often related to mineral imbalance or deficiencies. I hope I can get this lameness resolved quickly, poor gal.

There's a funny thing been going on around here lately. I think there's some kind of jinx because we've had "left hind leg lameness syndrome" these last few weeks. First, my horse Skokie got his heel stepped on by the other horse and developed an abscess in his left hind foot. A week after that healed, he pulled a muscle higher up on the same leg and was lame for four weeks. Then my dog went mysteriously lame on her left hind leg. It got progressively worse and then started moving to other legs, and after two vet visits and no evidence of joint problems and no improvements with anti-inflammatories, we finally decided that she did not get kicked by a horse or hit by a car. We're now treating her for lyme's disease, and she looks like she's finally starting to improve. Then Phil got a nasty charley horse in his left foot while we were in Greeley last weekend. And now Nubbin's left hind leg is gimpy and I'm beginning to wonder what the heck is going on with left hind legs around here!

[Nanno]

Nubbin's limp improved throughout yesterday, but since she was still lame at bedtime I gave her another dose of ibuprofen. This morning she's tons better! She's out there right now taking the kids for their first stroll about the property. And boy are they cute little boogers!