GoldenWei Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Hi All, First litter here and for the most part they are doing well. Today is day 12. All born were good weights for weimaraners weighing from 369g to 461g for the biggest boy. All have been gaining weight, however, I'm not sure how much they should be gaining each day. I was under the impression that it should be about 10% each day. So, for the biggest boy who is now 1080 grams, he should be gaining around 108g per day? Or is this not correct? A couple of them don't seem to be gaining weight as well as some others and I am wondering whether I should start to supplement some of them. As an example, in my litter of 7, in the last 24hrs 3 puppies gained greater than 70g overnight, three gained about 40g and the last boy gained only 11g. However, he gained 110g in the previous 24hrs. One boy is regularly gaining about 4% while most of the others are up around 7 to 8%. There are the odd gains of +10% every so often. The two girls are both now bigger than two of the boys, one of those boys being the second heaviest at birth. Weight wise they range from 950g to 1080g, so none are really too much bigger than the others, but just wondering if I am over-analysing things or whether I should supplement some - or should I try and feed them by spitting the litter in two and putting the smallest guys on first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Puppies do not gain weight at the same rate every day so who is biggest and smallest can change a lot. With puppies that birth weight, if it is a large litter I would expect them to gain 50-70gms approx per day at this age, when measured over several days. If there are only 2-3 puppies they can easily gain 100gms a day but with more competition for the milk bar the gains will be less. What condition is your girl in? If she is losing weight then she needs more food to keep her own weight up and produce enough milk. Feed more meat, puppy kibble and milk substitutes like Divetelact, Goat's Milk or Biolac with Nutrigel in it like a milkshake. If she is holding her weight and eating lots already then you are feeding enough. Hungry puppies cry so if they are sleepy and content they are getting enough. If not start a milk substitute now. At 12 days they should be able to stand and see to learn to lap from a dish. It is always a good idea to hold back the bigger puppies to let smaller ones get a head start with feeding, if you have a range of sizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWei Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Hi Dancinbcs. Willow is a picky eater, she has put on a couple of kilo's since giving birth, she's at about 25kg which for her is quite good as she isn't a big girl anyway, she's maintaining her weight. She is on anti-biotics due to her having we think a retained placenta (oxytocin injection didn't pass anything). She has had a slight temperature the last two times we took her into the vet. She had an ultrasound on Wed, her uterus isn't contracting as fast as the vets would like to see but nothing major. She has been scratching around a lot but in the last couple of days has been much better so I think the anti-biotics must be helping. I can only get her to eat two good meals of puppy food & mince a day, as well as goats milk first thing in the morning and last thing at night. She needs the nutrigel added to her food. She is getting nutrigel, usually a bit on her meals to entice her to eat them. She will eat half a dozen 2x2 biscuits over the course of the day. She is getting acidopholus (spelling?) yoghurt as well as protexin added to her meals. Puppies are getting yoghurt and protexin as well.... when they decide it tastes good, they spit it out at times. Puppies aren't crying at all, just making little sounds every so often. So as far as I can tell they are content. Only one girl has her eyes open, but the others aren't far behind. Most can stand, but not for long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdoubleJ Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 (edited) My feelings are that pups gain weight at different 'speeds'. Some do steady weight gains and some grow in spurts. Ours have gone from an average of 320gms at birth to an average of 1150gms at 2 weeks, the smallest, Primrose, is gaining weight 'relevant to her size' so is still slightly smaller than the other 3. Quote . At 12 days they should be able to stand and see to learn to lap from a dish. Gosh! Obviously different breeds reach milestones at different rates. Our have just got their eyes open and are starting to wobble along - there is no way that they can see and stand and lap from a dish!! I have attached a photo of them at 2 weeks...... Edited September 21, 2012 by AdoubleJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWei Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 awww AdoubleJ, your babies are gorgeous.... mine don't look as chubby as yours. Maybe one boy does lol. It's hard to tell with the longhairs as they are quite fluffy, the shorthairs don't look chunky, I think they look fine though and they are certainly up and moving around faster than then the longhairs. Don't think many of them will be over 1150 by Sunday (2 weeks) though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdoubleJ Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I think ours are fat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWei Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Here is 6 of my 7 - the other shorthair girl decided she'd sleep for the first part of dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 My feelings are that pups gain weight at different 'speeds'. Some do steady weight gains and some grow in spurts. Ours have gone from an average of 320gms at birth to an average of 1150gms at 2 weeks, the smallest, Primrose, is gaining weight 'relevant to her size' so is still slightly smaller than the other 3. Quote . At 12 days they should be able to stand and see to learn to lap from a dish. Gosh! Obviously different breeds reach milestones at different rates. Our have just got their eyes open and are starting to wobble along - there is no way that they can see and stand and lap from a dish!! I have attached a photo of them at 2 weeks...... I have had that reaction before to breed milestones. It seems Border Collies are more advanced right from birth, often doubling their birth weight in a week. I have had them climb out of the whelping box at a week, their eyes are usually open at 10 days they can stand well and play by 14 days. I once had to help wean a litter that was just 14 days as the mum wouldn't eat enough and they were starving. We put down a large dish of Divetelact, stood the puppies around it, they dipped their noses in and just started to lap. Normally I would start them on solids at 3 weeks and by 4 weeks they will chew on chicken wings and greyhound biscuits as well as eating meat/dry/etc. GoldenWei, it sounds like yours are happy and content but I would get them lapping from a saucer individually as soon as you can just in case the mum loses her milk suddenly, as it can happen with a retained placenta. To teach them to lap, hold the puppy up so it is standing and hold a saucer with milk substitute under it's nose so the bottom jaw dips in. They should react by licking it from their mouth. A couple of short sessions over a few days should see them able to lap so if you do have to start weaning them before they are old enough for solids at about 3 weeks, you won't need to worry about bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWei Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 thx DB - will give that a go over the next few days, hopefully her milk won't dry up before they are 3 weeks or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdoubleJ Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) Here are the pups today at 2 1/2weeks old. Primrose, Podge, Spot and Squidgy :D As you can see they wouldn't be able to stand and lap - they'd fall in it! :laugh: Edited September 23, 2012 by AdoubleJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWei Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Awwww so gorgeous. We have a few lapping at the moment, I have to hold them up to do it, a couple would rather walk through it. They aren't doing too badly. Still not putting on huge amounts but I feel more comfortable that they aren't starving and if I need to I can wean them early. We are pooping and peeing by ourselves, walking ok but not for long before falling down. Eyes are mostly open. They are two weeks today. One boy and one girl have tripled their birth weight, another will probably have too by the next weigh in. Our weights are ranging from 1060 to 1250. Just the two under 1100g, one boy and one girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I found with my litter last year (my first too so I analysed everything!) that if they had a small weight gain 1 day they either had a big gain the day before or would have 1 the next day. The first few times it worried me when I would find only 20gm gained but then the next night I would find they had gained 120gm. In the end it all averaged out and they all doubled their birth weight in the space of about 36 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Awwww so gorgeous. We have a few lapping at the moment, I have to hold them up to do it, a couple would rather walk through it. They aren't doing too badly. Still not putting on huge amounts but I feel more comfortable that they aren't starving and if I need to I can wean them early. We are pooping and peeing by ourselves, walking ok but not for long before falling down. Eyes are mostly open. They are two weeks today. One boy and one girl have tripled their birth weight, another will probably have too by the next weigh in. Our weights are ranging from 1060 to 1250. Just the two under 1100g, one boy and one girl. Sounds like they are doing well. At this age standing a little is fine but they are like toddlers and will take a few more days yet before they get the hang of walking more steadily. Good work teaching them to lap. It is good to have it as a precaution when you have had some problems with the bitch. The puppies will let you know if they are hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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