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Originally Posted by motherhen  Hi, my name is Barb, and I just found & joined this group tonight. Have spent several hours reading threads. I have a question about the newborn weights. My two females weigh: one is 4 lbs 12 oz. and the other is 6½ lbs. My male is 4 lbs. In the two years that we've been breeding, we've only had two puppies that weighed 4.2 oz and 4.4 oz at birth. The rest have been in the 3 oz range and a several in the 2 oz range. Most of the 2 oz ones died. It just breaks my heart when the little ones die, and I do sit up with them, and help & comfort them when they are having the wee ones. What am I doing wrong, that they are so little at birth? The mommies eat well the whole time they are pregnant, and they are on a good quality dry food, with some good quality canned food, once every other day. I could really use some help with this. Thanks! |
Hi Barb, welcome to Yorkie Talk. I am sorry you have lost some babies but sadly, sometimes that happens, even to the most experienced breeders. What dog food are you feeding? There are many things that could cause the problem so it would be hard to guess without a lot more detail. Size of litter has a lot to do with it sometimes. With smaller females and females with large litters there are concerns with crowding in the womb. Often one pup could be crowded in a position where he is just not able to develop normally. Care after birth is important also. A 2 oz puppy might not be able to nurse strong enough to get milk or he might get pushed off by bigger pups.
Here are links to two articles that give a give some information on some things that could cause a higher puppy mortality rate.
http://www.showpapillons.com/formula.htm Birth Defects in Dogs.