Hi all,
First time on this forum and need all the help and advice you can give. This is my first litter.
My bitch gave birth on Monday, 5 days ago to 7 puppies from 390 to 490 gr. They lost weight on day 2 and now however they are still only around this weight.  They are all feeding from Mom. She was off form for the past two days but is in better form today.  Mom is eating, won't take the puppy food so giving her chicken and rice or beef and trying to hide some puppy food in there (which she spits out!), feeding her as often as she wants. Giving her fresh chicken broth to drink and lots of water. A spoon of Greek style yogurt also every day.
Pups do not seem in distress, all except one have round tummies but worried they are not getting enough milk or that Mum is not producing enough.
This morning we tried supplementing with puppy formula but puppies had absolutely no interest(tried with bottle and teat for newborn child).
Please help, have read numerous articles on fading puppy syndrome which have worried me sick.

I have often found pups drop some weight first day, recover their weight third day and then start gaining.

As with humans the milk really starts to come in after 3 days, until then it is mostly the vital colostrum.

That is why pups for first 3 days should be almost constantly suckling.

It is this that promotes the supply.

During those first 4 days, ideally the bitch will only leave them to dash for the loo, and staying with them needs encouraging.

Some bitches are torn between their maternal instincts and their attachment to us. So you may need to sit with her with a book for much of the time.

If milk is coming in slowly they need to suckle more often, so pop them on as often as you see the smaller ones not feeding, while others are asleep.

Thank you for your reply.
The pups have been constantly suckling but still their weight has not really changed since their birth weight. They did lose some weight on Day 2 but are all now back to where they started or slightly over...it's just that I got the impression from so many other articles that they should have gained considerable more weight by now (Day 5) and that is what worries me.
As I said, Mom was unwell yesterday but has been absolutely amazing with them and as you said only leaves them to go out for the loo...they seem to be constantly suckling.
We did try puppy formula last night with them but no interest at all, did succeed in giving 5 of them about 5 ml. today but with difficulty. 
All help and advice greatly appreciated.

Then it is likely due to Mum not beingbwell, what was the problem?

How quicklybthey get going can depend a lit on numbers, how easy the birth was, tired pups don't suck as well.

How are the pups in themselves, do they seem strong, when handled do they lie limply, or need to be held firmly.

When suckling are they niw paddling and pulling stronglybwith arched necks.

Do the coats look sleek.

Are they well hydrated? Does the skin snap straight back ifbyou pull up on their scruff.

Do they make contented murmuring noises, with the occasional annoyed squeak.

Are they warm enough? Or too warm.

Pups that get chilled can't digest foid.

Is rhe whelping box sheltered from drafts?

It is promising that they have started to gain weight again, so if they continue to gain now, I wouldn't worry too much. If they lose weight, I would be concerned.

It is normal for them to lose weight in the first 48 hours but by day 5 you would want them to have gained. However if they are finally gaining now, they might have turned the corner.

Otherwise you will need to tube feed them. That is the only way to supplement such young puppies and get enough nutrients into them without them expending energy sucking. Otherwise they burn up so much energy sucking they are not really benefitting. If you search on YouTube for tube feeding you will find a few good videos.

But I would keep weighing them twice a day and wanting to see daily weight gain or at least maintaining weight.

> Mom is eating, won't take the puppy food so giving her chicken and rice or beef and trying to hide some puppy food in there (which she spits out!)

First of if the puppies were in trouble, they'd not be quiet (other than when getting frustrated as they nurse, when a teat 'runs out').  Many litters do drop weight or stay the same for the first day or so too.

Puppy food - is for PUPPIES not for nursing bitches.   All our bitches, without exception, had their regular food plus extras like scrambled egg and extra protein.   Natural yogurt is good too, to keep the good bacteria.

Newborn puppies do not need lashings of milk and it's better mum doesn't over produce and risk running into mastitis if the puppies don't draw off enough milk, especially with the bigger rear teats which sometimes tiny puppies can't deal with.   Don't supplement unless it's clear the puppies aren't getting enough (noisy!).   It's usually only necessary to supplement with an overly large litter (half on the teats and half being supplemented, rotating).   It's far better if you just leave what's going on rather than 'confuse' immature digestive systems by using something other than mum's milk.   Feed mum lots, so she can naturally provide for her litter.   And she will be at her maximum lactation during the 3rd week, at the end of which you'd start the weaning process, depending on how well they are doing.

Round full tummies 'could' indicate worms so be ready to start worming from 2 weeks, and every 2 weeks until they go to their new homes.   Mum should be wormed at the 2 week stage too.   We used Sherleys Worming Syrup for the puppies, and a regular adult wormer for mum (who had been wormed before being mated btw).
  
Fading puppy syndrome has to be thought about, but it's rare - we never had this with any of our puppies.  And it's usually more to do with some infection getting in, not insufficient milk.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/puppy-fading-puppy-syndrome-in-dogs

Provided mum is doing her job - try to get as much rest as youi can now...... your work begins when weaning begins!!

Oh and make sure the puppies are warm enough - early days they can't regulate their own heat.   We kept a thermometer in the bottom of the box (on the pigrail).

> Feed mum lots, so she can naturally provide for her litter.

As an example for the OP on this. My girl gets 220g of raw food a day. When she was nursing I was basically free feeding her raw to keep her milk supply up and some weight on her. She was eating about 1kg a day! Looked fab on it and the puppies did very well.

Doesn't that show how.much energy is expended in feeding pups . Otherwise she would be getting fat if she ate that much per day

Absolutely. Huge calorie burn off. She was mightily unimpressed when she returned to her normal rations

Yes, mine ate 4 times their normal rations.

I wish answers weren't timed out on here - I wanted to add if you eventually feel you need to be supplementing this litter, I'd go to goats milk which is closest in make up to bitch milk.    We had a friend with a Toggenburg goat and got it raw from her (the goat!!)   We started the weaning process using this.

You can also buy Nutrilac from Animal Health which is a puppy milk produced from Goats milk, and is what I have used anyway for making their porridge when weaning.

Nursing bitches can be absolutely ravenous.  I also free feed as much as she wants and good protein.  Personally I'd ditch the chicken and rice and stick to red meat sources.  She needs the energy and protein and so do the pups so she needs high fat high protein.  She might have a LOT of toilet waste and it might not be firm but as long as it's not outright diarrhoea it's fine.  She cleaning up the pups waste and that will affect her waste.

If you're going to use any powdered milk, please check the ingredients and think about whether you want to give it to little puppies... BPA, BHT (preservatives) are often added, as well as soya, and palm oil or vegetable fat.... Does it read like something you'd want to feed a child?

I'd always opt for goat milk where possible but if you need to supplement 100%, then using a powdered milk so you ensure you get the right nutrients in the right quantities for a baby pup, is important. Once they get a bit older, you can use goat milk no problem.

Nutrolac pupppy milk is made from Goats milk.

I mispelt it above!
https://animal-health.co.uk/product/nutrolac

It might have goats milk in it, but it also has a lot of other stuff I wouldn't want to feed a puppy - including carcinogenic BHT: https://www.amazon.co.uk/NutroLac-whelping-Kitten-nutrients-stomach/dp/B01N08JD2D

(Ingredients on 2nd photo there and online elsewhere.)

"INGREDIENTS:
Whey protein powder, Blended Vegetable Oil, Hydrolysed Wheat Gluten,
Vitamins and Minerals, Calcium Carbonate, DL Methione, Citric Acid,
Contains BHT as a Permitted Antioxidant."

Thank you all for  your advice ....puppies are doing much better, haven't doubled their weight but all over 700gr. mark and heaviest up to over 900gr. Today is day 11.
Have not been supplementing after all, Lady's milk supply just seemed to stall for a day or two last week and now back on track ...she is ravenous...fed her 3 times during the night...chicken with rice, beef with rice and beef on its own...beef is raw, chicken is boiled...would it be better to be giving her raw chicken...we also gave her goats milk with a raw organic egg back when her milk supply stalled and it worked...another suggestion of sweet tea with honey and goats milk was also greatly liked by Lady.
All puppies seem to be thriving, only concern is dark blue the lightest who seems to have problems latching on and frequently gets removed by bigger brothers (4 boys, 3 girls)..have been helping him but wondering if this is maybe not doing him any help in the long term? Any advice on this....we try to put him on back teats first before others but often he is not fast enough to grab on before one of his bigger siblings butts him out of the way.
We are taking it in turns my daughter and I to sleep next to the puppies in the spare room and alternate getting up to make sure they are safe and feeding during the night...it has been exhausting but between the two of us not that bad...how long more should we continue this, imagine at least until 2 week stage?
As a first time litter owner really appreciate all the help and advice on Champdogs, always wanted to do this and knew of course it was not going to be easy but didn't count on the emotional toll of the whole experience..

Just to say I'd latch the smaller one to a middle teat - it may not be the same with your breed, but with mine, all too often the back four teats tend to be significantly bigger than the others making it sometimes difficult for a smaller pup to latch on.   And yes, within reason, protect him so he gets a good innings before being bumped off by the bigger puppies.

Also you can allow a greedy pup to get the flow going and then put the small one on, so he has to make lrss effort.

I also would pop him on when the others are asleep.

What Brainless suggests... Use a big greedy pup to start the milk flowing and do all the work and when they start to make the 'gulping' noise, take him off and put the little one on...