Can a mother nanny feed 4?

[TAdkins]

Yesterday our nanny gave birth to 4 kids (2 males, 2 females). All appear to be doing well, but now wer'e wandering, will all 4 be able to nurse and get all they need to grow? I've heard 4 is rare. Has anyone else experienced this?

[6e]

Our Boer doe had quads and she is nursing all 4, but we are supplementing two of them with a bottle. She's not a huge milk producer and one of the babies is smaller than the others, despite supplementing. I have heard of dairy breeds being able to raise 4 with no problem, I've even heard of them raising 6.
I'd keep an eye on them and if you notice one that doesn't seem to be getting their fair share of the milk, you can always start them on milk replacer. One hint.....I've found it easier to get them to take a bottle using just a plain old baby bottle. Just watch them would be my advice. Your doe might do just fine.

[shelljo]

Our doe had 4 this year--her first kidding. Nubian X. She was bred to a Boar. She did well with 4 for 3 days, then rejected one. We're bottle feeding her, and she's doing really well. I'd keep watching and pull one or 2 if you need to.

Gotta say, I enjoy my bottle baby--she's very much MY goat.

[Kshobbit]

I had a big Nubian doe feed all four of her kids but she had lots of milk. I would imagine you will end up bottle feeding at least one.

[Jcran]

It all depends on what "flavor" goat she is; milk goats tend to have more milk. I would really watch them!

[TexCountryWoman]

Quads is not that uncommon. Give her ALL the alfalfa pellets she can eat in a separate pan, plus her grain ration, but make any feed choices slowly. What breed of goat is she? If you have to bottle feed, you might try a "Prichard Nipple" available at many feedstores. it keeps fluid from getting in the lungs better than a baby bottle nipple. Also, you can use regular whole milk from the store (store bought cows milk) instead of milk repalcer formula after the kid has had it's colustrum. Weigh the kids daily if you have a good scale to see how they are doing. Good luck!

[mary,tx]

I would give the does supplemental bottles, at least twice a day when you are out doing chores anyway. It won't take anytime at all for those bucks to be getting everyone's share.

Three years ago, I let a goat nurse two bucks and a doe. They did just fine, but that doe is still my smallest. Even her yearling kid has outgrown her. So, in retrospect, I should have supplemented her milk because obviously those big buck siblings were getting more than their fair share.

And, you've got to feel sorry for the doe when the kids get so big (at a couple of months) that they just about take her down all hitting her at once trying to get the milk! Watching that with just three, you might would consider selling or bottling either the bucks or the does.

mary

[Freeholder]

My oldest Kinder doe had quads about three weeks ago. My kids usually go straight onto the bottle, because I'm milking the does, and she's giving enough milk to feed her own babies plus a little. That's with twice a day milkings, which means she's not actually producing quite as much as she could. So yes, a goat CAN give enough milk to feed that many babies -- but the problem is, will they all manage to get their fair share? One of my set of quads this year is a tiny doe kid, half the size of the other three. (She'll probably always be small -- these guys are only a few generations removed from the original cross of pygmies and Nubians, so the genetics are still not as uniform as they hopefully will be someday.) I doubt that she would have gotten enough to eat if I'd left them on their mother. The bigger ones would have shoved her out of the way. She's a feisty little scamp, though -- the first one to learn to jump up on the milking stand!

Kathleen

[goatkid]

I wouldn't leave four kids on a doe. First of all, you won't be able to make sure they are all getting enough to eat. Second, the doe has only two teats and as the kids grow, they tend to fight for the teats and the poor doe winds up with very sore teats. Some will stop nursing their kids properly at this point. In cases of multiples, I only leave two kids on a doe (usually the bucklings, because they go for meat and I don't get attached that way) and I bottle feed the rest, generally doelings because I want them tame for show and milkers.