will the babies find the udder themselves?

[Angie]

The new babies seem to have a hard time finding the end of the udder to drink. Will they eventually find it themselves? She is very full of milk and when the babies are standing their heads are way above the teats. They are only an hour old. These are my firsts.

[goatedintoit]

They would find it eventually, but it OK to help them out. The sooner they get that colostrum the better.

[KayJay]

The babies usually find the teats themselves, but I help mine by guiding them to it. If you don't do it gently enough they'll fight ya every step of the way. I just lightly place my hand on the back of the head/top of the neck and kinda guide them down while lifting the teat up to their mouth. Hope that helps!

[Feral Nature]

If you dam raise you kids and don't want to take loses, ALWAYS help the kids to nurse right away. Don't rely on the baby goat of the mother figuring it all out by themselves. Nature does not intend for every single kid to live, that is why multiples are born....help them survive those first critical hours! Also, the teat has a plug in it, squirt the teat and you will feel it pop out, this keeps the udder closed up until the kids are born. Sometimes it's hard for the little kids to "unplug" a teat. You only have to do that once after they are born, not every time they nurse.

[jerzeygurl]

we get that with our calves all the time, it is so frustrating to watch, fortunately most of the mothers don't mind if we help the little guys locate the right end.(weve had them suckin on the brisket before lol)

also if you can get the smell of her milk on your hand and get them to follow that to the source, with a gentle push from behind..

[goatkid]

I always help the kids to find the teat when they are first born. After they have some colostrum in them, they usually can find it again when they get hungry.