Triplets!!! (only one working teat!)

[canadianmandy]

Hi everyone. last summer we rescued a Nanny goat from a dairy that was shutting down and they said she was dry and that one of her udders had gotten mastitis but that the next time she had babies it would be ok .

Well Ima just as in an hour ago had two bucklings and a doeling. IS Ima capable of nursing all three on one teat? We tried to strip the other teat but there is a lump in the teat and nothing comes out. the other one is fine though. .

I have birthing pic if you want them. I just want to know if all is well first.

[pookshollow]

I have yet to have any triplets (twins, twins, twins!) but from what I understand, a doe with two working teats will be hard pressed to feed triplets. I think you've got yourself a couple of bottle babies!

Make sure that they all get some colustrum from the mother ASAP.

[goatsareus]

depends on how much milk she is giving. I certainly would give it a try. But I do everything imaginable to avoid bottle babies You may have to restrain two of them while the one suckles, until they get the hang of rotational nursing!

[Jim S.]

Hi mandy. First of all, untreated gross mastitis (where it is visually apparent) in my experience rarely self-resolves so that the teat is completely functional again like it never happened. Some never work again.

I'd want to be sure the "milk plug" is not just stuck in that teat, tho. Massage it by hand and make sure there is no cheesey-solid plug at the end of the milk duct. Sometimes it is so thick it does not dislodge by itself.

pookshollow is correct, in me experience, that 2-teated does have a tough time with trips, due to a combination of things including the kids fighting amonst each other for milk hierarchy. I won't say they WON'T mother trips, some do, but it is not the best of situations. That's why I cull against trips, and say no thanks on the bottle babies.

Good luck with yours.

Oh yes, you might see if you can milk her out of all her colostrum now, and freeze any that may be left over in ice cube trays. Put he cubes in a plastic bag in the freezer. That way, you can thaw it (but not with a microwave) if you ever have trips and there is not enough colostrum, or you can sell it.

[canadianmandy]

thank yu everyone. They are all fine this morning. we have been doing as goatsareus said we have been rotating the babies.

[goatsareus]

good luck c. I have had quads before and had to intervene to teach the kids about taking their turns at the udder. Obviously I was not getting/taking any milk from those does, but they raised hugh kids with no problems. What would happen was two kids would get full and leave the udder alone for a while, so the other kids could nurse. The kids were on different schedules. But the doe was a tremendous milker and had plenty for all.