Two kidding does in same pen?

MamaDee · #1 02/06/08, 07:39 PM

Hi, all

We have three pens right now. There is one large pen that holds the main herd of 9, one small pen which is holding 3 new kids and will hold more as they are born, and one 8 x 8 pen that we use for kidding. Right now there is one doe in early labor there.

We have another doe due Monday and the last due next Thursday. Usually, we keep the babies with mom for the first week until the colosterum is gone and then we start milking full time for us and bottle feed the babies. So at a week, the moms go back in with the herd and the babies go in the baby pen. So far the first two goats were far enough apart that this worked. Not so with the last three.

If doe number 3 kids tonight, should I get her out of there before number 4 goes into labor? Or can I put laboring mom in with them? And can she stay with her newborn with the other mom and her 3 day old?

Dee

Scrounger · #2 02/06/08, 08:06 PM

I had two LaMancha does that kidded a couple of days apart. They and the kids, stayed in the same small pen (15' x 15') together for 6 weeks without problems.

Karenrbw · #3 02/06/08, 08:23 PM

Your kidding pens are quite a bit larger than mine. I have kept new mothers in our pens together, but it depends on the individual does. I have some very protective mothers that can't be with anyone else. I have several different "families" in my herd and have found that members of the same "family" usually do well together. Eg - mother with last year's daughter both in the same kidding pen together.
You know your individual does' temperments well enough to make an educated guess on this situation.

goatkid · #4 02/07/08, 01:45 AM

All my adult does and upcoming yearlings live in the same pen and are not put into separate pens for kidding. I do have 4 goat houses of varying sizes in that pen so new moms can have some space, but sometimes new moms do have to share the same space. Next month, I have a doe due the first week of March and seven the second week. I make sure to attend the births so I know which dam each kid belongs to and so the moms know this also. I do have one house I can close off in the event a doe needs to be isolated. Last spring I put a c section doe and her kid in it and a few days later, she had a housemate who had prolapsed. They were both first fresheners and it worked out fine. If your does don't get along with each other in the smaller pen, an option would be to pull and bottle feed the oldest kids and put their mom in the main pen when the next doe kids, since you plan to bottle the kids anyway.

MamaDee · #5 02/07/08, 09:23 AM

O.K., thanks.

The two does are related. And they were in the same small herd together before we got them and added them to our 9 goat herd.

Our doe kidded this morning with twins and the next is due Monday. So, I guess I'll keep checking ligaments and when I think she's getting closer, I'll put her in and see what they do. I can always pull the babies out and put them with the others and put the mom with the main girls if it doesn't look like it's going so well.

The baby size isn't an issue. The 3 babies already in the kid pen are kinders. The new kids are nubians......the twins from this morning are just as big as my two week old kinders. ; )

Dee

Oldntimes · #6 02/07/08, 03:47 PM

I have a kidding pen that I put 3 moms to be in yesterday. . They are all three due the 11th. They will stay in there for a week after they kid. This usually works for me.
last year I had 2 does that were due a week apart I put them in the same pen and they kidded a day apart :baby04: . Anyways one mama is very pertective of her kids and would try to bite the others Does kids if she came to close to her. But the kids learn really quick to stay away from the mean mama. LOL!!!!. They stayed in there together for at least a week and all in all it well just kid. You will just have to try it and see. I would suggest putting them together befor they kid though.

lonelyfarmgirl · #7 02/09/08, 09:08 PM

mamadee. you said you let the kids stay with mom till the colostrum is gone, then bottle feed them. we tried that last time, and were never able to get the baby to take a bottle. we eventually gave up. how do you manage the switch?
sorry, off subject.

Spinner · #8 02/09/08, 10:10 PM

I can't keep a doe in the kidding pen. I put them in there and the next day they have found a way to get out and rejoin the herd, I guess they get lonely when separated from the others. I finally gave up and let the does stay with the herd. Never had any problems, they kid and the kids thrive. New mama's can be mean. I don't know if it's instinct or if the others learn real fast to leave her alone until she wants to mingle again. The kids are usually out playing together in a couple of days.