Help

Raptor · #1 07/02/08, 04:03 PM

Had a first time momma goat give birth to twins this morning. A boy and a girl. Both seem healthy but the momma seems to be ignoring them and has butted the male several times to the point of knocking him down hard. I have not witnessed the babies sucking. Should I bottle feed them some colostrum for a day or two and then put them back with momma or leave them with her and hope she takes care of them ?

deafgoatlady · #2 07/02/08, 04:06 PM

You should hold the momma and let the babies suck on the teat. But You can bottle feed them with colostrum first 24 hours. If u dont want to bottle feed the babies. I would suggest for you to hold the momma and let the baby nurse three times a day until the momma get used do it .

mpillow · #3 07/02/08, 04:10 PM

Put her locked on the milkstand w/ grain if you have one and put the babies to the teat.

Goat Servant · #4 07/02/08, 04:45 PM

Sometimes first time mamas just dont know what they are suppose to do! Help her out with the above suggestions. She will fight you but keep at it. If you can get her into a confined area such as a stall that would really help!
It may take a few days, even a week till she will let them nurse on her own.

**mygoat** · #5 07/02/08, 04:54 PM

Don't be afraid to pull them if she just doesn't co-operate. I won't ever restrain a goat in the milkstand to get kids to nurse. If she doesn't accept them after me holding her for the kids to nurse a few times, she has rejected them. Pull them from her and milk her to feed her kids. Those kids need colostrum within 12 hours of birth.

Freeholder · #6 07/02/08, 05:16 PM

I don't necessarily agree with pulling them just because a first-time mother rejects them initially. (If she's done it before, though, I would cull her.) I normally bottle-feed my babies, but have left babies on their FF mother's when her teats were too small to milk easily. One doe a couple of years ago didn't want anything to do with her baby, so I put her on the milking stand and made her let the kid nurse several times a day. After three days, she'd changed her mind about the kid, and was a good mother after that. I DID make sure baby got colostrum from a bottle, though.

Kathleen

Raptor · #7 07/02/08, 08:37 PM

Thank you all for the suggestions.

mpillow · #8 07/03/08, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

I don't necessarily agree with pulling them just because a first-time mother rejects them initially. (If she's done it before, though, I would cull her.) I normally bottle-feed my babies, but have left babies on their FF mother's when her teats were too small to milk easily. One doe a couple of years ago didn't want anything to do with her baby, so I put her on the milking stand and made her let the kid nurse several times a day. After three days, she'd changed her mind about the kid, and was a good mother after that. I DID make sure baby got colostrum from a bottle, though.

Kathleen

I've done it many times. I've also traded goats w/ someone and put those babies on a goat in milk at 2 weeks old. Sometimes the mom adopts them after the baby has the right smell. Other times (I have one right now) the milk doe is suckled while on the stand but wont allow the orphan to nurse in the field.
Bottle kids are a pain IMO.

I had one that did reject her bucklings as FF this Spring but adopted a doeling and is quite a doting mother now!

Sweet Goats · #9 07/03/08, 12:25 PM

How are they all doing today?
I had a mom do that but the more I held her to let the baby eat, she finally gave in and let them nurse. Sometimes they are just so swollen that it hurts when they nursed. Give her some time.

hoofinitnorth · #10 07/04/08, 04:50 PM

I saw this too late to be of help for this set of twins, but just the other day one of my mentors told me that if a first freshener is rejecting her kids, smear afterbirth on their face and butts and then present them to her to clean. There is something hormonal in their reaction to the smell of the afterbirth that helps many, many first timers get over their initial freak-out.