Doe confused about kids

[Tracy]

Hi all,
Don't have much time to post much but this is a new one for me.
Had a doe freshen sometime last night, twins. The kids were both cleaned and standing this morning when I went out to the barn.
She kidded in with the other goats.
Normally what I do is separate a doe in a kidding pen before she kids, Once the kids are born and I know they are eating and bonded I put them out rest of the herd, usually 2-3 days post kidding.
This goat I put in a kidding pen with her twins and she keeps hollering for another does kids. I am 100% sure that the kids she has are hers. The other does kids where born a week ago. Why would this doe clean her own kids and then ignore them and take another does kids as hers? This is a new one on me.
I picked up her placenta and rubbed it all of her kids and held her so the twins could eat. Then I also put some Vick's on her and the kids as this has worked in the past on an orphaned goat that I wanted to foster to another doe. She will stay in the kidding pen till she bonds with her babies and I will hold her to let them eat but this to me is very odd?
Any thoughts?

[togg75]

Sounds like you have the bases covered. I hope it goes well.

[Tracy]

What is odd is that she cleaned these babies but then bonded with the other ones. She keeps hollerng for the week old kids that are not hers and wants nothing to do with her own. She is not a first time freshener either. Never seen this behavior before. I have had does reject their kids but not want another does kids
As of now we have 11 babies on the ground an 7 more does due.

[AnnaS]

Goats identify their kids by smell and sound, not sight. Right now, she is a mess of hormones and she loves every baby in the whole world. Keep her with her kids, make sure they're getting her milk, and the doe will bond up with them and get over her hormones. She'll be butting everyone else's kids in no time.

[dragonchick]

She had her heart set on BIG babies so she would have a reason for all the baby weight.

[Tracy]

Originally Posted by AnnaS

Goats identify their kids by smell and sound, not sight. Right now, she is a mess of hormones and she loves every baby in the whole world. Keep her with her kids, make sure they're getting her milk, and the doe will bond up with them and get over her hormones. She'll be butting everyone else's kids in no time.

That is why I found this odd. She cleaned her own kids so she had their scent. She would not have had the scent of the other kids that she wants. She was trying to climb out of te kidding pen to get to the other kids and hollering for them like they were hers while ignoring her own.
Been raising goats quite a few years now and this is a first for me.

[togg75]

Originally Posted by Tracy

That is why I found this odd. She cleaned her own kids so she had their scent. She would not have had the scent of the other kids that she wants. She was trying to climb out of te kidding pen to get to the other kids and hollering for them like they were hers while ignoring her own.
Been raising goats quite a few years now and this is a first for me.

Good to see that the surprises keep coming.....I hope she adjust well.

[AnnaS]

They had her scent until they started smelling like Vick's. Vick's is used to disguise the smell of a strange kid, as you've done in the past. The doe doesn't know they're *not* her kids- she sees kids, she has this powerful mother instinct right now, and she wants them to come over so she can smell their butts and find out if she had quads.

I'd only be concerned if she is acting aggressive, biting or butting her babies. Does she respond if you you make a kid squeal?

Does can get really weird in those days after kidding. I had a week fresh doe steal a newborn and raise him, another doe who made herself sick guarding her kid constantly and not eating. A third doe who almost killed a cat that had been her buddy all winter. And Elsa, the drinkin' doe, who cries endlessly after kidding, even though she's never licked a kid, let alone raised one.

[Minelson]

I think she is just plain mental
If it makes you feel any better...my Gretta is in heat and she is trying to get my dog to mate her. Life with goats.

[julieq]

Is she a Nubian? We love our Nubians, but they can sometimes be a royal pain as they're a bit thick between the ears...

Is there anyway to block the other kids from her sight? Like plywood or something? We've never heard of that before, but it's all we can think of. Sounds like you've done everything perfectly.

[DQ]

Originally Posted by Minelson

I think she is just plain mental
If it makes you feel any better...my Gretta is in heat and she is trying to get my dog to mate her. Life with goats.

the official thread of very confoooosed goats

[Tracy]

Thanks for the replys. The doe will not let the kids nurse. I have to hold in order for the kids to eat. This morning was a little bit of a breakthrough. She at least started sniffing the little doeling. Maybe she is coming around. I really dont want to bottle feed if I dont have to.
This is a boer cross doe. She has raised kids in the past. I jus have never seen this before.

[Ark]

Hi Tracy, did you actually SEE her cleaning the babies? If not, how do you know a different doe didn't do it? Unlikely, true.... but not impossible.

I had a doe that kidded 3 or so weeks too early and the babies were dead.
In a few days she was trying to be a mommy to this young punk who thought he was a BIG bad buck. He was about 4 weeks old at the time, and he'd rear up and try to head butt her, and when he landed close enough she'd lick him and love on him. He'd look offended and rear up and try to head butt her again! Every time he came down she was loving on him. LOL - it was hilarious. He was just convinced he was the big man, and she thought maybe he was her long lost baby.

[GoatGoddess]

one of my pregnant does got into a head butting contest with one of my girls who has a baby because she managed to convince herself it was her baby. took about two hours to get it all sorted out, and they're still giving each other the evil eye

[Goat Servant]

Tracy keep working with her!!! She'll come around!! It may take you going out there X amount of times a day for a week but she'll get it!
I have posted in other threads about Mystify, a %Boer. She always tries to reject her smallest kid.
Every yr she does this and I have to stay on top of her. Last time she did fine with her trips..until the new owner wanted one of the kids disbudded. And she was the biggest one.
Soon as this doeling went back to mama you guessed it....she would have nothing to do with this naked head that smelled strange.
I tried vicks I tried vanilla I tried her dam's blood. The only thing that worked was holding the dam several times a day.

[steff bugielski]

The mother also smells her milk when they poop, why she smells the butt. Make sure they drink her milk and her milk alone.

[hoofinitnorth]

Repost from yesterday's lost threads:

Perhaps she did not clean the kids, but another doe did? Sometimes breeders will put an experienced doe in with an inexperienced doe about to kid so that if they miss the birth, one of them will help clean up the kids and hopefully nurse them.