New babies; mom not so thrilled

[goatmama1114]

Our yearling doe finally freshened this morning--big twin bucklings (alas, not the triplet doelings we were hoping for)--and things went pretty well (I did have to help a bit because the babies were so big and it was a tight squeeze), but the doe is not that excited about her babies. She isn't talking to them, and hasn't licked them or sniffed them at all (they were born about 3 hours ago). We have gotten them to nurse by holding them onto her teats, and then just recently they latched on by themselves, but I did need to be in there, holding the doe steady. I am mostly concerned by how the doe butts them away when they come to her head.

Is this common for first-time fresheners? Our other doe took some time to figure out the nursing thing (she'd kick the babies away for the first couple days), but she was very into licking the babies and talking to them. This doe keeps wanting to lie down as far away from the babies as she can get.

Any thoughts? Will this pass?

Thanks!

[Idahoe]

It might pass . . . you'll just have to keep them together, and go out and make sure they nurse several times a day. Them nursing will stimulate her "mommy" hormones.

[mpete]

Congrats on the new kids! She may just be in a type of shock... Try getting her to eat, drink. I had a doe that ignored her large/ very hard birth buckling for several hours, we gave her some grain, and that kinda perked her up a bit, then she began sniffing his behind.....

[goatmama1114]

Thanks!

She seems to be doing better already. At least she is standing for them to nurse without us being in there, holding her still. Hopefully the licking and talking part will follow soon.

[hoofinitnorth]

I had this same situation for the first time this year. Also a yearling first-freshener. She is a very friendly goat, both to people and other animals. When the baby came, it was a tough delivery (large single doe) and she was simply overwhelmed and a bit traumatized by the experience. I did what I learned here and other places:

Supplement mom with typical after-birth items to help give her energy.

Put afterbirth all over kid and kept presenting her to mom to lick. Mom would lick me, but not kid at first.

Kept mom from butting or stomping kid (thankfully she never tried the latter).

Held baby to nurse several times (if I couldn't have done this, I would have milked mom and bottled baby).

Milked mom and saved excess colostrum.

Put mom and baby in a very small pen and leave her be (but supervise so she isn't hurting kid - I did this by monitor).

Eventually, the hormones kicked in and when I came back to check on them a few hours later, I found baby all clean and snuggled with mom. Now there is no issue whatsoever.