First freshner refusing to feed baby

micsminnie · #1 03/18/10, 01:04 AM

HI...totally new to breeding goats, that being said we have a beautiful brand new doeling, delivery went fine, but mom is needless to say freaked...she is not letting the baby anywhere near her teats/udder. I have milked out what I can but she is not letting me near her right now either. What I got out of her I fed the baby, but it was not much at all. It is also chilly tonight. We brought the baby in she is doing fine atm. I made her the recipie listed in Storeys book for substitute colostrum and she drank a bit of that again not much 1/4 oz maybe. Right now she is laying down and quiet. I plan on trying to take her to mom again to try after while..any other suggestions of what to do? Also if I can't get mom to feed her or if mom continues to fight me milking her what would the best substitute?

Thanks

steff bugielski · #2 03/18/10, 05:51 AM

By bringing her inside you are not going to get mom to accept her. You need to tie mom to the wall and make kid nurse. The smell of mom's milk in her poop will get mom to accept her. Sometimes I will rub the afterbirth on the kids to re enforce the smell.
If all fails, milk mom 2-3 times a day and bottle feed the baby her mother' s milk. there is info in one of the stickys in this forum on how much. I usually feed newborns 4x a day for the first week then 3x for the next week then 2x after that. Or there is a thing called a lambar in which you fill with milk and the kid nurses itself.

Backfourty,MI. · #3 03/18/10, 06:34 AM

I agree with Steff & would do the same thing & see how things go. Sometimes it just may take a FF a little longer to figure out what's going on.

micsminnie · #4 03/18/10, 06:42 AM

Ok that's what I thought keep trying to get mom to take her...soon as she is hungry again will do that. I did get the doeling to take in 8 oz total now of that substitute colostrum...she is alert, going to the bathroom and all that. Also dipped her cord and stuff. So doing well...thank you for the help will update later and try to figure out how to post pics

Backfourty,MI. · #5 03/18/10, 06:57 AM

Let us know how things go. As long as she drinks mom's milk, she'll smell like mom & that should help but sometimes FF freak out a little. Did she clean the baby up herself?

micsminnie · #6 03/18/10, 07:05 AM

not totally I helped, once I started she did though so I guess you can say it was a dual effort. Last night she would walk over to the doeling when it cried, but as soon as the doeling got any where near her hind end she would bolt. The doeling was born right around 10:30 I waited till one out there with mom trying to encourage but then it was dropping cold so I figured i better take the doeling in and try a substitute. Guess maybe I should have been more patient, but first time goat mom hear and everything was a bit paranoid.

Alice In TX/MO · #7 03/18/10, 07:43 AM

There is no substitute for colostrum. The mother's colostrum has antibodies and essential nutrients that the kid needs to survive. You have a limited amount of time that the kid can absorb what it needs to have a healthy start.

Do as suggested above. Restrain the doe, assist the kid to nurse. Make sure your voice and body language are gentle and supportive and soothing.

micsminnie · #8 03/18/10, 05:15 PM

We are doing good still ...and the plus is I finally was able to milk some colostrum from mom

After playing while I milked mom and being bottle fed she is now sleeping:0 thanks.

betsy h. · #9 03/18/10, 08:20 PM

Give mom a dose of benedryl- it can take the 'tickle' out of mom's teats so she will not be so jumpy at them being sucked on.

micsminnie · #10 03/18/10, 09:43 PM

lasttime around mom litteraly went strait to milk stand she want to be milked

Doeling is still doing good and now is well fed with mom's colostrum..thanks again

Wags · #11 03/18/10, 10:01 PM

I've had to hold first fresheners to let their kids milk a time or two. Usually by the second day they figure it out. I too was worried about cold last year, but a heat lamp took care of that worry. Just be sure if you use one that it is very securely fastened and the cord is out of the goats reach.

micsminnie · #12 03/20/10, 05:33 PM

Not that anyone on here would have known, but to make things clear I don't have a barn barn...so stable walls and electric facilities outside with them and all that were not possible...we had frost the morning after she was born...and I knew it was going to be super cold this weekend (case in point minivan slid off road into ditch on way to town to get groceries today 2 busted rims

...and we have about 4 inches of snow on the ground and it is still coming down) that is why I brought her in as I said before call me paranoid but first timer here with newborns. I just didn't have any goat colostrum on hand as this was my first time having babies so my original question was what would be the best stuff to use to feed her until I could get mom to settle down enough to milk her. Mom still backs away from her and refuses so doeling is a bottle baby. I was thinking about doing that anyway with her so not a big deal. I bought her dad as a bottle kid and bottle fed him so I know how that goes. Mom is now giving me a pint so far every 6 hours so we are doing good. Again thanks Steff and backfourty for the encouragement and advice , she is growing jumping, playing, and doing all the other stuff she should.

dm9960 · #13 03/20/10, 05:51 PM

glad it is going well. I had the same problem with my ff back in November, she never did settle down and allow the doeling to nurse, so she became my first bottle baby. I'm kind of glad it worked out that way, the doeling is extra friendly while the doe still mothers her in every other sense.

Jyllie63 · #14 03/20/10, 06:03 PM

Sounds like things are going well! My doe rejected her kid last year so the little doeling became a bottle baby and I really enjoyed it (she lived in the house for 6 weeks with visits to the barn daily). This same doe/mom just kidded on monday and while she isn't completely rejecting the little buckling she will not stand still for him to eat. He wouldn't take the bottle, so we just hold her still (with a bucket of grain) and let him nurse. I don't know if he's getting enough, but he seems happy and healthy and already bigger

.

micsminnie · #15 03/22/10, 07:30 AM

dm9960 and Jyllie63 thank you for sharing your success stories makes me feel better. "Malibu" as we are calling her is still doing great

I have tried but can't figured out how to post pics on here

. Mom (Porsche) is if anything at least tolerating me milking her. We are getting it done to say the least. though I think her and I both still have a lot to learn and of course the snow is not helping

Hubby is already dreaming of cheese so this shall be fun...Once again thanks all for the encouragement and glad everyone's old and new babies are doing are doing good as well.

Backfourty,MI. · #16 03/22/10, 05:25 PM

Glad things are going so well for you & Malibu & Porsche it sounds like!

To post pictures you need to upload them to a photosite like Photobucket or flicker then cut & paste them here with the [img] thing.
I am terrible at taking pictures & almost always need help EVERY SINGLE TIME!! I think folks hate it when I want to post pictures. Someone even posted them here for me once themself! Nice folks here!