10 wk old doeling refusing bottle?

weisemaries · #1 09/16/12, 02:08 PM

Our 10 week old doeling, she will be 11 wks on Tuesday, started refusing her bottle yesterday. She acts likes she is hungry and messes with the bottle, but won't take the nipple in her mouth and suck. For the last two days, I would say I have gotten only 4-6 oz or so into her. (She is drinking goat milk that I get fresh from our doe, but not her momma.) At first I was worried about stomach ache, so I have her some baking soda mixed with kayro syrup last night and that brought on a bunch of burps, but she still wouldn't take the bottle. I also started her on another round of sulmet last night just to be on the safe side. I also wormed her Ivomec last night.

She is still eating hay and a little bit of her alfalfa pellets. I took her temp and it is 103.1 F. She is peeing and pooping normally without straining and her poop is perfect little balls like normal.

Any ideas? Is she just starting to wean herself? I couldn't see anything wrong with her mouth, but she wouldn't let me get a good look into it.

ETA: She is still jumping around and playing with my daughter when we let her loose in the yard....

cjean · #2 09/16/12, 04:40 PM

Have you tried a different nipple? We've had some worries like that, and it often turned out to be something stupid, like the milk was too cold/hot (usually younger animals), or the nipple had a leak that caused milk to go up the baby's nose, or it was clogged/too little milk coming out. Just a suggestion...

Donna1982 · #3 09/16/12, 04:45 PM

All of our bottle babies so far have been picky over their nipples. Have you tasted the milk? Is the doe you are getting the milk from feeling okay? Any change in her feed, wormed?

weisemaries · #4 09/16/12, 05:02 PM

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about the nipple. We use the pritchard nipples. I got out a new one and threw the old one away, and that did not help. I also grabbed a human baby bottle and she didn't like it either.

Our doe is doing okay. The only change in her lately is that we have been using the Replamin gel once a week for the past 3 weeks. Her appetite is good and she is pooping normally as well. She could probably use a worming, but I was worried about the little ones drinking the milk.

This little one really has me stumped. I guess she just wants to keep me guessing...

Donna1982 · #5 09/16/12, 05:17 PM

I wonder if the gel is making the milk taste funny. I think someone on here said her does milk off after a few weeks of that stuff.

Alice In TX/MO · #6 09/16/12, 05:30 PM

You have to dismantle and clean those Pritchard nipples on a regular basis. They get scummy and nasty.

Alice In TX/MO · #7 09/16/12, 05:31 PM

No, the result was the milk IMPROVED, not got 'funny.'

weisemaries · #8 09/16/12, 06:04 PM

Her production has improved some in the last few weeks. She has a single buckling that she nurses during the day and I pen him away from her at night so I can milk in the mornings. She has done a steady increase in supply since we started it. I have been able to freeze a little in the last week to use for soapmaking.

Hopefully the new nipple on the bottle will help matters tomorrow...

Alice In TX/MO · #9 09/16/12, 07:13 PM

You don't have to worry about goat kids drinking milk from their dams who have been dewormed.

andabigmac · #10 09/16/12, 07:32 PM

My baby, Ali, started getting fussy about the Pritchard nipple until I switched to a bigger one. I just bought one of the black lamb nipples from the feed store. I think the Pritchards get too small for their mouths or something. It was like she couldn't latch on. She goes to town on her bottle now.

weisemaries · #11 09/16/12, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andabigmac

My baby, Ali, started getting fussy about the Pritchard nipple until I switched to a bigger one. I just bought one of the black lamb nipples from the feed store. I think the Pritchards get too small for their mouths or something. It was like she couldn't latch on. She goes to town on her bottle now.

Thanks for the idea on the bigger nipple. I have a box of them somewhere. I will give that a try tomorrow...am ready to try anything at this point. Was hoping to keep her on the bottle for a little while longer.

Will let you know how it goes tomorrow...

weisemaries · #12 09/17/12, 05:52 AM

Thanks so much everyone!!!!

I tried the black nipple on her bottle this morning. I put a little Kayro syrup on it first hoping to get her to try it. I had to pry her mouth open and force her to take it. She sucked for a few minutes and then spit it out. She wouldn't have anything to do with it, but kept looking for milk.

In a final desperate attempt to get a bottle in her this morning, I put the pritchard nipple back on the bottle and she grabbed on to it and sucked it dry. She didn't even spit it out once till the the bottle was empty and then didn't want to let it go. Hopefully at this point we are good to go for the rest of the time she needs a bottle.

Thanks for all the replies. I knew I could come here for advice, and y'all didn't let me down!

cjean · #13 09/17/12, 11:41 AM

It is really funny how picky animals can be about the nipples. Some of ours do fine with the pritchards, some prefer the black lamb nipples. I did find that we have to slice the x's on the blacks to let more milk out. As they get older, they seem to like to fill their bellies quicker. I've learned to carry several different nipples out to the barn, switching them if they won't take the first one!