Questions........

CJBegins · #1 11/25/12, 07:15 PM

Okay, so Dora surprised me today with a single doeling. I wasn't expecting her to deliver for another week or so by her udder development. This morning I saw a drop of white discharge, period. This early evening I go out to do chores and there she is with a little doeling.

The reason why I say I wasn't expecting her to deliver for another week is by watching her udder development. Of coarse I don't have breeding dates.....

Anyway, her udder wasn't full and tight like she got last year or the way any of my other goats, cows or horses progress. She has milk but she isn't bursting with milk by no means. Her udder seems to be growing in the hours since delivery.

What is up with this?

This baby and the little buckling that was born with pneumonia have folded ears. I have read that it is genetic. I am thinking I can take a small foam hair curler and tape it to the underside of her ears to hold their shape while the cartilage hardens. Is this going to work or am I wasting my time? I think it is probably too late to do that to a 12 day old....or is it?

BTW I am disappointed in my baby's colors. All four of them are the same color as wild rabbits with various black streaks here and there. One buckling has a white tophat on his head. It is interesting because 1 of 5 babies last winter was this color.

Someone please tell me that Dora's udder is going to progress and grow into a the nice udder she had last year.....please!!!!!

Carla

emanuelcs34 · #2 11/25/12, 07:44 PM

Not sure what to say about the udder....It should develop. Maybe with only one there is just less milk?
I would go ahead and try to tape the ears though...Might take a little longer but it should help.

Goat Servant · #3 11/25/12, 07:54 PM

She should have plenty colostrum, big udder or not.
Are ears folded lengthwise or horozontal?
You can still tape a thick piece of cardboard to them.And congrats on smooth delivery of a doeling!

CJBegins · #4 11/25/12, 07:58 PM

Goat Servant, the ears on the doeling are folded lengthwise. The little buckling is folded both ways. He looks so pathetic and is still kinda delayed when compared to the kids born the same day.

I thank the Good Lord above for that smooth delivery cause I sure wasn't paying attention.

Carla

Alice In TX/MO · #5 11/25/12, 08:31 PM

Duct tape and cardboard should work. I've heard of people STAPLING the ears to cardboard, but please do not do that.

Castrate the buckling and don't worry how his ears look.

KSALguy · #6 11/25/12, 08:55 PM

folded ears are not to my understanding genetic, just a thing that happens on the way out, tape them and they should be fine, and yes castrate the buckling, dont need to nurse him into a breeding animal if he is sickly,

**mygoat** · #7 11/25/12, 08:59 PM

What breed are these?

In boers, folded ears is pretty common. Usually a fleshy attachment keeps the tips folded up. If you take the ear on newborns and 'snap' them, straight, the skin will rip leaving a tiny booboo, and the ear tip will be able to drop. You can then tape cardboard or popsickle sticks to them.

My boer bucks' ears were folded (breeder straightened them though, but you can still tell), and he threw a son and a daughter this year with folded tips. Everybody else was fine. If he throws more this year (probably will), I was considering snapping them, then supergluing a popsickle stick to the OUTSIDE of the ear with just a couple drops of glue. This should fall off on it's own in a week or two, I imagine, or be easy to pull off quickly. If I do it right, it shouldn't interfere with tattooing that I do at a couple days old.

If the bucklings aren't keepers, I don't snap their ears - they just go to market anways.

Backfourty,MI. · #8 11/26/12, 05:47 AM

Congratulations on the new healthy doeling. Some goats don't come into milk heavy until after they kid or a few days later so Dora may just be a late bloomer this year due to having just a single, She'll probably surprise you with all the milk she'll have coming in.

Eunice · #9 11/26/12, 07:34 AM

I am guessing that the udder and milk will come regardless of size at kidding, especially as you say she had more udder last year. I have an Alpine doe that kidded last year as a yearling with only a teacup sized udder. She got up to over a gallon of milk a day, and is still milking a generous three quarts a day after 16 months in milk.

CJBegins · #10 11/26/12, 08:32 AM

Well, this morning she has built more of an udder and there is more than plenty milk for baby. Her teats are more full also, but not completely full. Dora produced close to a gallon a day with last winters kidding and nursed 2 kids. I guess I will see what this next few days bring by the Udder Fairy!

Dora's 8 month old doeling is developing a wonderful udder. It's exciting to see it change over the last 2 weeks since kidding.

Mygoat, this doe is a Togg/alpine/saanen cross. This doeling's ears are standing up but still folded this morning. The other buckling's ears are folded close to his head so they droop and then they are also folded lengthwise. It gives him the permanent "I don't feel good" look.

Goat Servant · #11 11/26/12, 10:42 AM

CJ you can try popping the cartlidge on top of the ear then taping it with a piece of thick cardboard. Even if he's not a keeper you can still do it & see if it worked or not.

chamoisee · #12 11/26/12, 12:26 PM

Brown with black streaks? Chamoisee? Perfectly nice color pattern! (indignant!) ;-)

**mygoat** · #13 11/26/12, 12:41 PM

Lactation usually comes in on a curve and goes out on a curve. No doe starts at peak production. With colostrum, it's usually quality not quantity. Keep in mind last year, she was a FF - so that udder was JUST made for the first time.

And yes, generally milk production is correlated to number of kids. Single kids demand less milk, therefore production will decrease. If you want maximal production, you'd pull kids and milk her out 2-3x daily. If you want to leave the kid on her, I still suggest milking 1x per day for maximal production.

I'm of the mind that no good goat is a bad color. I'd like to see pics of this color - sounds pretty to me!

chamoisee · #14 11/26/12, 12:59 PM

Also, the breed and milk production capability of the buck she was bred to (the kid's sire) will have an effect on her lactation. It's something to do with the placenta, which is made of the kid's DNA, IIRC. This is why one should not breed a first freshening dairy doe to a meat or pet breed, particularly if she is going to be culled on the basis of her production or lack of it!

CJBegins · #15 11/26/12, 06:48 PM

Chamoisee, that information is very interesting. Please don't be offended

by my boredom with the baby colors. Last spring we had a red, two blacks, a white and a chamoisee. I was more than a little surprised that they are all really close in looks. I will say Dora's doeling is a little lighter color than the rest and very striking.

I will try to get some new pictures tomorrow of the cuties. Can't have too many of those.

chamoisee · #16 11/26/12, 07:27 PM

I was kidding, lol.... But I do like that pattern, as you can see!