Baby buck wont eat

peakfarms · #1 12/09/04, 06:48 PM

The other night I spent a very cold evening out in the pen with my large pregnant doe. Im glad I did, because the birth was not normal, and I had my first experience "going in".
I now have two beautiful baby nubian twins. One doe, One buck.
I have a problem. The little buck seems to have no clue on how to eat.
He butts and noses moms udders, but is not at all interested in her teets.
At first I milked her and fed him with a dropper. He even fought that and for the first day or so didnt even suckle. But yippe he cought onto that. So today Im out there with the bottle and nipple, thinking if I can get him to figure out how to eat off that, eating off mom should be a breeze.
He ate a little. He acts hungery, and is constanty nosing around mom.
Out of frustration, I even pried his mouth open and put moms teet in it.
(Mom is a wonderful patient doe) He suckled a little bit then spit it out.
Anyone have any more tricks up thier sleeves I could try? I would prefer mom to feed this baby.

Milking Mom · #2 12/09/04, 07:38 PM

How long of a time have you let him go without feeding him? If he stays in with mom and gets hungry he may be more apt to latch on. I wouldn't let him go a whole day without feeding him, but several hours. He seems to have the idea of where dinner is just hasn't figured out how to get it out yet.

Tracy in Idaho · #3 12/09/04, 07:45 PM

Well, hopefully he got enough colostrum in him. Too late now for it to matter.

Sometimes there are just "stupid" kids that can't seem to figure things out. Since you want him to be dam raised, I would go out every few hours and do just what you did before -- pry his mouth open and stick it on the teat. It make take you a day or so, but he'll get the hang of it. I wouldn't confuse him with the bottle while you're trying to get him on the doe.

Now, just to ask -- are you SURE he isn't nursing when you don't see him? If his tummy is nice and round, he's darn sure been eating ;-)

Just as a bit of added info, when one of ours is like this (but remember I only have bottle babies) I tube feed their colostrum right into their tummys. There is a very short window to get that in there, and I don't want to miss it. Fighting to get them on the bottle can come later <g> I offer the nipple, and if they can't/won't take it then I tube them. Come to think of it, last year I didn't have to tube a single kid!

Tracy

peakfarms · #4 12/09/04, 11:00 PM

After they were born, and it was apparent niether one would latch at that time, I milked out the colostrum and fed it to both kids with a syring.
I went out this evening, and his tummy isnt full and he is acting aggressive. One side of the udder was milked down, and the nipple was, what are the words Im looking for? Pliable? Soft? I noticed the doe would prefer that one over the other. So I milked down the other side, so both teats should be easy for the babies to latch to.
Thank you for your reply.
This is a registerd Purebred Nubian buck, but at this time we are not sure if we are going to wither him or not.

peakfarms · #5 12/09/04, 11:52 PM

Update,
went out tonight, put him on moms teat, he suckled a couple times and quit.
He has plenty of energy, and is the sweetest little thing. I think he prefers my company over mom.
He still looks skinny to me, but I have to tell myself he is just two days old.
Thanks for the input.
Oh, just for my info, what are the signs babies arent getting enough to eat??
Regina