Pygmy goat Quads!

On Friday june 6th My 4 year old pygmy doe had quads all came out alive and she did a awesome job taking care of them. They all are females,question is should I pull 1 or 2 And bottle feed them so they all get enough milk? Shes doing fine now with all 4 but once they get a little older they will be sucking down the milk alot more than they do now. Will she be able to produce enough for all 4? she is getting plenty of grain and good hay also fresh water. Thanks

Congratulations on the quads!!! I don't know the answer to your question, but I'd love to see pictures!

I'm not a huge fan of pulling babies BUT pygmy's are so small and not really a dairy breed, so it may be wise to pull 1-2.

We would love to see pics of the little darlings

I'm not sure I'd totally pull them (unless she rejects one or two) - but you probably should be prepared to supplement at least a couple of them. Be sure to feed mom a high quality feed and a lot of it. She's going to need as much as she can eat - but if she's been on a limited diet be sure to work her up gradually. Also, the babies will probably want to start nibbling solid feed pretty early, so if you can, keep high quality feed where the babies can reach it.

If you didn't worm her on the day of delivery, be sure to do that!

Congratulations and good luck with all of them!

Congrats on the quads! She must have been huge before delivery. As long as she is getting plenty, and I do mean plenty, of feed and the best quality hay you can afford she should be okay. Pygmy goats have really high fat milk and when mom is stripped out at the end of a feeding that is when the richest milk is provided. If you haven't noticed, the babies will only suckle for a very short period of time each time they nurse, but they will nurse often, so if you don't see them nurse for very long intervals that's okay. I would think that watching each of the kids closely for proper weight gain (weigh weekly if possible) that will tell you if they are getting enough the first few weeks and will give you cues as to whether you should intervene. If this isn't her first freshening she should have pretty good milk capacity. The kids may start nibbling at hay earlier than most kids, but that won't hurt them in small quantities. Hope that helps you decide what to do.

I would watch them carefully. Make sure they all have full bellies and are active. Feed her well and set out feed where only the babies can get to it. If the babies have free feed available, know where it is and have been taught by their momma that it is "food", they should be fine. Babies can start to digest grains and browse as early as 3 days.

Be ready to pull any that are lethargic and/or very vocal. Both are signs they are not getting enough to eat.

I had an ND doe give birth to quads. I sold 3 as bottle babies pretty quickly.

We don't pull ours with trip or quads, but we supplement the smallest with a bottle.