Doe Kidded...need help Pics

[Goat of Many Colors]

My doe kidded today. She did not bag up good but after a squeeze on one teat I saw milk. I still can't get one side clear. She's not very friendly so I have to do everything quick and she has horns.

She had two kids. The first one was dried, up and nursing within the hour. My doe cleaned the second one but would not let it nurse. Every time I put the baby to the teat she pushed it off. I am hoping nothing is wrong with the little doeling and Mama just feels she doesn't have enough milk for the both of them. Both weighed 7 pounds. I brought the baby inside as it is very cold out in the stall. I have given nutri drench and fed her 2 ounces of cholestrum that I had frozen from my last doe. How often and how much do you feed a newborn. My last kidding I left the kids with the doe for 2 weeks before I took them and they were drinking 8 ounces 3 times a day. Should I try the kid back with her tomorrow or not even bother giving her back to the doe.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Roll farms]

I feed them 4-6 oz. of colostrum every 6-8 hrs for 24 hrs, providing they're pooping and up and around. I give them a bottle of half colostrum / half goat milk at the 24 hr point, then they're fed as much as they'll take 3 x a day until I start weaning them. (2-3 mos.)

You can try taking her back to mom, but if she doesn't want her now, it's a safe bet she really won't want her later.

Good luck!

 

[Goat of Many Colors]

Thank you! Thank You!...Just what I needed to know, Just checked on Mama and other baby. He seems to be doing fine. Mama has him snuggled behind her against the stall. We have an entire week of freezing night temps. No more kidding for me in the winter months. Even here in NW Florida the weather is unpredictable and viscous!

 

[username taken]

personally before taking bottle babies, I try to MAKE that doe accept her kids. She had them, so she can raise them. Usually after a few days of restraining her for the kid to suck, she will accept both of them.

But if you want a bottle baby, go ahead.

 

[Roll farms]

I hate restraining a resistant doe and wrestling w/ them and squirting myself in the face w/ milk while trying to get the kid to take the teat into it's mouth, just all the hassle of it.
I'm at the barn several times a day anyway, so taking a few bottles along seems easier than goat 'wrasslin'...

 

[username taken]

lol I guess I've never really found it that difficult.

Tie the doe up, let the kids out, after the first couple times putting them on the teat they know how to do it, and they just duck under and go to town.

The first couple times can be a little frustrating if you have a dumb sucker. I just sit on the ground, plonk the kid on my lap, put the teat in his mouth, and squirt milk in there till he gets the idea.

 

[Goat of Many Colors]

I want bottle babies...I want bottle babies!.... I just wasn't expecting to have one at birth.....LOL We left our last kids with their Mama for 2 weeks until her milk was good enough for human consumption. I have mixed breeds. My other doe you can see Nubian and Boer in her and also the father. This one, I have no idea but she was bred to the Nubian Boer cross. I just hopes she bags up more or I may be bottle feeding the other sooner than I expected.

I feel 100% sure that I did the right thing by bringing her into the house. I could not have stayed outside all night to make sure she stayed warm even if she was not being fed by Mama.

I will post some pictures as soon as the battery charges in the camera.

 

[Goat of Many Colors]

Here are pictures of Mama and the buckling.

The next picture is Little Orphan Annie. When she gets out of the kennel she lays down and snuggles with my Christmas Angels and Bears. She has some unusual markings on her face. Stripes down both sides and a little white feather hat. Her eyes are in the black of her face so you can barely see them.

 

[helmstead]

 

[Roll farms]

Well, now, if you gotta be "forced" to pay special attention to a critter, it sure does make it easier when they're as cute as she is!

They're all pretty, love the doe's markings.