# Doe isnt letting kids nurse



## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

This is the first time this doe has had babies, she had triplets. All three are doing great. Petunia was born on 12/27/12, JW and Maragold were born on 12/28/12. When i watched her with the babies before, she would lower her head and allow them to chew on her ears let them nurse ect...it was sooo sweet.
Now its 1/9/13 and when they go to nurse she jumps around and runs around trying to keep away from them. Today I held her in the morning allowing the babies to nurse, after checking the uddar and teats for heat or discoloring. The milk looks fine too.....I just do not understand how she could have latched onto them in such a loving way, that now she is treating them like this.

Could it be that she is acting this way because its her first time having kids? Or should I be concerned that she just isnt a good mother? I love the fact that she throws triplets but if she isnt going to be a good breeding doe, then she is worthless to me.

Also, the mother is naturally polled as well as the 2 females she had. I have read not to breed a polled goat with a polled goat and will not do that, BUT can this be a genetic problem I should steer away from completely?

Thanks in advance!

Crystal


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm so sorry I don't really know how to help with this problem. Something must be going on for her to not want to nurse them anymore  Maybe with her being a first timer, she is feeling too overwhelmed, especially if they come to nurse in 'attack mode'? 
Are they with the rest of your goats, and if so how long have they been with the others?
Maybe keep her seperated w/the kids and see how she does, maybe she'll calm down.
So sorry your having to deal with this.

What breed is she? 

I've never had polled goats, so I don't know anything about that, but it'll be interesting to see what others have to say


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Polled genetics are not a result of bad genetics.... I currently have a polled doe as well as a polled buck and will see the resulting kids in mid February, being polled does not affect health or production.

As far as mama suddenly kicking kids away, my guess is that they are getting aggressive with nursing and she's not liking it at all. Keep her with them in a separate area until you see for sure that she's not rejecting them... any ramming, pushing, biting, stomping then remove them. Check the kids often and if they are playing and have full bellies then they're likely nursing enough and when you see her move away from them they may have just recently nursed.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

HoosierShadow said:


> I'm so sorry I don't really know how to help with this problem. Something must be going on for her to not want to nurse them anymore  Maybe with her being a first timer, she is feeling too overwhelmed, especially if they come to nurse in 'attack mode'?
> Are they with the rest of your goats, and if so how long have they been with the others?
> Maybe keep her seperated w/the kids and see how she does, maybe she'll calm down.
> So sorry your having to deal with this.
> ...


My husband made a hot box for them today, so they have been spending more time in there than they do bounding around mom. All the moms are seperated into stalls but we have let them all out together during the warm weather. We also have a time where we put the kids in a pen between the moms so they can all interact with eachother and give the moms a little break witout causing the stress of seperation being side by side.

She is a Nubian


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

As far as polled goes... Pygmys are the only breed that polled is considered a genetic fault .... polled Pygmies cannot be shown, or if they are they take points away from total score for the fault.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

liz said:


> Polled genetics are not a result of bad genetics.... I currently have a polled doe as well as a polled buck and will see the resulting kids in mid February, being polled does not affect health or production..


This makes me happy! She has such a nice uddar, I was surprised to see how uniform it was during her development. I cant wait to see your results!



liz said:


> As far as mama suddenly kicking kids away, my guess is that they are getting aggressive with nursing and she's not liking it at all. Keep her with them in a separate area until you see for sure that she's not rejecting them... any ramming, pushing, biting, stomping then remove them. Check the kids often and if they are playing and have full bellies then they're likely nursing enough and when you see her move away from them they may have just recently nursed.


The good news is that she isnt biting or going after the babies in an aggressive manner, they have been playing, havent been vocal, unless they see me of course...they love to climb all over me, Im like a toy, so when they see me they start bleeting loudly....they are SO CUTE!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If a doe was nursing the kids just fine and then all of a sudden isn't, then there is something wrong. Whether you can see something physically wrong or the kids teeth are hurting her teats. I would just keep a close watch on everything and really see what is going on.

Also, is the rejection continuous or just once in a while? Does won't let their kids nurse every second of the day. My goats will occasionally not let their kids nurse throughout the day.

I would suggest spending a large amount of time out there to see if the doe is constantly rejecting the kids or just once in a while.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

The kids seem to be fine...I am planning on spending some time with them this weekend and watching what she does....as of right now it seems as though she isnt being mean to any of them although she occasionally butts away the runt. I caught her nursing the bigger kids earlier today on the goat cam.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

Petunia, the runt


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

The runt sure is cute! You may have to supplement her. I would weigh her daily with a scale that weighs in tenths of pounds to see if she is gaining ok.


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## honeymeadows (Nov 20, 2012)

Good luck! It does sound like something is bothering her. Was she sensitive when you checked her udder and milked out some? 

I once had a doe reject her babies after they were disbudded. I guess she figured they didn't look like HER babies with those black spots on her head. It took a while before I didn't have to hold her for them to eat.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

I am curious, if it were teeth how could I do anything about the kids hurting her while nursing? I am going to start milking her and bottle feeding to give her a break. I really feel sorry for her now being a first time mother with triplets...it has to be a bit over whelming.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

Okay here is an update: She isn't allowing any of them eat, she isn't really mean to them. I milked her today just to see if she had anything wrong visually with her milk. It looks good, no discoloration in it and no lumps. Her udder is huge but her teats aren't tight like they should be with a full milk bag. I noticed lumps circular ranging in size between a quarter and a nickel on her uddar near the middle about 3. Any experience with this?


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## pixie (Dec 30, 2012)

Oh, she is so precious! What a cutey! I am waiting for my does to deliver in March, which still seems like forever away from now!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Milk her out and taste it. If it tastes salty, she could have mastitis.

It does seem like something is going on. You can also buy a california mastitis kit and test her milk with that too.

If her teats are sore from kids teeth, then you are right, there is nothing you can do but bottle feed.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

I've got a very cool update, I was bottle feeding the runt and the other two babies walked right over and nursed on mom. I have decided to try to graft the runt onto the doe that was a single birth, so triplet mom isn't feeling overwhelmed, wish me luck!! Little petunia (the runt) will be fostered by Dolly, the sweetest doe I have. I am going to try to put a sock on Dolly's baby for a while, then take it off, turn it inside out and put it on petunia. 

I read this is an effective way of getting her to accept a foster baby, until her milk gets in the foster babies system. 

Meanwhile, I am going to taste triplet mom just to be sure.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is great. Hopefully you will have no problems grafting the runt onto the other mama.

The other thing you can do is milk new mama out and give the runt her milk. That way when she smells her rear end, it will smell like her milk.


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## Creations_Way_Farm (Dec 4, 2012)

I've been giving her new moms milk and goat electrolyte in-between feedings. I bought a winter hat at TSC and cut out legs and head for maternal baby. Tomorrow I will put it onto the foster kid. I have a question, I've been trying to milk the girls a little myself to stimulate more milk production, what supplement or organic food can I give them to help with this?

They currently get alfalfa daily; molasses water every other day, goat mineral free choice, and salt block free choice, billy block free choice, with feedings daily with Boss and beet pulp.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Alfalfa is a great milk stimulant. You can also give them red raspberry leaves.


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