# Can I wean kids at 6 weeks?



## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm getting discouraged! One doe with twin doelings is dying. I've tried everything over the past few weeks and she's just getting worse. She's almost dried up and her kids have been struggling and small since birth 6 weeks ago. I have one kid taking a bottle but the other refuses. I've tried everything to get her to take it. 
Another doe has triplets, also 6 weeks old. She was mothering all three so well at first that I left them all on her. But the past few weeks the smallest one has been struggling as well. And she also completely refuses the bottle. 
So my question is....should I pull the triplet and the twins who's mother is gonna die anyway? I could put the 3 kids in a separate small pen and try to get them on a bucket of milk. They haven't really been too interested in my creep feeder yet but in a small separate pen they might sooner try it. They're just 6 weeks old so not sure I should remove them from the herd. I think they may steal a little milk from other does sometimes but not enough to thrive. 
(I'm not looking for more ways to make them take a bottle now, and not looking for advice for my dying doe. Believe me, I've tried it all.)
Thoughts??


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I’ve had a doe die when her kids were 6 weeks and then 2 years ago had to pull a doeling at 6 weeks after her and her brother ripped their dams udder up fighting over the teat. It is not ideal but the kids lived. I fed them super well, added calf manna in their grain but could never get them to take a bottle. They grew very slow at first but one of them I still have, she is the 2 year old, and looks fantastic. I don’t remember when she totally made the turn around, she seemed to always be so small but I want to say at about a year she really picked up and just grew. 
If you can get the two on a bottle that would be great, the other one probably won’t take a bottle at that age. I would just feed them as good as you can and not expect him/ her to look overly great for awhile.


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

I’ve tried weaning at 6-8 weeks for the first time ever this year. The kids are doing brilliantly, better than ever before! However I weaned over two weeks, taking them from Mum and then letting them out daily:

Day one x4
Day two and three x3
Day four to day ten x2 (morning and evening)
Day eleven to day fourteen x1
Day fifteen none ie weaned

This allowed the kids a chance to get used to the idea of being weaned and gave them a chance to learn to eat more creep without stuffing on it all of a sudden. If you can do this sort of thing, then I shouldn’t see an issue so long as you keep an eye on the kids. However since they’ve never had a bucket or a bottle they might find it harder and the dying doe probably couldn’t manage that sort of stress.

I think they’ll do fine but it could take a day or two for them to get the idea at least to drink properly from a bucket, so I’d recommend not offering too much creep since there is a bigger risk of enterotoxemia unless you have vaccinated them. If they’re vaccinated go ahead. If not I’d say just encourage them to eat any sort of roughage to get their rumens fully functional and give them a dose of probiotics if you have it (if not natural yoghurt with live cultures would probably work)!

As you say, the triplet isn’t thriving anyway and the twins won’t be if Mum dies on them, so you might as well try!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Our Myotonic (she was in the 90 pound range, so fairly large) completely dried up her milk when her kids were 6-7 weeks old. We didn’t think of trying to get them on a bottle (newbies) but did try to get them to nurse on another mama while in the stanchion, but they wanted none of that. 

They both grew well - despite our lack of supplementing them
with any kind of feed - and now the doeling is a healthy 2 year old and normal sized. Her brother died at around a year old from a worm overload at their new home, but I know that before that he was about the same size as his sister.


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

[QUOTE

As you say, the triplet isn't thriving anyway and the twins won't be if Mum dies on them, so you might as well try![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

6 weeks isn't optimal, but life is not always optimal! I actually have a goat care book that recommends weaning at FOUR weeks. So if you need to do it, then just do it and NO GUILT ALLOWED!


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

minibarn said:


> [QUOTE
> 
> As you say, the triplet isn't thriving anyway and the twins won't be if Mum dies on them, so you might as well try!


Thanks for the encouragement everyone![/QUOTE]

Just thought of something I forgot to say earlier. Are they cudding yet?


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

groovyoldlady said:


> 6 weeks isn't optimal, but life is not always optimal! I actually have a goat car book that recommends weaning at FOUR weeks. So if you need to do it, then just do it and NO GUILT ALLOWED!


Wowza. That's a good system they must be recommending to get their rumens fully functional that early!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

TooManyBoers said:


> Wowza. That's a good system they must be recommending to get their rumens fully functional that early!


Dang, I hear you! I just went upstairs to retrieve that particular book to quote - and I realized it must have sat so sideways with me that I got rid of it. As I recall, the author contended that kids who were weaned early developed bigger and more effective rumens.

I have several other books which also have some erroneous information (How to pan feed your kids, Very inadequate feeding schedules for bottle feeding, etc.) usually sandwiched in between sound goat raising advice. It's such a blessing to have TGS as a multi-sourced provider of good information!


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

groovyoldlady said:


> Dang, I hear you! I just went upstairs to retrieve that particular book to quote - and I realized it must have sat so sideways with me that I got rid of it. As I recall, the author contended that kids who were weaned early developed bigger and more effective rumens.
> 
> I have several other books which also have some erroneous information (How to pan feed your kids, Very inadequate feeding schedules for bottle feeding, etc.) usually sandwiched in between sound goat raising advice. It's such a blessing to have TGS as a multi-sourced provider of good information!


Sure, the kids would develop their rumens earlier... but more effective? I don't see why. XD

But I must admit I too love this site. My goat bible is great, but it always seems just too vague! I guess it's not incorrect at least...


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

TooManyBoers I'm not sure about cudding. I've seen a bit of that going on in my crop of kids but not sure about these 3 doelings.


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## TooManyBoers (Oct 19, 2017)

minibarn said:


> TooManyBoers I'm not sure about cudding. I've seen a bit of that going on in my crop of kids but not sure about these 3 doelings.


Hmm, in that case keep an eye on them carefully. If they're cudding they can digest hay and concentrates/oats properly and don't need to be so reliant on the milk. But if they're not cudding yet their rumens won't be functional so you'll *definitely* need to keep them on milk.

From what I've heard straw is the best feed for developing the rumen since it's so scratchy, even if it is nutritionally defunct (or, pretty much anyway)! When I took my kids away from Mum they weren't all cudding but by the fourth morning, after being fed lots of straw along with coming out a few times for milk, they'd all begun at least.

Once they are cudding they can _theoretically_ survive without milk, although initially their rumens are still only developing to begin with so they won't thrive until they're cudding pretty much whenever they're not eating.


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

Okay thanks! I'll definitely keep trying with the milk and hopefully they'll soon be eating creepfeed too. I'll have out hay and straw too. Thanks!


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

Update - The mom died soon after posting this thread. I had separated her twins and the other triplet kid and continued to try to get them to drink from bottles. One twin died within a couple days. I decided to put the other 2 back with the herd as they seemed really stressed with the separation. The orphan is doing better with taking a bottle but doesn't usually drink alot at once. She is however eating creep feed and hay and seems to be thriving now. The triplet follows her mom around and tries to nurse whenever possible and is also nibbling hay. She's still more hunched most of the time but her belly usually feels full and she's peeing/pooing. 
They may have been fine separated but I'm glad I decided to put them back anyway. Thanks for all the suggestions!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Sorry you lost her.


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