# Should you let doe see dead kids?



## emmaandoscar (Jan 20, 2013)

Hello,

Just wanted to ask what you think about letting the momma's see the dead babies if they don't make it in the birthing process? My doe had twins and neither made it. She had never had babies before and I didn't let her see the babies, figured if she didn't see them, maybe she wouldn't know anything different. Well, I think she knows. She cried all day the other day looking around everywhere. I think she was searching and calling for them. She must know she had babies even though she never saw them.

One of my friends said that you should let them see the dead babies. I'm not so sure of this. Seems like maybe it would be harder on them? What is the consensus here with you guys that have experienced this? This was my first time kidding and a horrible experience. My heart still hurts. 

Thanks, Carol


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I would let them see the dead kids.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Oh no so sorry. You know sometimes I think we take it harder than we do.

Usually I leave expired kid with her for a few hours. yes they know.


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## emmaandoscar (Jan 20, 2013)

So, then after you leave them in for a few hours and then take the babies, do they still cry like crazy afterward?

It was so sad to listen to and watch her. Geez. I am so scared for the next kidding coming up soon. Everything that could have went wrong, did. Except a C-section. At least that didn't happen. Ugh. This experience was really hard. I know it's part of life if you're going to have babies, but I sure wish my first time would have been pleasant. I cried for two days and still emotional about it all.

Thank you.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

IMO they are going to take it just as hard if you take them right then or wait. I have tried it both ways and they still scream up a storm for at least a whole day. I take them right then and there now because it will just be that much sooner till they get the whole screaming time over and done with and move onto eating and getting over it. They don't understand it and the way I look at it is if they spend a few hours working to get them up it's going to be a few hours till they get over it. Not only that, watching that breaks my dang heart


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Our doe, Nubbin, lost her kids a couple of years ago. She kidded during the night three weeks before her due date so we were not there for the first few hours. She had licked the babies dry and was trying desperately to nudge them back to life but of course it was no good. When I came in and discovered what had happened, Nubbin gave me a pathetic "Please fix them" look that just broke my heart. 

Poor Nubbin cried for three days and didn't eat for a day or two, but we hugged each other a lot and she had two beautiful, healthy babies right on time the next year. The second pregnancy, she kept herself well out of harm's way (I'm positive she lost the first pregnancy from getting rammed by our herd queen), and she came and got me when she was ready to deliver. No more birthing in the middle of the night without help! The short and long is that they will mourn whether they see their kids or not. 

I hope your next kiddings go much better! Your doe may even be a good babysitter to other mama's kids. Nubbin loves everyone's babies and helped with babysitting duties like a "cool aunt." Last year she even adopted some bottle kids that I bought. Having an in-milk doe with no kids of her own can have its perks.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I usually take them away, as soon as she is done kidding, especially if she has 1 alive, so she can celebrate life and not fret on the death.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I don't think there's a right or wrong here. Hard either way, and I'm sorry for your loss.

I would choose individually. I have one doe who LIVES for her babies. If she lost all kids during delivery, I would let her see them and process it. If she had a live kid, I would take the others before she could see them, so she could focus on the live kid.

The first timer I would have done the same thing ... taken the kid to try to make the grieving easier.


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