One doe had triplets, does she have enough milk? One is having a hard time nursing as it doesn't seem to know what to do naturally.

Other doe had twins, she hasn't left the same spot for 2 days. We have taken water and food to her, but she is not up walking around. She continues to have a bloody discharge, but appears to have passed the placenta. Listless is best word to describe.

Thanks for any advice you have. c

-- Carole (carle@earthlink.net), February 16, 2002

Answers

The doe that had the twins needs to get up fast! I would try to physically get her up and walk her around. What is her temperature? Does she have milk for her kids and are they eating? Has the doe been eating, does she have a cud? Give her some propylene glycol or nutri drench, I'd start with 60 cc. I'd also give some vit. B. If she is down, she may be having milk fever. This can be indicated by her not getting up and also a low temp or cold to the touch. She will need to have calcium. You can give it sub Q or orally. Lots of times if they are already down the vet will need to administer it IV. This is not something I would mess around with, if she doesn't perk up with the above I would get her to the vet fast or you could end up losing her. As far as the triplets, the doe will usually come into more milk in a few days. If the kid is having trouble figuring it out you can either bottle feed him the colostrum or tube feed them. You will need to milk out some colostrum from the doe to do that. They should have 10% of their body weight to eat. So, if the kid weighed 8 lbs. this would be at least 13 oz. If he was just born and is up you can give him an hour and see if he will get it, keep helping him latch on - I wouldn't wait longer than that.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 16, 2002.

I agree with Leslie about the doe that is down. If you don't do something, she could die and her kids with her. It could be milk fever, ketosis, and infection, or a kid still inside, or an injury sustained during kidding.... There are a lot of things it could be. If she were mine and not getting any better, I'd find a vet or a professional goatkeeper to come by and look at her.

The kid that is not nursing- I'll bet he's a buck. Buck kids can be dumb that way. Or, it may be smaller and weaker if it is a doe. With all that ompetition, if it doesn't start nursing, it'll get left behind! If the teats have already been squeezed to get the plugs out, stand the kid up by the udder with his mouth very close to the teat. If he's weak, you'll have to support him to stand, or he can even nurse while the doe is laying down, then he won't have to stand. Pet his rump and hind legs against the lay of the hair- backwards. This should stimulate the nursing instinct, and he should start nuzzling around for the teat. Tease his mouth with the teat (it helps to have a drop of milk on the teat), and see if you can get him to grab onto it. If this doesn't work, you can force his mouth open with one hand and push the teat into his mouth with the other, but he ofen resist that. Squirt some milk into his mouth if you can. It's definitely frustrating, but they do get the hang of it with a little patience, if they are strong and healthy. If he is just too weak, you may have to tube feed him like Leslie said.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 16, 2002.

You received excellent advice above; about the doe who is down, please act on it immediately, you don't have much time. As to the kid that isn't nursing, you should know that feeding it with a bottle doesn't mean that you will have to continue to do so. It just gives them the strength they need while they finally figure things out. We have left triplets on a doe before, and she had no trouble feeding them. Many milk goats give more milk than the kids need. Just keep an eye on them, they should gain weight regularly. Ten pounds per month is a very real estimate if these are full sized goats and not pygmy. So, if you weigh one now and write it down, then weigh it in a week, you should see a gain of at least 2 pounds.

-- Dianne Wood - Woodland, WA (woodgoat@pacifier.com), February 16, 2002.

Whew ! Thanks so much for all your advice. The one that is down is moving around and moved the kids several acres back near the water trough and she seems to be doing fine from all outward indications.

It took awhile to find the triplets which she had hidden way back in the woods. All three are nursing just fine now. In fact, the one I was concerned about seems to be getting for than his fair share now. We should be getting another 10 or so more babies over the next several days and I may have more questions later. Thanks ever so much for your responses.

C

-- Carole (carle@earthlink.net), February 16, 2002.

Don't forget to worm the does as they kid! vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 16, 2002.