I wasn't sure which category this would go in, so I just picked.
I have a Pygmy mama doe who had twins. She is old and didn't have any milk, so I am bottlefeeding the babies. They are 3 weeks old, growing like crazy, and healthy. I have sold the mama and one twin, and they are here waiting to be picked up.
My question is, what do I do with the twin I'm keeping, to make sure she's okay? Should the doe and the other twin stay here for a while longer? I worry about Panda staying warm enough without her mama and brother, and also her getting picked on by the other goats once she's alone. I have a Pygmy/Fainting first time mama who is a terror with the other babies, and in the other pasture I have 4 Nigerian does.
We don't get excessively nasty winters here, but we do get serious cold snaps, and sometimes ice storms and the like. We will have a stretch of balmy 80 degree days, and then will get a cold front with a wind chill of 10. (I'm glad we don't live way up north.)
Any thoughts?
Replies
I love this happy ending to a such a difficult story. Best wishes!
It really is!! I counted up and they are almost 5 weeks old now. They have grown so much. They look so sturdy. When they were born we didn't think they would make it, they were both so weak. I fed them with an eyedropper for the first day and night. But they have beaten incredible odds. It is such a blessing when there is a (mostly) happy ending.
We decided we would send Panda along with her brother to their new home, in place of her mother, so that their group will stay as much the same as possible and she wouldn't be left alone. They will be picked up pretty soon. I sure am going to miss those little rascals.
Oh, Rachel, I am sooooo happy for you. It sounds like the babies are going to be welcomed, at least now when it is most important. The cold weather is turning out to be a blessing for those little sweeties.
Well, we went out for the babies' night feeding, and found a snuggly group of goats in the shed. The twins popped out from the middle of the pile. Everybody was peacefully settled down together. Even my buck let the babies cuddle up to him. So it looks like they are all going to stay warm together! Whew.
So sorry to hear you lost your doe! Our heart doesn't know the difference between an expensive goat or not. Any of them can capture our hearts. Good luck with the babies!
Yikes!! That IS crazy!
Glenna Rose said:
She has not been so bad in the past but she is not being just onery but downright mean. She goes out of her way to smash her and will try to push her, hard!, against anything near. It's bad enough that if Dancer were expecting, I would definitely have to separate them. Fortunately, it wasn't like this when Dancer was little. However, then the adults would push the other little ones around but usually only if the little ones came close. Capri, however, will walk 10-15 feet to be mean to her. I cannot have both of them in the night pen because all Capri will do is try to smash her the entire time. I'm hoping it will pass since if one has to go, it might be Capri as much as I love her since the idea is milk and she is the weakest milker and I may not be able to successfully breed her to not have issues with her deliveries. Capri has always been a super sweet goat so this is out of character to this extreme. Right now, I am feeding Capri and her last year's daughter in the barn and Summer and Dancer on the patio; it's that bad that Capri won't even let Dancer eat separately.
I seriously doubt any of yours would ever do this and certainly not this early. Just watch for any possible issues since those two little ones have no one to protect them. I am hoping for you that motherly instincts will prevail to have them be maternal rather than territorial.
Rachel Griebenow said:
I was really worried about that. So far, they all seem to be doing okay, but I will keep watching. It is warming up today. I'm glad the twins are not the only babies out there. When they all come into the corral for their hay, the other mamas will shake their horns and be mildly threatening if a baby that's not theirs bothers them, but nobody has tried to murder anybody. The one mean one I have is getting better now and hardly ever looks at the other babies anymore. Thank goodness.
That is weird that your doe started going on a rampage. O.o Has she always been like that?
Please watch closely to separate them if the other moms start being mean to the babies as the weather warms. It is my hope for you, and the babies, that being so close in the cold weather will help them bond enough that the adults won't be mean to the not-their-own kids. At nine months, I am having a terrible problem with my senior doe going out of her way to be mean to the little one, and I mean *really* mean. When they were all babies last spring, each mom would be mean to the other kids but nothing like this.
Gonna be a hard day...the twins were off playing with the other babies when mama died, and this morning they were combing the pasture, calling for her. :( At least they have each other. And when it gets this cold and icy, all the adults do let the babies snuggle with them regardless of whose is whose.
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