I have a question about my doeling. My goat had triplets on 2/22/2012. They are just over a week old now and I am concerned about the smallest doeling. When they were born these were their weights. The 1st doeling (the one I'm concerned about) weighed 1.68 lbs, the buckling weighed 3.24lbs and the 2nd doeling weighed 2.52 lbs. I've been weighing them every other day, just to make sure they are gaining weight. The doe is a FF so not sure her milk production etc. Today when I weighed them the 1st doeling weighed 3.22 lbs, buckling 6.31lbs, 2nd doeling 4.96lbs. The smaller doeling I noticed is eating a lot of the goat mineral and starting to eat hay and fight for mom's grain. Should I be concerned that she's not getting enough milk? and if so should I try and give her a bottle? She is active and strong, but she's just not growing as fast as the other 2. I don't want to loose her if I can prevent something now. Should I be concerned about her eating too much of the goat mineral? I give them Purina mineral and Purina Goat Chow. Thanks a lot.
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That's an awesome video! Thanks for sharing. I actually figured it out and I'm getting pretty good at it. Thanks so much for sharing. This should be a video we have on our forum. I haven't started separating the kids from mom yet and I've been milking out a cup in the am and cup in the pm. She's only tolerant of me milking her while she is eating her grain, so that's what I get in that time frame. Since we sold the doeling kid, our little Eema has gained almost 3 pounds in 5 days. Glad we made that decision it worked out for everyone! Thanks again that was awesome to watch...
I found this video helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQL38sgf-4o
Sorry I don't know of any good videos. When I teach people to milk, first I milk their finger, and then I have them practice on my finger. Sounds goofy, but it works very well!
I'm not clear whether there is one or two kids nursing on mom now.
My littlest baby is not gaining weight, but was more maintaining her weight. I started milking mom a little in the night and in the morning when she's getting her grain. I was only able to milk out 2 oz each time(mainly because I stink at milking) and the little girl would suck it down. We sold the other little girl to a family who's bottle feeding some LaMancha kids right now. I started working with the other little girl with a bottle also and she took right to it. We arranged today that they took the other little girl so the littlest girl can get more milk. I think my goat is making enough to maintain the 3 kids, but because the littlest girl was so laid back and didn't fight the other 2 off she wasn't nursing as often as she needed. The family gave me some milk from their goat that I am going to give to her over the next few days, to try and get her caught up. I have another FF due on the 20th, and looks like she has multiples also. The family we sold our little girl to said they would give us milk, if we have the same situation with her.
I usually monitor triplets to make sure one is not missing out. It can't hurt to give a supplemental bottle of mom's milk so that it is more evenly distributed. Usually the little one will get beat out by the other two. If there is not enough goat milk to go around, you can use organic cow whole cow milk.
Okay that's what I thought, but just wanted to make sure. She's super active, but she was just so tiny to start out, I'm afraid the other 2 will hog too much of the milk and she won't get enough. I will continue to keep a close eye on her. Thanks everyone!
So far, it sounds good. Most dam-raised kids start eating hay and grain within the first week, so that's not really significant. I would definitely continue to monitor her growth though, and it wouldn't hurt to try to give her a bottle of her mama's milk to see if she's interested. I'm in the same situation right now with a set of quads, and some days the littlest doe sucks down 6 ounces; other days maybe 2 ounces; but it makes me feel better. The very first time we had quads, they all seemed to be doing fine until two weeks of age, and then my daughter came screaming into the house that the smallest one was laying under the heat lamp screaming. She couldn't even stand at that point, and it was a long road back to health, but she is a big healthy 8-year-old now. Not too many first fresheners can make enough to feed triplets though, so keep a close watch. I don't usually see much more than 3 pounds a day out of my first fresheners, even the ones out of Pegasus, whose mom was on the top ten list three years and the #1 milker on DHI one year. And a pound a day (16 ounces) just isn't enough to raise a healthy kid, IMO.
Janel: Deborah knows so much more than I, but it looks like everyone has doubled their birth weights this week. Sounds like a good thing to me!