We had 3 nigerian dwarf kids born this morning. Easy kidding and they’ve all suckled a number of times… But now their dam has moved away from them and won't let them nurse. We fed and held her while they all nursed one more time and are now letting her take a break but it has been over an hour now.… Looking for any advice on how to proceed and anything we can do that might make her teats less painful? We do not want to bottlefeed unless we absolutely have to.
Thank you!
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If the kids are nursing correctly, their teeth will not be in contact with the doe's teats. The tongue should be covering the lower teeth, and they have no upper teeth in front.
It's not a problem with pain. Goats almost never wind up with sore teats from kids nursing, and then it would be only one of the kids, if the kid is only sucking on the tip of the teat, which is very unusual. So, it's likely something else going on. Can you explain more about exactly what you're seeing? Is she running from the kids when they approach her? Is she sniffing them or licking them? Is she walking away after they nurse for 30 seconds or 2 minutes?
Is she a first freshener? Did you wipe the kids off with anything that would have changed their scent, such as a towel that had a lot of fabric softener on it? Did you take the kids away for awhile? Did you move the doe from where she kidded?