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Doe pushing kid away

Posted by Katharine Norton on February 10, 2015 at 8:26am in Goats 101

Hiya,

I've an FF and I've noticed that at times she will call her her kid (aged 1 month) to feed.  However, we are also noticing that at times she will not feed him even though he wants it - she will run from him, butt him with her head, or sit down, or all of the above.  Is this typical behaviour?  And why is she doing it?  Are her instincts so strong that she can tell if she has enough milk for him or not?  And would this instinct explain why she sometimes lets me milk her, but sometimes won't let me and pushes my hand from her teat with her foot?  (I'm only "practice milking", haven't started separating the kid at night yet - I was going to wait until he was 2 months, but am wondering when I see her behaving like this should I start earlier, is her milk running out or is she trying to wean him? 

Thanks for sharing any experiences you have

Katharine

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Replies

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 10, 2015 at 9:08pm

    If she only has one kid, you can start separating them overnight and milking her in the morning. It is hard to say if it is unusual for her to be acting like this towards him. They don't usually let kids nurse more than 15 -30 seconds at a time after the first week or so, but they nurse every 20 minutes, so they are still getting enough.

  • Julia @Woody Glen Farm February 10, 2015 at 12:19pm

    I want to add to that I have seen kids who refuse to take no for an answer when mom walks away and won't let them nurse and she runs or bucks and turns around head-butting them. This is especially true for bucklings who can be so obnoxious already at the tender age of 1 month!! Then later I see her call to him saying okay now, you can come and get it. Haha, it's like she's teaching him manners!

  • Julia @Woody Glen Farm February 10, 2015 at 11:28am

    I don't have a ton of experience with only 5 kiddings under my belt but I have noticed the does "know" if the kid is getting too much milk and she will refuse to nurse them. When she knows it's time for them to eat again (possibly she feels the fullness in her udder), she will allow nursing again. This really has nothing to do with her kicking your hand away when you milk. That comes from inexperience and she will (hopefully) stop doing that when you regularly milk her. 

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