milk first or kid first

Phebe February 20, 2015 at 7:29am

I have a question relating to this. I have an unusual situation. My doe gave birth Sunday. Its bitter cold here -26 right now. I lost 2/3 babies Sunday night. I have one surviving baby. Its too cold still for him to be outside with mom. I've been keeping him in my house at all times. I milk mom around 7am and bottle feed him right before (6:30am) after I milk her i bing mom in the house until about 3pm. At 3 I bring her down with the others to eat and drink etc. I bring baby to her at 5pm and 7pm to nurse, but I don't leave them. I stay with them because I made baby a coat, and he was still freezing after 60min or so with mom.
Should I start waiting for mom to nurse baby instead of bottle feeding him at 6:30am? He is gaining weight, nursing well, and mom is producing 300cc in the morning, and dry at night (from baby nursing)
Thanks!
Phoebe

Myra Isaac February 14, 2015 at 6:19pm

I'm with Rachael. Last year my only doe to kid had a single. I milked her out as much as I could and then put them together. He was a roly poly butterball!! No problem with him not getting enough to eat. :)

Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres February 14, 2015 at 12:19pm

I hand milk, and get all that I can from my does, and the kids still seem to get a meal from their mom's. I think most does are pretty good at holding some back from us. :)

Julia @Woody Glen Farm February 14, 2015 at 7:52am

What she said ^^^^ however I like to leave some milk in there for the kids so when she jumps down they get a meal too. For me this is easily accomplished because I use a hand milker (Henry Milker) and when the milk stops flowing, that's the point when she is holding back some for the kids. I stop then and they seems to get a meal from her. Makes me feel better anyway ;)

Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres February 13, 2015 at 1:27pm

Milk first, then let them be together for the day. :)

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milk first or kid first

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