I had a 4 year old doe have quads this afternoon. Her udder was very big for the last two weeks, getting steadily bigger so I know some milk was sitting there awhile.
I always give a squirt off each teat to be sure they're working good once the kids are out. Hers were clogged with a little ball each. I was able to squirt it out and got it going. But one side, continued to have little clots of milk that would come down and clog the teat. When I checked back in a few hours the kids had sucked down one whole side of her udder and the bigger side with the clots was totally untouched. I checked for more clogs and found one, and every few squirts another would come down so I decided to strip that side completely out. I was able to do it although it was hard to get some of the clots out.
They look like little piece of cottage cheese, maybe 1/2 the size of a grain of rice. She was a real good sport about me getting htem out of there, it couldn't have been comfortable. A few of them I had to massage inside her teat to try and break them down so they would pass.
I am bottling the colostrum back to the babies, since there are 4 I'm afraid they didn't all get enough since I emptied the bigger side of her udder.
What does this mean? Mastitis? Stale milk from waiting to kid? Any thoughts? All 4 took the bottle thank goodness. I am going to go bottle them again before bed to try and be sure they all got enough.
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Well the smallest doeling is guzzling at the bottle. I think just the way she is acting is proof enough that she is not getting enough or anything to eat in competition with her 3 bigger brothers. She is only 3 days old and this morning when I came in she jumped up and met me at the gate asking for the bottle. I don't think she would be so excited to see a bottle if she were getting what she needs from mom. So I am bottle feeding her as if she is getting n othing from her mother and whatever she gets from mom is a bonus. She is still bonded with her brothers and mother so that's good.
I feel like it's promising that this doe has a decent amount of milk to spare while feeding triplets...her dam did 829# on DHIR, and her sire has a lot to offer. This her second freshening so I am excited to see what she can do but so worried for that one little doe...I guess if I waited till 6 weeks instead of 4 she would do better (the runt doeling). Actually that might be perfect since Peachy is behind her by a week or two (Peachy is the the subject of this thread who just had quads). So far the quads are all taking the bottle, the smallest doe being the best on the bottle so that is good. The big strapping boys will probably be fine even if they don't take the bottle so well as long as my little doe still takes it. Just have to keep her happy about it till then!
I know what you mean. You do have to be careful though because there is a minimum time at which you have to start testing. I think it's 60 days, but someone was telling me that her lab required 45, which I thought was odd. I didn't think a lab could dictate anything like that. If you start testing a doe after that, they get some sort of penalty. I just make sure we always do the first test for each doe by 6-7 weeks.
One of the ones I am most worried about is the one that had that wimpy doeling, the subject of the thread about the kids not nursing. That doe is so petite and small, still. She never feels as full as her siblings. She is one of triplets. I think the mother is one of my best milkers and I'd really like to get her on test. That doeling I know won't take a bottle because believe me, I tried!! I don't want to do one more thing to set that little girl back...so I'm really struggling with it. Wonder if I just shouldn't test the mom until 8 weeks? I'd rather do more poorly on milk test then do something to hurt this little baby
Without a culture, it is impossible to say for sure what caused the clumpy milk, but I am glad she is better!
Thanks Deborah...I'm a little freaked out...afraid the babies are going to starve and be miserable for 24 hours and so I am putting off the first test till everyone is over a month...then worried I will have missed their best milk totals and they won't star. Kind of driving myself crazy with the milk test thing.
I am thinking this was not mastitis since she did not test positive and the compresses and salves seem to have cleared it up? A little congestion after kidding? She is a very good girl. She is my hardiest Nigerian that I've ever had so I am excited to keep some babies out of her.
Totally depends on the kid as to whether or not they will take a bottle if they are hungry. I have had some almost die because they would not take a bottle.
Congratulations on getting on milk test!
One of them is underneath her in this pic so you only see three, but here is my proud good momma. Poor dear, no wonder she could hardly walk or breathe by the end! I can't believe how big these 4 are, too.
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