Rejection

Earlier in the fall I bought a new doe that Inintensed to practice AI on. It soon became evident that I would not get the chance to do that because she was already pregnant. When I brought this up to the seller she kind of said oops sometimes my buck gets out... Since then I’ve taken everything about this doe with a grain of salt. She was also supposedly a good mother used to dam raising but she kidded this morning and already seems to be rejecting the kids. She had let them nurse soon after birth and they all curled up together to nap. When I returned she was side stepping every time a kid came up to her. She even pushed one away with her head. I put her on the stand and they both nurses though they didn’t seem to get much. I’m preparing to bottle feed them if things don’t improve soon but my question is, since it’s so early is there anything I can do today to turn things around? 

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  • I'd suggest weighing the kids as that is really the only way to know for sure that they are getting enough or not. They should gain an average of 4 ounces per day, meaning that if they gain only 3 ounces one day, I expect them to gain 5 ounces the next day to make up for it. If you see the kids pee, that's a great sign because it means they've nursed recently. Milk runs through them really fast. 

    You can also try offering her a pan of grain and then sticking the kids underneath her. 

    Is there anything at all that could have messed her up? A dog or a cat nearby? Using highly scented (fabric softener) towels to dry the kids? 

    It's kind of unlikely that both kids would be nursing incorrectly, but it's worth looking ... their tongue should be covering their lower teeth. If it is not, that's painful for the doe and she's likely to step away. 

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