Posted by Lisa on March 29, 2016 at 4:51pm in Kidding
One of my does had triplets 4 days ago (yay!). Two, a doeling and buckling, are big and strong. The third, a doeling, is smaller, although very spunky. The two bigger ones dominate mama's udders. I have noticed that when the little one finally gets a chance to latch on, mama gets fidgety. Not that she doesn't let her nurse at all, but it almost seems like she's holding back because the baby goes from side to side to side. Should I consider supplementing for this little one? Thanks for your thoughts!
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Also, I suggest removing babies from mom for an hour or so to give time for udders to "refill" then put the little one on her so she gets all the milk. She is probably going from side to side because there is little there by the time she gets there. I supplemented my tiny baby two years ago with extra milk but left her with mom and siblings. It worked very well and she eventually caught up with her sisters. (She was 1 lb. 10 oz. while they were twice as big as her.) What would happen with them was the she would go to eat and they would see her and push her off the teats. The first few days, I had to use a syringe to get milk into her but I kept at it until she would take the bottle - I made certain she also got milk from mom so she wouldn't lose mom's scent (and have only scent from the other doe) in case that could happen.
I definitely bottle-feed in the situation you describe. You might have trouble getting her to take a bottle, but do NOT assume that means she doesn't need it. We learned this one the hard way.
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Also, I suggest removing babies from mom for an hour or so to give time for udders to "refill" then put the little one on her so she gets all the milk. She is probably going from side to side because there is little there by the time she gets there. I supplemented my tiny baby two years ago with extra milk but left her with mom and siblings. It worked very well and she eventually caught up with her sisters. (She was 1 lb. 10 oz. while they were twice as big as her.) What would happen with them was the she would go to eat and they would see her and push her off the teats. The first few days, I had to use a syringe to get milk into her but I kept at it until she would take the bottle - I made certain she also got milk from mom so she wouldn't lose mom's scent (and have only scent from the other doe) in case that could happen.
I definitely bottle-feed in the situation you describe. You might have trouble getting her to take a bottle, but do NOT assume that means she doesn't need it. We learned this one the hard way.