[wildegoats0426]

So I saw something odd today. Both my boer does are going to be 8 months in a couple of days. They aren't bred yet. But today I saw one sucking on the teat of her sister (not biological sisters but I call them stepsisters lol) what the heck is she doing? And is there anyway I can stop this? She's obviously not getting anything out so idk why she's doing this

 

[happybleats]

was she weened young? bottle raised? I would seperate them or if you cant, wrap her teats so her sister cant nurse on her..it could stimulate milk production on the side favored..not a good thing..you can try yucky tasteing stuff on the teat to discourage nursing..

 

[KW Farms]

If the one doe is allowing the other to nurse, tape the teat or put something on it like Cathy said.

I haven't seen this happen with goats, but have seen it with other animals. I actually have a kitten that tries nursing on an unrelated cat. She cleans him and acts like it's her own kitten. Luckily he doesn't try that often, but I think it's just a baby trying to get comfort from another animal if they don't have their mom.

 

[wildegoats0426]

She was weaned young. Her twin brother was weaned at 60 days for a market wether and when the original owners took him off mom stopped feeding sister all together and she refused a bottle. I have some bitter spray I use to keep my dogs from chewing on things. I wonder if that would help

 

[Scottyhorse]

I have one doe who will try sucking on other does' teats.. But something is messed up with that one! :lol: I would tape the teat or go to Petco/Petsmart and get bitter apple spray

I've been meaning to ask - is the doe in your avatar picture yours? She's gorgeous

 

[happybleats]

Yes try the bitter spray first...see if that helps..you might have to spray it often : )

With her being weened so young it might be like Kaylee said and looking for comfort

 

[cheyenne]

When Shasta had her twin boys this summer, one had wattles and the other didn't. The one would suck on the other one's wattles! They weren't that old tho. I figured the one doing the sucking just found the wattle to be a lot like mom or something. I dunno! They were still nursing on mom without any problems there. Maybe I should have named the one with wattles 'Pacifier'???? LOL

 

[wildegoats0426]

I have one doe who will try sucking on other does' teats.. But something is messed up with that one! :lol: I would tape the teat or go to Petco/Petsmart and get bitter apple spray I've been meaning to ask - is the doe in your avatar picture yours? She's gorgeous

Yes she's mine, thank you I love her

 

[wildegoats0426]

When Shasta had her twin boys this summer, one had wattles and the other didn't. The one would suck on the other one's wattles! They weren't that old tho. I figured the one doing the sucking just found the wattle to be a lot like mom or something. I dunno! They were still nursing on mom without any problems there. Maybe I should have named the one with wattles 'Pacifier'???? LOL

That's funny!

 

[MsScamp]

She's obviously not getting anything out so idk why she's doing this

Some animals just won't accept weaning. Given the chance, and it doesn't seem to matter how long they are separated, they will go back to sucking. We've had several heifers who did it back when we had cattle, and I had one doe who did it. It is an automatic cull. Reason being is that it is next to impossible to break that habit and, if she does it when you have bred does, she is stealing colostrum from the kids. Colostrum is only produced for a certain amount of time under specific circumstances and it will not be replaced.

 

[wildegoats0426]

That was the first time I saw her do it and I haven't seen it today so I'm watching her