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So we weren’t planning on breeding until this coming year but I had suspicion that our oldest doe had gotten pregnant. Yesterday she was acting off and I checked different things, feed, temp famacha, poop etc everything was fine so I checked ligaments (been watching a lot of videos) and sure enough they were gone.
We only have a 10x12 or 12x12 something like that shed that the goats stay in at night and I knew there wasn’t going to be enough room sooooo I put down the third row and one of the second row seats in our old van and put down a tarp and straw got hay in one corner warm molasses water in the other and the doe. When she started showing signs of it being time we got in with her and she came over laid in my lap (she is a ND but thinks she is a lap dog) I convinced her to lay in the straw and we waited. She was licking all over me and I was excited because I was hoping that meant her mothering instincts were kicking in. At 8:00pm she started pushing and my son (23 yrs) and myself looked terrified. But at 8:23pm she had a baby on the ground, I wiped off the face and suctioned it’s mouth out and laid it out in front of her as quick as I could so they could bond.
it didn’t go well. She wanted nothing to do with it and kept roughly head butting it away. I dried it off once we seen she wasn’t going to clean it off. We waited and no signs of another kid coming and I tried the bouncing thing and didn’t feel anything but who knows if I did that right. Then we waited as the baby started to stand and such we got it to nurse a little. It would latch suck a little and quit. We had to hold her still because otherwise she was ramming it with her head. So she passed the placenta around 10:00pm, we had been having the baby latch on and suckle every few minutes just to get some in its belly but we couldn’t leave it with her unattended the way she was butting him and nowhere to put him so he came inside with us. I milk some from mom and had some colostrum replassement on hand so I fed him a couple times in the night (struggling because of course he would rather not use a bottle)
we made it till morning and baby seems strong. I’m trying to figure out what I should do about living arrangements now. We are going to keep trying at least for another 5-7 days and see if she will take to it but I know that taking it from the warm house (72F) out to the goat shed (35-52F depending on the weather 5=6 times a day is probably not good.
like I said this wasnt planned for until next fall and by then we were going to have a kidding/milking shed but it didn’t work that way, any suggestions on what to do to help her bond with the baby or clever ideas on where to house him? The outside temps are suppose to be lows in the 20s until Sunday then they go down to single digits for about a week and back to teens. So it’s going to be cold. at what temp do you need a heat lamp on a baby that might be by itself If I can’t get the mom to accept it.
im happy we had our first baby and it seems healthy but feel like a failure because she isn’t taking to it and we don’t have a normal place to keep it/them. If she would take to it I have a small section in a three sided shed I could do something with but it would not be as warm as their goat shed. Three walls and a tarp over the front to keep snow out and the top where the metal roof comes together is open about 6 inches all across.
any suggestions or information would be great. I don’t want to mess up any more than I have. I was I tears last night telling my son maybe getting goats was a bad idea and that I was stupid for trying.
We only have a 10x12 or 12x12 something like that shed that the goats stay in at night and I knew there wasn’t going to be enough room sooooo I put down the third row and one of the second row seats in our old van and put down a tarp and straw got hay in one corner warm molasses water in the other and the doe. When she started showing signs of it being time we got in with her and she came over laid in my lap (she is a ND but thinks she is a lap dog) I convinced her to lay in the straw and we waited. She was licking all over me and I was excited because I was hoping that meant her mothering instincts were kicking in. At 8:00pm she started pushing and my son (23 yrs) and myself looked terrified. But at 8:23pm she had a baby on the ground, I wiped off the face and suctioned it’s mouth out and laid it out in front of her as quick as I could so they could bond.
it didn’t go well. She wanted nothing to do with it and kept roughly head butting it away. I dried it off once we seen she wasn’t going to clean it off. We waited and no signs of another kid coming and I tried the bouncing thing and didn’t feel anything but who knows if I did that right. Then we waited as the baby started to stand and such we got it to nurse a little. It would latch suck a little and quit. We had to hold her still because otherwise she was ramming it with her head. So she passed the placenta around 10:00pm, we had been having the baby latch on and suckle every few minutes just to get some in its belly but we couldn’t leave it with her unattended the way she was butting him and nowhere to put him so he came inside with us. I milk some from mom and had some colostrum replassement on hand so I fed him a couple times in the night (struggling because of course he would rather not use a bottle)
we made it till morning and baby seems strong. I’m trying to figure out what I should do about living arrangements now. We are going to keep trying at least for another 5-7 days and see if she will take to it but I know that taking it from the warm house (72F) out to the goat shed (35-52F depending on the weather 5=6 times a day is probably not good.
like I said this wasnt planned for until next fall and by then we were going to have a kidding/milking shed but it didn’t work that way, any suggestions on what to do to help her bond with the baby or clever ideas on where to house him? The outside temps are suppose to be lows in the 20s until Sunday then they go down to single digits for about a week and back to teens. So it’s going to be cold. at what temp do you need a heat lamp on a baby that might be by itself If I can’t get the mom to accept it.
im happy we had our first baby and it seems healthy but feel like a failure because she isn’t taking to it and we don’t have a normal place to keep it/them. If she would take to it I have a small section in a three sided shed I could do something with but it would not be as warm as their goat shed. Three walls and a tarp over the front to keep snow out and the top where the metal roof comes together is open about 6 inches all across.
any suggestions or information would be great. I don’t want to mess up any more than I have. I was I tears last night telling my son maybe getting goats was a bad idea and that I was stupid for trying.
