Post by AnnB (NE) on Mar 25, 2016 13:14:28 GMT -5
Snowflake, 8 y/o Pygmy, kidded yesterday and rejected her kids, again.
First set, I could understand, triplets. She rejected the last born, a tiny doeling.
Next set she took wonderful care of her buckling, rejected apparently healthy doeling at birth and let her freeze.
Next set, twin bucklings, rejected, 1 froze.
I immediately rebred her, she kidded late Summer and reluctantly accepted the twin bucklings after several days of forced nursing.
Milk has always looked fine & colostrum thick & sticky, but no thicker than the other does.
She kidded yesterday, no interest in twin bucklings. Smaller, weaker buckling was chilled. Larger, stronger buckling was still chasing her trying to nurse, she would flatten then step on him.
Brought kids to house, warmed them up, gave bagged colostrum supplement. Smaller, weaker buckling is doing great. Larger buckling is now refusing bottle.
Decided to try to force her again as with the last set, but got a shock! Her colostrum is THICK, as in the consistency of toothpaste! No way a kid could suck that out, and not so sure I would want him to!
Made a quick decision and grabbed another doe, 3 weeks fresh, and the baby got a belly full. So he's okay for now. This other doe, Pistachio, is a good milker for a Pygmy. Give her a bit more grain, separate her kids at intervals, and this little one will get enough milk.
Anyway, what in the heck could be going on with Snowflake and her toothpaste colostrum?
I'm assuming that between this and her bad mothering, the only real solution is to get rid of her.
Fatten and send to salebarn? Or just go ahead and send her off as soon as her backside is clean?
No way DH will go for putting her in our freezer. He wants to breed her again, then sell her bred. I say it's wrong to set anybody else up for what I'm dealing with now.
So, What Would You Do?
Ann B
First set, I could understand, triplets. She rejected the last born, a tiny doeling.
Next set she took wonderful care of her buckling, rejected apparently healthy doeling at birth and let her freeze.
Next set, twin bucklings, rejected, 1 froze.
I immediately rebred her, she kidded late Summer and reluctantly accepted the twin bucklings after several days of forced nursing.
Milk has always looked fine & colostrum thick & sticky, but no thicker than the other does.
She kidded yesterday, no interest in twin bucklings. Smaller, weaker buckling was chilled. Larger, stronger buckling was still chasing her trying to nurse, she would flatten then step on him.
Brought kids to house, warmed them up, gave bagged colostrum supplement. Smaller, weaker buckling is doing great. Larger buckling is now refusing bottle.
Decided to try to force her again as with the last set, but got a shock! Her colostrum is THICK, as in the consistency of toothpaste! No way a kid could suck that out, and not so sure I would want him to!
Made a quick decision and grabbed another doe, 3 weeks fresh, and the baby got a belly full. So he's okay for now. This other doe, Pistachio, is a good milker for a Pygmy. Give her a bit more grain, separate her kids at intervals, and this little one will get enough milk.
Anyway, what in the heck could be going on with Snowflake and her toothpaste colostrum?
I'm assuming that between this and her bad mothering, the only real solution is to get rid of her.
Fatten and send to salebarn? Or just go ahead and send her off as soon as her backside is clean?
No way DH will go for putting her in our freezer. He wants to breed her again, then sell her bred. I say it's wrong to set anybody else up for what I'm dealing with now.
So, What Would You Do?
Ann B