# doeling won't stop milking pregnant mom



## Livinwright Farm (Feb 6, 2011)

How can I stop my 6 month old doeling from continuing to feed off her mom who is due to kid in late March..??   I thought that the mom would have weaned her by now, but she encourages the doeling(who is also preggers,btw) by pulling her close and mothering her.  I have tried seperating by putting the mom into a stall, but I can't have her in the stall 24/7... can I?


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## greenfamilyfarms (Feb 6, 2011)

Wait, the 6 month old doe kid is pregnant, also?  How far along is she? 

You are probably going to have to separate them to stop this behavior.


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## themrslove (Feb 6, 2011)

Yikes!  Your doeling is 6 months and pregnant?  :/
Regardless, there is nothing you can do besides separate them.  Maybe you need to have different areas for your different aged goats.  A pen for senior does, a pen for junior does of non breeding age, (which would avoid breeding too young of little girlies) and then your buck pen.


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## Livinwright Farm (Feb 6, 2011)

yes, my 6 month old doeling is preggers, also due to kid in late March, potentially not until beginning of April. It was not by choice, we were unable to seperate the 2 bucklings in time.


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## Roll farms (Feb 6, 2011)

Teat tape, if you can't seperate them.


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## mistee (Feb 6, 2011)

ok i am tired,, baby kept me up all night last night but if she is 6 months old due next month or so then she was 1 to 2 months when bred,, right?


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## mistee (Feb 6, 2011)

my babies will still take hits off mom at 6 months but momma weans them before she kids again but i also dont breed mine to have babies 2xs in one year.. if your does has a 6 month old and is due next month,, that is a lot on poor momma!


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## elevan (Feb 6, 2011)

Mom should wean her before she gives birth again.

At 2 months old it would have been possible to be bred...My concern is that she will only be 7-8 months old when she gives birth...and am I right that they are pygmy-nigi crosses?

I know that these breedings weren't intentional on your part...those dang little bucklings can be fertile pretty young and you gotta move them away from the girls (lessons learned right).  Anyway, have you taken the doeling to the vet to make sure she is handling the pregnancy ok?  My biggest concern is that she won't be able to deliver on her own because she still won't be fully developed and done growing herself.  Also mama goat should be monitored closely because she didn't get a break between kiddings.

Man, I thought I had a tough one with my troublemaker of a doeling...good luck to you and I hope the girls do ok.


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## helmstead (Feb 7, 2011)

I think the OP has heard enough about this accidental breeding.  

Teat tape, as Roll said, or you can fashion an udder bra if you're good with sewing.  I've seen them used with mares, so seems the theory would work with goats altho you'd have to make it very sturdy and goat proof!

Good luck!


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## freemotion (Feb 7, 2011)

I had this problem this year with a very large doeling insisting on nursing even after a very long separation from her very gentle and goofy mom.  Both are preggers, so it became very important.

Two ideas:  Rotate the two through that stall, even if they yell.  That way you CAN have them apart 24/7 without either one being stuck inside all day.  You can also leave the doeling in with your best hay, or even purchase a bale or two of something special that only she will have access to, or bundles of leafy branches hung off the ground if you have them (know what is edible and what is poisonous.)  This may give her a boost in the growth department.

If you need them to be together at all due to space constraints, you can tape her teats.  Use bandaids, the type that are meant to stick no matter what, and cross them.  My doeling could still suck them off at times, but she gradually gave up.  I kept them apart for a while before re-introducing them with the tape.  

Since the doe really wants to feed her "baby," she may be very hard to dry off, as the doeling's cries will stimulate her.

If worse comes to worse, just rotate 'em through the one stall.


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## Ariel301 (Feb 7, 2011)

If you've only got the option of putting one in a stall and one outside and don't have two outside pens...I would put one in at night and the other out, and switch them during the day. 

I had a doeling the same way last year, the only way we finally got the mom to wean her was when we sold the mom...and then my "supermom" doe Gracee took the then seven month old doeling and started feeding her...and THEN when the doeling kidded, she began nursing herself. Some of them can be tough to wean.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Feb 7, 2011)

helmstead said:
			
		

> I think the OP has heard enough about this accidental breeding.
> 
> Teat tape, as Roll said, or you can fashion an udder bra if you're good with sewing.  I've seen them used with mares, so seems the theory would work with goats altho you'd have to make it very sturdy and goat proof!
> 
> Good luck!


  I agree

Is there anything goat proof????


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## Livinwright Farm (Feb 8, 2011)

Okay, I will do my best to reply to all here, bear with me if I forget you...

I had not heard of teat taping before ... I think this and stall rotation is going to be my best bet. Thankfully, with normal growth and the pregger growth, she(Cali) is no longer able to squirm in and out of stalls under the doors.

Yes, Cali is a Nigi-Pyg.  Unfortunately the closest vet that might be even remotely educated in farm animals is roughly 2hrs away from me.  I am thankful that there are other farms near by that have raised goats for a few years, giving me contacts in case of an emergency. However, I have been doing as much research as possible, to get myself prepared for whatever might happen.  Outside of an odd appetite(not wanting any goat feeds{purina, dumor,etc}, unable to decide if she wants alfalfa, grass, pine, hemlock, corn{sparingly}) she seems to be doing well. I don't think she is carrying more than 1 kid... is there a way to know apart from an ultrasound?

In seperating them (Cali in the stall during the day today), Cali was SCREAMING... oh what an awful sound! Seriously, you would have thought that she had had her leg snapped by a trap.  Good thing the coyotes aren't out during the day!

I know, believe me, that her being preggers this young is not a great thing. If my family had been able to get our barn built within 1 week, then this wouldn't have happened. Now that we are able to seperate them into stalls, it will be easier to keep the boys away from the girls. My family also has plans to build a seperate barn just for the bucks, wethers, bucklings, rooster and capons as soon as weather and $$ permits.

Ariel~ I wish I could put one of them out at night, but it is too cold and too dangerous around here to do that. I live on the side of a mountain that is home to: black bear, coyotes, wolves, fishers, and mountain lions.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Feb 8, 2011)

There is no way of knowing other than ultrasound how many she is carrying.  Which stinks I know.  

Glad you have farms close that will help in an emg...thats 
good!!


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## Emmetts Dairy (Feb 8, 2011)

As for her not eating feed.  I would recomend not giving her to many choices in this change.  I would leave her grain in their with her and  a mix hay alfalfa/grass..and she will eat it.   Its REALLY important she get good protien in her...and she will eat it.  Best to give it too her when she is in a stahl and is board!  She will eventually give in.   Believe me!

Again the grain is important cuz she needs the protien for proper growth!! 

Boy oh boy...goats can be sooo dramatic!!  They should have Emmy Awards for goats!!!  Cuz Ive known some drama queens for sure!!

Good luck tolerating these changes!!!


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## elevan (Feb 8, 2011)

From everything that I have read...most pygmies tend to give birth to 1 kid their first time around.  So, most likely she will only have 1 in there...but no way to know for sure except ultrasound.

Single kids tend to be bigger than multiples, so you'll probably want to monitor that.

I agree with Emmetts Dairy...limit what her choices are for feed and she will eat.  Especially if she is confined to a stall.

I separated my (almost 4 month old) kid from her mama to wean and they both stood screaming!  They are indeed drama queens in this area.  Stand fast and the screaming will eventually become less and less.

Good luck to you!


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## Livinwright Farm (Feb 8, 2011)

Today Cali has been happy with her Lucerne Farm's Alfa Supreme so far, and will occassionally nibble at the Purina Noble Goat I put in her feed dish.  I still need to fashion a "bra" for Momma... thankfully I have some spare cloth and am not extremely  horrible at sewwing. LOL.

Momma seems unaffected by the seperation, Cali however has gotten a deeper bleat/scream... I think it is akin to losing her voice from all the screaming.

Momma(Cali's dam) had twins her first go around, and I recall reading on a couple pages(i think one was on fiascofarm's) that if a doe has twins her first go around, that odds are that her doeling will also..?  Any input on accuracy of statement here?


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