Mean Mama...

[cknipp]

I recently purchased 2 pregnant Alpine goats. We named them Ginger and Oreo. They both kidded on the same day (go figure). Ginger had 1 girl and Oreo had a girl and a boy. They have each been in separate stalls with their kids. I planned on slowly introducing everyone back together. The first try at moms and babies together was not so great. Ginger does not like Oreo's kids. She butted them and even pinned them on the ground. I had to stop her. Both of my girls have horns. Oreo is accepting of Ginger's kid. I let the kids play together in the barn...Ginger does not like it.

Any suggestions on how to ease the process and not worry about Ginger goring the kids?

 

[goats&moregoats]

Don't know about anyone else, but I only do supervised until they are big enough to fend for themselves. I have two little ones that have been bottle raised inside for weeks now. I set up a dog kennel inside the pasture and that is where the two girls will hang out for about another month. Bambi is a big girl and will be quite alright by then. Mavis is a tiny thing, we will have to see. Many people build what they call creepers where the little ones can get away from the bigger ones if need be.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

With our meat goats, we let the dam's raise the kids and have had to do some intervention as well. First, we keep momma and kids separated from the other does but still able to socialize through the fence for roughly two weeks. During this time, the babies tend to start nibbling at feed when they see momma doing it.

In the same pen, we have a little creep door that goes into the bigger pasture area with the other goats (the kids can get in and out but big goats can't). We move momma back into the general population and open the creep door, and keep feed in the isolation pen so the kids can get in and nibble at it and get away from bullies if need be. It doesn't take long for them ti figure out how to use it. They go out with momma but if things get rough, they have a safe spot to go.

There are still times that other does will butt them a bit but not full force.

 

[babsbag]

I raise primarily Alpines and I keep them in separate kidding stalls for about a week and then they join the general population of does and kids. Right now I have 13 kids and 8 does all living together in a pretty small area. We have our fussing and pushing, especially when the kids are very young and might try to nurse on the wrong doe. But I have never had one butt hard or pen a kid on the ground or against the fence, they usually give them a little shove or bite the tail. It seems that the does that only have one kid are more protective.

Not sure how I would deal with a really aggressive doe, been doing this for 7 years and have never had that problem.

 

[cknipp]

She seems to be doing better. I think a lot of it had to do with her having a sore hip/leg. I think she felt vulnerable. She became psychotic when we first put her in the pasture....running, bucking, butting, and flipping the other kids. Honestly, we had a switch and had to pop her side when she got aggressive toward the babies. She eventually calmed down and started acting normal. They still head butt and do the normal interactions. I think she needed time, meds, and time. The vet put her on an anti-inflammatory and her limp got much better. Feeling better and less "injured" probably contributed a lot to her demeanor.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Glad to hear things are going better for her!