Nurse goats??????

[farmerlor]

So the lady I bought ALL of my goats from says that most goaties won't take another baby to nurse. Conversely, the lady who GAVE me the little pygmy said she'd be an excellent nurse goat next year when we have babies. And THEN the lady who sold me my cow said that SHE uses a goat to nurse her calves so she won't have to milk.
What's the story on nurse goats?
And another question about goats nursing which is something I hadn't planned to do at all btw. Is it true that if you let a kid nurse on the mama her teats will get longer??? My little Togg has small udders, and tiny teats with GREAT orifices but this is her first time freshening. Will she grow a little with her next freshen?

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I know I have one goat that I have been told loves babies so much that she will literally "steal" babies from other mamas. I haven't seen that from her yet, but that was what I was told.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Some goats are natural nurse maids, but these are hard to come by.

 

[ksalvagno]

If you really have a nurse goat, you are one of few fortunate. They are few and far between.

The teats don't get bigger with nursing kids. They are only on their mom for 8-12 weeks. If you milk them, then they do get bigger.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I don't think I would want a calf nursing my goat. That sounds like it could spell trouble as that calf gets older and stronger than mama.

 

[farmerlor]

I don't think I would want a calf nursing my goat. That sounds like it could spell trouble as that calf gets older and stronger than mama.

See, that's what I was thinking too. Nurse a calf, really? How's that happen, logistically I mean? A very young calf drinks a gallon of milk a day. I don't have a goat who gives a gallon a day (purty darn close but not quite) so what happens when the calf is oh....three months old and now weighs a hundred pounds and wants three gallons of milk from "his mama"? Scary stuff.

 

[elevan]

I don't think I would want a calf nursing my goat. That sounds like it could spell trouble as that calf gets older and stronger than mama.

See, that's what I was thinking too. Nurse a calf, really? How's that happen, logistically I mean? A very young calf drinks a gallon of milk a day. I don't have a goat who gives a gallon a day (purty darn close but not quite) so what happens when the calf is oh....three months old and now weighs a hundred pounds and wants three gallons of milk from "his mama"? Scary stuff.

When I saw this my thought was - large breed dairy goat with a miniature cow breed...that is the ONLY way I could see that working and even then it's a bit of a stretch...

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

I'm not sure about a calf but one of our Mini Nubians is a baby thief. She gave birth to one but nursed three.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

My yearling togg lets any kid nurse her. She just seems oblivious to it all. She was a bottle baby herself and I touched her teats and udder from the time she was a kid to get her used to milking. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[Ariel301]

It's pretty unusual for a doe to let a baby nurse that is not her own. Very few will do it. I have one who will feed anything and steals babies from other goats if she is in the pen while they are giving birth--she will grab the newborn and drag it into a corner and clean it up and try to feed it.

I would not let a goat nurse a calf. Even if the goat was able to produce enough milk, within a few weeks, the calf would be bigger than the goat!