Weird nursing behavior in does

[Ariel301]

I had been noticing for a few weeks that one of my milk does had a weird lopsidedness to her udder. One side would be full and the other nearly empty sometimes, but other times it would be full or partially full. She would also have small cuts or teeth marks on that teat. I couldn't figure it out for a while...her kids are already gone, and no other goats that are nursing have access to her...

A few days ago I was watching my does hang around their pen and I figured out what is going on. She will lift one hind leg and reach around to grab ahold of that teat and nurse on herself! She only seems to be able to do this on the one side, I don't see her doing it on the other side at all. She will stand on three legs and drink all the milk in that side of her udder!

Has anyone else seen a doe do this before? Any suggestions on how to get her to quit doing it?

And I also have another doe who seems to never have accepted being weaned. If one of the other does is distracted or busy nursing her own kids, this doe will try to sneak in for a drink. She is sometimes successful at it, but usually they chase her away. I also cannot let her anywhere around my bottle-fed babies because she will try knock me and the babies both over to steal the bottles and drink them! Is behavior like this normal/common? I have never seen anything like either of these two.

 

[ksalvagno]

Boy, you sure are getting hit up with everything!

Are you milking your does? If you aren't, maybe if you milk her twice a day she will stop. If not, maybe some type of bitter apple stuff on her teats will help.

As far as the one that doesn't want to be weaned, have you considered selling her? Sometimes going to a new herd will help rid them of that.

 

[Ariel301]

We are having a bad year this year...three stillborn kids, mastitis, two bloats (fortunately both pulled through), one toxemia, all boy kids and no doelings, most of our hay and feed got ruined by endless rainstorms, we lost most of our chickens...I guess it's just one of those years. :/

I am milking the self-nurser twice a day. She actually begs me to milk her all day long, any time I go out to look at them, she runs to the milk stand. She didn't do that before this year, last year she would hide from me at milking time. She's been kind of nuts this year since her kids left. She's not getting so full that she is uncomfortable, I did think of that but it does not seem to be the issue. I'll try the bitter apple on her, I just have to remember to wash it off really well before milking lol! That would not taste too good on cereal.

The other doe...there's no way we will sell that one. She's my husband's baby, and the best doe we've got. She's also the only young doe we've got, so she's kind of the future of our herd. Maybe a few months living with the boys will fix her. She's not really causing problems for anyone, it's just a weird behavior. I can live with it if I have to, just wondered if anyone else has seen stuff like this. I've seen a horse that way, it was three years old and the mare never weaned it, it just kept right on nursing!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Sounds like you're having a rough time. I hope things get better.

I have HEARD of does doing this, but I have personally never witnessed it.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You can try taping her teats, or I also read a tip on another forum about cutting a plastic coffee can in half and taping it around her neck so she can't bend (kind of like an e-collar from the vet).

 

[Ariel301]

Hahaha I like the E-Collar idea. I actually have a large dog E-Collar somewhere...fortunately she has stopped nursing on herself, but is now nursing her pen-mate's kids. At least they're eating good, right? lol