Goat getting ready to kid? Help?

[michellemire]

What is the best age to weather a baby goat

 

[H Diamond]

Can you take momma's temp? We need to start ruling out problems. Any other symptoms besides not eating hay and no milk? Lethargic? Weakness? Etc...
I'd also be tempted to tape off her teats for a couple hours to see if she's making milk at all.

 

[VKat]

Can you take momma's temp? We need to start ruling out problems. Any other symptoms besides not eating hay and no milk? Lethargic? Weakness? Etc...
I'd also be tempted to tape off her teats for a couple hours to see if she's making milk at all.

She's started eating a little more, but really not as much as I would think is usual...
Can you tell me more about the teat taping? How does that work?
I am thinking she is making some milk, just not a lot. I felt her again this morning and there's some there.
Right now I am continuing to offer the whole milk, now with some Nutri-drench added in, to supplement the kids. They do take the bottle and eat, but looking at the chart you so kindly sent a link to (thank you!!!) They are not guzzling down as much as that chart says. So maybe they are getting some from mom.
I wish I could know for sure how much!
I had an idea... remembering when I was feeding a baby, I used a pump. It did way more that hand expressing or probably the baby himself could have. What about getting a milk pump and trying that on momma goat? If I can drain whatever is in there, then it would stimulate her to make more? Right? Just like with people. And I can give the milk to the kids and know how much they are getting.

Anyone have advice on pumps?
I am looking at these two to chose between, but if anyone has additional suggestions they would be welcome.

http://www.henrymilker.com/the-original-henry-milker/

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/ez-goat-milker

 

[H Diamond]

You basically just take some medical or athletic tape and cover the ends of the teat so the babies can't nurse. Some of the supply places sell "goat teat tape", but you can use about any paper tape from the first aid aisle. You want it sticky enough to hold, but not so sticky that it's hard to get off. It won't hurt the kids to just go a couple hours, and then you can see if or what she's producing. You can go for longer if you want to just give them bottles during that time as well to get a really good idea.

Do you have any molasses on hand? A nice bucket of warm molasses water is always appreciated by my mommas.

If you want to milk her that would be fine too. I have a Henry Milker... I'm not a huge fan, lol, but it gets the job done when needed. I've never used the other one, seen it alot but never used it. Does is hold steady pressure, or does each squeeze of the handle create vacuum then release it? If so, that would be the better option I think.
You can accomplish the same goal by either just seperating momma and babies or taping her teats while they are together, then just milking her every 12 hours. If she doesn't let her milk down, no amount of pumping is going to make her or force the milk out. The pump would be for your benefit really, just makes milking easier, especially if she has tiny teats.

ETA: I just read up on the EZ milker, it's the same as the Henry, you build up pressure until you get milk, when it slows, you give it a few more squeezes to keep the vacuum up.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of these systems since there is no pulsator (Like on a milk machine) to vary the pressure. That being said, they sell alot of them, so my fears may not be warranted, lol

 

[VKat]

Thank you again for the insight. You have been so wonderful this past week. <3

I did take her temp this morning, I forgot to post that. It is 102.1 F. So that's good. She's eating a bit more hay, and I see her chewing cud a lot.
I am slowly increasing her grain rations, and adding Nutri-drench a little, plus I have a calcium supplement that is for my reptiles. It's just a powder of ground calcium carbonate and has D3 added. It's all natural and I was thinking I could sprinkle a little in her food.

I will try the warm molasses water. I do have some of the unsulphered kind on hand.

We are working on the pump idea.

 

[H Diamond]

Any time Oh, I forgot to mention, there really isn't any reason to put the nutri-drench in the baby bottles. It has propylene glycol in it, and that stuff is yucky!

 

[VKat]

Any time Oh, I forgot to mention, there really isn't any reason to put the nutri-drench in the baby bottles. It has propylene glycol in it, and that stuff is yucky!

Okay. I am leaving it out then. It doesn't smell like something that would taste very good in milk anyway!

 

[VKat]

Update:
My husband made us a pump!!!

We tested it out on her, and got about a tablespoon on one side, nothing much from the other.
I took your advice of taping mom overnight. I made sure they had a chance to be on mom, and I fed them as much as they wanted from a bottle before bedtime, then left them for the night.
Mom is getting extra pellets, some alfalfa pellets added in, broccoli for plant protein treats, a handful of black oil sunflower seeds every meal, and sprinkle of calcium powder.
This morning we tried out the pump and got a total of 1/2 a cup from her.
So all night long that's all she made. A half of a cup...
No way that is enough to feed two kids.

I think the plan from here is to try and pump and drain mom twice a day to see if that can trigger her body to produce more. Our pump is copying the Henry Milker so everything stays nice a clean. I just put it in the bottle to mix with the whole cow milk and give to the kids. We went out of our way to get food safe tubing because details matter, so I think this is okay as far as the kids are concerned. Now I can keep track of how much they are eating.
I think I have gotten the hang of what their little bellies should feel like after a good feeding. Not too full, but a little round.

If anyone has any more suggestions or tips, or thinks I'm going about this wrong, please tell me. I'm all ears!

 

[H Diamond]

Good call. No that's definitely not enough. She may have held some back, but still, not enough.
Is she eating well? I still worry something might be off, but her temp is good and such, so it may just be my worrisome nature, lol.

 

[VKat]

Yeah, her temp is normal, and her eyelids are nice and red/pink.
I think the pump and massage while pumping is more stimulating for her production because we did it again yesterday evening, and again this morning, and each time we get more from her. She has doubled already! I'm gradually increasing her grain for her to enjoy on the milk stand we built along with some alfalfa pellets etc.
The kids are taking to the bottle pretty well. I'm mixing mom's milk with the whole milk and they like it.

The boy is still skinny looking and he doesn't eat as much as the chart says he should, but I am offering him feedings more frequently. Pretty much anytime he wants, he gets. I am hoping he will start to catch up to his bigger sister who I swear is growing already!

We are going to try and weight them each week. Do you know what would be considered normal/healthy for weight gain?