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Since Sprite rejected her baby, I’ve been holding her and making her let her baby milk so he could get the colostrum. Today I thought if she was still fighting me, I’d let her out of the goat house. Sprite is a pretty calm, quiet goat. She and Fanta both have peaceful personalities. They stay out of Nutmeg’s and Clover’s way. They memorize Bible verses and sing camp songs. That Sprite should turn out to be such a bad mother was a real surprise. She is young, about 1 1/2. This is her first kidding.
I decided to keep trying today to let her milk him–his own mother’s milk is the best thing for him, and the best way for him to get it is directly from her. She has not fought me as hard today. I have to hold her, but she tolerates it with less stress. She still won’t allow him to nurse unless I’m holding her, but she is letting me hold her without fighting me (much). I have also given him the bottle today, just to ensure continued acceptance of the bottle in case I do have to take him away from her completely.
He’s also still nursing sporadically on Fanta. And what was really a little bit funny this morning was when he was nursing Sprite on one side while I was holding her, one of Fanta’s babies came over and started nursing her on the other side! Those babies, they’ll take candy from anyone. Goat mothers, even good ones, don’t stand still long, so when I’m holding Sprite, she’s an open tap. The mother who doesn’t want to nurse anyone is nursing everyone.
Well, to a limited extent since she will only tolerate it when I’m holding onto her.
So, I’ll take it day by day, making repeated trips to the goat house to help Sprite be a mother. Whether she likes it or not. If things start to get rough with her behavior, I can always take her out. She seems calmer today rather than rougher, so for now, I’ll give this a try–AND keep him accepting the bottle. The longer he can get her milk right from her, the better. And he’s a persistent little devil. He wants his milk.
All the babies–Fanta’s two on the left, Sprite’s baby behind them, and Dr. Pepper on the shelf in the background.
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I know growning up, my parents had one cow that would never take her calf without a fight. However, after she had accepted it, she was the best mother in the herd.
Good Luck
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I love the goat house btw, it’s great. I’m taking notes for when we finally get our farm!
Did you get any girl kids this time?
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Is the son of a sprite a pixie?
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Kudos to you and Fanta for helping her in her first round. I’ll wager she will be much better next time around.
“BLEATTTTT! Oh lookie here, I’ve gone and done it again! How does this happen?”
Absolutely gorgeous bunch of kids!
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Being a first freshener is probably the issue….so many new feelings.
Be persistent…she’ll come around. Even if she doesn’t sounds like the little guy is already quite resourceful.
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Suzanne
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I know that you have your hands full now, but we are all glad that you can take the time to keep us up on the babys progress. My thoughts annd prayers are with you.
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Although I’m sure you’ve been super busy with the new little ones…any names for them yet?
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As for how many goats you need — we also have NDs, and last year we were milking 14 and making all of our own dairy products, so you’re a far cry from having “enough” goats! LOL Nine years ago, I thought I only needed a couple of goats to make some cheese. Ha! Now we make chevre, yogurt, buttermilk, cheddar, gouda, mozzarella, gjetost, parmesan, queso blanco, and probably a few more that I forgot.
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