Question From Subscriber:

Why would a mother goat reject her baby?

 

Answer:

Today we want to respond to a recent subscriber question that comes up a lot - what to do if a mother goat rejects her kid.

If you've experienced this, it's one of those moments when panic sets in.

We all work so hard to acquire goats, care for them every day, breed them, help them through pregnancy and stay up all night (sometimes) to help them deliver their new babies.

Then, just when you feel a big relief that the kidding went okay, you suddenly see that the new goat mom isn't cooperating with her new kids nursing.

I usually don't panic at first, because many new goat moms and all newborn kids need some help figuring out the nursing process.

But, once a new kid gets its first taste of milk, you usually don't have to teach it anymore.

The kid tastes some milk, and then gets that look on its face as if its thinking, "Hey, what was that? That was good. I want some more of that stuff!" Usually the kid starts targeting the teat and you can step back and let nature take its course at that point.

But there are other times when it doesn't go so smoothly and the new goat mom seems like she doesn't want to have anything to do with one of her new kids.

 

Doe Rejecting Kid

If this happens, first of all - don't panic. Take a deep breath. Then, try to work with the situation.

Sometimes it's only a momentary problem.

Keep in mind that the doe has just gone through a lot of trauma and pain, and may be freaked out.

Sometimes, once she calms down and relaxes a little, you can get her to pay attention to the new kid that she seemed to reject at first.

 

How To Get a Mother Goat to Accept Her Kid

Don't push the situation too hard for the first few minutes.

Just leave mom and kid alone and step back.

Let them get used to each other.

If the doe starts licking the kid all over to clean it, you're making progress.

Then, try to slowly help the kid find the teat to get a taste of colostrum, and milk later.

 

Also, if things don't work out, and the doe keeps rejecting her kid, don't feel like you've failed as a goat keeper.

Rejections like this happen.

And it's not uncommon to see a doe reject her kid about 10 or 15% of the time.

When a doe rejects one of her kids, she may accept the other kids at the same time.

You can't really know why the rejection is occurring.

The doe may sense something different with that one kid, like a problem, unusual smell, etc.

Or sometimes a doe rejects her kid because there are too many kids to feed.

Also, if she has mastitis, then feeding may be painful.

 

Doe Won't Let Kid Nurse

So, what do you do if you have a doe rejecting a kid?

A critical issue is making sure newborn kids get fed, and get enough colostrum in their first few hours of life. Otherwise, they won't survive.

Some goat keepers will put a stubborn doe in a small pen with her kids, including the kid she is trying to reject. When the kids gather around her to nurse, she may not have a choice but to let the rejected kid nurse also.

Another option is to tie the doe to a fence and then stand there and make sure that the rejected kid is getting a chance to nurse along with other kids.

Just be careful. If the doe is aggressive about rejecting a kid, the doe can go as far as trying to kill the rejected kid.

You may notice mama goat head butting baby. If you reach that point, then you'll have to try something else.

 

Mama Goat Won't Feed Baby

The next best solution is to see if you have a different doe in milk who might adopt the rejected kid from it's own mom.

 

We once had a kid that was rejected by it's mom.

When we had another doe kidding a day or so later, we took the rejected kid from the first mom and pushed it under the second mom just as her kids were coming out.

We also took some of the birth fluids from the kids that were coming out and rubbed the fluids on the adopted kid so it would smell like the other kids.

Doe #2 didn't even notice the swap.

She just started licking the adopted kid to clean it up along with her other kids, and was soon nursing the adopted kid with no problem.

 

Caring for a Rejected Goat

If all else fails, and you can't get another doe to adopt the rejected kid, you may have to switch to just bottle-feeding the rejected kid.

Make sure the new kid stays warm and gets enough colostrum in the first hours of life, and milk after that.

Get a copy of our goat feeding guides for proper amounts and timing.

 

What To Feed an Orphaned Baby Goat

Many goat keepers get prepared in advance for rejected kids.

When you have does giving birth, it's a good idea to milk some extra colostrum out of them and keep it frozen in your freezer in case it's needed later. Keep extra milk frozen also.

Use frozen raw colostrum and milk from your goats, rather than store-bought colostrum replacers or milk replacers.

Many goat keepers have lost kids that passed away when they tried to use replacers rather than the real stuff.

On the other hand, many other people dispute that and claim to have used replacers for years with no problems.

In any case, there's no doubt that real colostrum and milk is one of the healthiest options.

You be the judge with your own goats.

If you want to know more about feeding baby goats, and goats in general, check out our article here...

What to Feed Goats

Take care!

 

Rebecca and Steve
GoatFarmers.com