Can you induce a doe to feed her kits?

[CedarRidge]

We had a kit that looked like it hadn't been fed, so we put it under the mother. She tolerated it for about 20 seconds then became very agitated. I took the kit and put it back in the nest. Less than a minute later, the mother went into the nest and began nursing her 8 kits. Is it plausible the act of putting one kit on her caused her milk to drop, spurring her to nurse the whole lot.

 

[JMae]

We had a kit that looked like it hadn't been fed, so we put it under the mother. She tolerated it for about 20 seconds then became very agitated. I took the kit and put it back in the nest. Less than a minute later, the mother went into the nest and began nursing her 8 kits. Is it plausible the act of putting one kit on her caused her milk to drop, spurring her to nurse the whole lot.

Sounds like it!

 

[K Rivelli]

Or.. it could be she was agitated feeding out of the nest and showed her irritation. She understood what they needed, and agreed to feed as you got it started. Either way it’s a win!

 

[tambayo]

I had a doe hop in to feed because i woke up the kits for a check. She was pretty annoyed with me about it.

 

[K Rivelli]

I had a doe hop in to feed because i woke up the kits for a check. She was pretty annoyed with me about it.

I have one that does that every time.