Haggard Doe

[SoDak Thriver]

Question: Ginny is looking pretty haggard. I removed her for the night and put her in a new cage. Should I make this permanent, like wean them now?

Details: So, my first litter of kits is 4 weeks old. No matter how much I try to make a space for Ginny (momma) to get away from her kits, she just lays there with them and they pressure her to nurse constantly. They are also all eating pellets, carrots, oats, and BOSS sprouts as well as drinking from a water bottle. She is looking small despite eating a lot. Any reason I can't let her recover for rebreeding and keep the kits separate?

 

[Rainey]

We usually move the doe out from the cage with the kits at 4 or 5 weeks. I know many here wean later, but at that point we're not seeing the kits trying to nurse. And once they're eating well, it shouldn't be a problem. Our does may not be great milk producers since they seem to wean the kits at about 4 weeks and they are usually in good condition themselves. The time they sometimes seem a bit thin is closer after kindling.
I would put her in a cage by herself and try to feed her up. And I wonder if she could have a parasite problem or something besides nursing the kits that is making her so thin. Has she seemed thin since she kindled or has this just happened recently? Have you been free feeding her while she was nursing and adding extras like BOSS or nettle? You probably already know not to rebreed her until she is back up to a good weight.
Hope the kits are growing well and that she'll soon be back in good condition.

 

[SoDak Thriver]

Thanks, Rainey! I know the "when to wean" question can be a can o' worms. The kits are growing and doing great. They are eating solids really well. I think they are telling me it's time to wean.

Ginny looks 100% better just for one night off. She ate like a horse last night and already looks more filled out, but that might just be swollen breast tissue since she didn't get to nurse at dawn. I'll watch her, but my gut says it was nursing pressure, not parasites, causing her weight decline.

 

[BlueHaven]

I had a doe that got so thin and horrible looking last year, that I asked the lady I bought her from for help. She just ate and ate, and drank and drank, and the weight just fell off of her so fast. I took the largest kits off of her over the space of a week, and then pulled the last two that weekend. They did fine. The breeder wormed her with a little zimectrin and we added oats and sunflower seeds to her feed twice a day. She gained fine after that, and I just finally found outstanding color on her last weekend, and she actually lifted for the buck. Fingers crossed. Oh, and the babies gained far better once they were off this doe. I have her niece on a litter of 7 now, and we just went ahead and took four of the large babies off her this week. Next week I will remove the last three. I just go by how much nursing I am seeing, and I am seeing none at all and they are under camera all the time.

 

[SoDak Thriver]

I sexed them today and separated out the bucks (3) and left her with the does (5). If the bucks look distressed, I'll swap them out in the morning. The night off definitely did her some good and the kits were fine without her.

...they are under camera all the time.

Mine are under a persistent surveillance state as well. Until something moves the charging cable within their grasp. :lol: