Itty Bitty Hooves

Horrible, Bad, Horrible Morning

March 8, 2008 on 6:38 pm | In goats, kids, does |

I’m still kind of in shock, although hindsight being what it is, I guess I should have expected it, but I still didn’t.

My LaMancha doe had triplets on Wednesday. It was an easy delivery, she just plopped them out. All were doing great except for the third one born who was really really slow to be all the way up and active, but it was beginning to catch up. The doe however was being a horrible mom as far as letting them nurse. She would lick them, let them lay by her, but at first I had to tie her up and hold her against a wall to let them nurse for the first time, and after a couple of those, it got to where she would just stand for them if I put a collar on her and stood there holding her, but no gymnastics involved, so I thought she was getting a little better about it. I was going in every two hours day and night and holding her while they ate, and it got to where they’d see me coming and as soon as I got the collar on they dove in, lol.

All of them were doing fantastically, bouncing around like typical 2 day olds even at 4 am this morning. I let them eat, and trudged back into the house through the flurries, lol, and went back to bed, setting my alarm for 6 am. Went back out and they were ALL DEAD. They were in a 12×12 stall and it looked like a hurricane had whipped through there. The doe had to have snapped and just went bonkers on them. I was heartsick picking up those limp twisted little bodies.

This doe is going. She is a bossy, herd queen to begin with, but she’s been good in general with people, although she really took a dislike to my friend’s 10 year old daughter, but even that she just grunts and lip things like a buck in heat at her. I didn’t mind any of her antics because she had given her previous owner triplet does and she is built like a tanker, although she seems to have constant trouble with sinus —-, it doesn’t effect her, and just as I’d hoped she gave me triplet does, but what good is that if she kills them all? I should have seperated them, I see that now, but I am not doing dairy, I can’t physically milk (carpel tunnel and I can’t afford a good milk machine yet, someday, someday) and I’m happy doing the meat goat thing. A dam who not only won’t nurse her kids, but KILLS them is just not an option here.

They were such lovely little doelings too. Still makes me cry to think about it.

Rest In Peace Babies