# Self-nursing/self-sucking doe



## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

So, how do you deal with a self-sucking doe? This doe kidded 2 1/2 weeks ago, and shortly after she kidded, her 
udder got lopsided. I didn't think much of it, and it is still like that. Well, while me and my mom were bottling kids, my mom looked over and saw her sucking on her teat!! And it was on the side which is bigger than the other, which makes total sense.

She is giving me a great deal of milk, so I'm not all that concerned about it. I have been giving her dolomite on her feed and have offered her her milk once, but she didn't seem all to interested in it (both of those going off a long-time breeders advice). So I'm just seeing what everyone here says!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

When we had the dairy girls, a saanen/Lamancha nursed herself. The only thing that worked for her was wearning a bucket Ie...and elizabethean collar like you use for dogs. Expect purchasing them $$ and she would just rub them off or break them, and cradles for horses are too big, so we took the bale off a 2 gallon bucket, cut out the bottom and put it on her head. It sat on her neck she could do everything but fit on the milkstand  but she could not reach around and nurse. We culled her. Never had one since but I would cull them that much quicker. Vicki


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

wondering if teat tape would work. probably not as she would chew it off.


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## Jo~* (Oct 26, 2007)

Do they make goat muzzles?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

We teat taped, they chew it off, and you have to remove it to milk twice a day. Muzzels will work but they can't eat with them just drink water, so no browsing all day with the herd in the woods. Anything spicy enough to keep her from nursing would also inflame the teat. Milking her in the milkroom without the milkstand was a pain as was taking off and putting back on her bucket. She would never completely dry up on the one side because she nursed all the time. Vicki


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## MayLOC (Oct 26, 2007)

gosh what a pain in the behind they are for sure!!

we have been dealing w/ a saanen doing this since she freshened in feb. She is a heavy milker and I think it started out to relieve herself and developed into a bad bad habit. It was terrible! 

She would often see me walking out to do chores and if she hadn't sucked herself yet she would actually run to the end of her pen and lay down to suck!! I was SHOCKED! 

Never tried to do anything to curb her nasty habit, for the same reason vicki stated.

And worse of all is we really needed her milk that whole time, or I would have given her the boot. Now we don't need it quite as bad, but amazingly she has all but stopped.

Now she might suck a little maybe one time a week, but not every week now and it is getting less all the time. Still not sure she gets to stay though, as I am sure it will be the same story next year.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2008)

HMMMMM......I would try a dog shock collar . It would take a lot of being out there and watching for a few days.......but think if she got bit a few times for self sucking, she would loose her appetite for it.

If this were a great doe...it would be worth the try. I suspect that she might would still need a little tune up every now if this was to work on her.

Whim


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

those elisabethian collars are not that hard to get on and off.


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## stacy adams (Oct 29, 2007)

How about a goat-bra??


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

I've HAD two...both got new addresses! And believe me, I sure hated sending one. GCH Ex 90...but I wanted that milk in the bucket, not back in her. I tried just about everything short of tying their heads to the wall. :really Nothing worked. Outa' here, to a boer farm as nurse does. THAT kept them drained!
Kaye


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Sondra, they are not that hard to get off for the goat either. She would scrub them off in the woods, on the hay feeders, she would break the plastic even the thick PVC type one. She could not get the bucket off. vicki


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

Thanks for all the info, everyone! This is a great doe and I am just going to see what happens. Maybe we'll get some teat tape and try it out. As you can tell I think, I'm not all that concerned about it. Thanks!


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## Tricia (Oct 26, 2007)

Just a bit more on Elizabethan collars. There's a new cloth version with Velcro closures which is supposed to be more comfortable
for the animal and equally as effective (uh-oh). It is called the Comfy Cone.


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

Teat tape worked *most* of the time, but I had to start putting strong tasting stuff on the outside of the tape, too, to keep her from pulling it off.

Also got a case of mastitis (that I was able to stop quickly) in one side. The vet thought it was due to air not circulating at the teat tip, and the tape holding in moisture.

Yes, it's aggravating to put on and take off twice per day, too.


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

Hmm, maybe the tape is not such a good idea. I'm going to keep trying the milk/dolomite thing for the moment.


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## Nancy (Oct 25, 2007)

We also had one we couldn't break. She also found a new address.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

The neighbors down the road have a Jersey cow that did they. It was funny because they tied this really long pole, like 12 ft long on her neck, so it stuck out perpendicular to her body. It was a funny sight. They then tried the teat tape and it worked for her. After a while they were able to stop using the tape and she had forgotten about it and haven't had any more trouble about it as far as I know.


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## eliya (Mar 11, 2008)

I had one ND doe that I couldn't break no matter what. She also nursed her dam even when she was 5 years old. I finally sold her as a pet. I have one doe that nursed herself a little this spring, but she seems to have quit now. We used the teat tape on her. She would pull it off, but I think she gave it up now. I'm pretty glad because she is a really nice doe and I'd hate to have to sell her!


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

eliya said:


> I have one doe that nursed herself a little this spring, but she seems to have quit now. We used the teat tape on her. She would pull it off, but I think she gave it up now. I'm pretty glad because she is a really nice doe and I'd hate to have to sell her!


That's exactly what I'm like with this doe. If the milk/dolomite thing doesn't work, then maybe I'll try the teat tape.


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

Where can I buy teat tape? I just looked online at Jeffers and PBS Livestock and neither of them have it. . . I just searched "teat tape" and looked under their udder/milking supplies. Nothing though. . .


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## eliya (Mar 11, 2008)

I got mine from Hoegger's - www.thegoatstore.com


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

I use 3-M paper tape. It's in the pharmacy at Wal-Mart. It's not like it sounds...flimsy. It adheres really well from the heat of your hand. I cut a piece the length of the teat, split it in half. Place one piece from top of teat, down under teat and back up one side. Repeat with the other piece on the half of teat that doesn't have tape on it. Two U's . Then place a piece at the top completely around the top of teat holding the 4 pieces in place. It's actually quite hard for then to peel the tape in this manner.
When I've finished wrapping, I hold the whole wrapped teat in my hand and the heat seats the tape.
Kaye


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I've seen it at my local feed store. Kathie


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

Thanks!


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

Caprine supply carries it.

www.caprinesupply.com


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