Here at Keelor Family Ranch, we've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our furry bundles of joy since getting Vincent van Goat to sire all of our goats in November. We have four Boer goats and three registered Nubian goats. Two of each breed are (or will be) first-time moms, so we waited to see how they would respond. So far, we've got mixed results.
Mo, our black/grey Nubian, was the first to have her baby, Milky Way, on April 27, 2025. And as you can see by her face in the photo below, she's not very excited to take on the motherly role. This pretty much sums up her entire outlook on motherhood. Spike, our GSP (Good Spoiled Pup ;) actually discovered the newborn baby standing around in the entryway of the barn, all alone and shivering. He alerted me to this abnormal creature and I quickly scooped it up and ran around with it, calling Christian on the phone to come outside and see something. I'm a first-time goat mom too. I analyzed our goats, who were grazing nearby, asking each one who's baby this was. I quickly found my answer when I noticed some less than appealing discharge coming from Mo's rump. She couldn't hide the fact that she had given birth - and ran away from her baby girl!
My attempts at forcing her to get acquainted with her infant were met with her further distancing herself from the alien fluff-ball and me. I didn't really know how long she'd been out there, but she was fully dry, mostly clean, and was certainly not there during my morning rounds. She was shivering, however, and I figured she must be cold, as there was a persistent breeze. I knew she hadn't had her first meal, with the way Mo has been acting. I tucked her under my jacket, my mind racing about feeding this baby a bottle, that we'll need to get a bottle and colostrum supplement before the store closes, and perhaps I needed a warm washcloth to stimulate her first bowel movement, when Christian rushed towards the goat pen to us, a beaming smile on his face at the cuteness I beheld.
I lured Mo into the barn with some treats and locked her in the area we have specifically for our Nubians (they're more docile and we wanted to ensure they didn't need to fight the horned Boers for their food). I attempted to get Mo to accept her baby, but she would run away as soon as I moved Milky Way near her. Thankfully, Christian had the clear mind to call our wonderful neighbor, Bill, who had just gone through lambing season with his hair sheep and has much more experience than us. Within minutes, he came with a small pen, a bottle, and a whole heap of advice! He made a halter for Mo and tied her up, ensuring she would stay still for the baby to get some milk. Mo fought the restraint and genuinely seemed terrified of the helpless little creature, but Bill was more persistent and prevented her from kicking at little Milky Way. Since this was her first time, Milky Way did not know what the udder was or how to find it, so Bill taught me to ensure there was no plug preventing milk flow, then to get some milk into baby's mouth so she can find the udder. It didn't take her long to suckle, but she quickly lost the teat and would search in outlandish areas for it again. We'd redirect her so she could continue. We gave Mo some grain while she stood still for her baby.
Once Milky Way was full (we could feel her round and inflated belly, especially compared to the very thin and malleable belly when I first picked her up), Bill set up the small 4x4' pen he used for his sheep. This way, Mo can't run away from her baby (though she still does, just not very far), and the baby will be safe - as long as mom doesn't step on her in her panic. At one point, Mo seemed to get a little pushy with her baby and Bill put a stop to that by calming her. I thought it was odd that the sweetest and most docile goat we have is rejecting her baby, but Bill said that's actually quite common. I suppose it works out if the owners want bottle babies - you'll have a sweet goat and raise bottle babies - but we most certainly do not want bottle babies. We want our goats to be goats and learn goat things - and of course how to behave around humans so there are no accidental injuries. Mo was a bottle baby, so I wonder if that plays a part in how she's responding to motherhood, plus the fact that she gave birth first and maybe didn't know what was happening.
For the next few hours, I closely monitored Mo and fed Milky Way frequently - she's not a bottle baby, but she only eats when I make Mo stand still to let her eat. Poor Mo has gone hoarse from bleating out all day when a human is not next to her. She's definitely okay, with food, water, and shelter, but she could play the ambient noise in a horror movie deep in the woods. Nubians are wild with their yelling - they sound like people, and sometimes they sound like distressed people, if they're not getting enough attention. Milky Way needs at least three meals per day, though I've been making sure she's getting food a little more often than that.
The very next morning, Mo's sister, Nibbler, had her baby - and unlike Mo, Nibbler was standing near her little fawn, occasionally sniffing the little critter. At first I thought Milky Way had somehow gotten out of the little pen, but then I realized this one was brown and Milky Way was black. The previous day, Bill helped me recognize the signs of labor: tail raised and sticking out, standing stiff, and discharge, so I knew she was going to give birth very soon. I was happy to see that Nibbler was taking to motherhood much more smoothly than Mo did, though I wasn't sure if Nibbler knew that she needed to let her baby suckle for milk. I led them into the second pen I prepared the previous night and made sure the new baby girl, Snickers, got something to eat. Nibbler did kick a little bit when Snickers tried to feed, but she stood still and was interested in the baby, licking her and sniffing her. Nibbler was making a great mother. I wonder if it helped that she saw Mo go first and what we expected from Mo. But, I think it's mostly just nature doing its thing.
For the next little bit after feeding Milky Way, I made sure Snickers was suckling. But lately, Snickers hasn't been trying to suckle, like she's not interested. When I feel her belly, it feels full and rounded, even though I never saw her eat. Nibbler is doing a great job at being a mother - she's keeping her baby fed without me there to monitor. When I check in on them, Snickers is often laying by her mother's side, sleepy and content, as opposed to Milky Way who is usually a foot away from her mother (not baby's choice) and then ravenously consumes milk when I pet Mo to keep her still. Mo has gotten better, in the regards of I merely have to pet her to keep her still, as opposed to actually restraining her. Though if I'm not present to let Milky Way eat, Mo would not let her eat.
Thankfully we're only dealing with one mother that's rejecting her baby - and not a very extreme rejection either, since she still lets her suckle when I make her. We'll see how the other goats do as mothers - I'm hopeful all of the others will accept their babies, as Nibbler has.
This is our first experience rearing goat kids, so we're learning some neat tricks. The babies are, of course, adorable! If you'd like to see videos of our new babies, visit our YouTube channel @KeelorFamilyRanch.
Thank you for joining us on this lovely experience!
