Three Cheers For #7

The twins, Front and Back are now 2 weeks old. #7 had gotten so confused when she had two babies instead of one and kept pushing Back away from her when he wanted to nurse.

After a week of keeping the trio penned together to help forge a bond, we had to take more drastic measures since she was still not accepting Back unless I was in the pen to remind her that he should nurse.

The split pens kept both boys away from #7 for 4-6 hours at a time.  Front was very resourceful, and would reach between the bars of the gates to sneak a snack while we had #7 locked on the other side. #7 was careful not to let Back nurse the way she was letting Front do.

Next, we set up a buffer pen between #7 and her boys so both were kept away from her milk supply and the boys were then forced to eat at the same time.

It took a full week, and I was just about to give up on the hope that #7 would take both babies when  she decided that as long as Front was eating, Back could join in on the meal!

#7 stands so patiently, just chewing her cud as if to say she planned this all along.

Although the trio are not quite ready to be moved into the general population of the herd, this is a tremendous step forward after a long two weeks of supervision.

The little family will have more outdoor time and larger pastures as long as the milk supply is cooperating with mealtimes!