The boy with 6 moms

I now know what is meant by “It takes a village to raise a child”. Romeo was born 6 weeks ago to a first time momma who seems to be clueless as to what her new job entails. Momma Tessa rejected little Romeo from the first moment. She yelled and kicked and wanted nothing to do with him. I gave her a chance to warm up to him but at 12 hours post birth I stepped in and took over the feeding duties. Each feeding was swift and efficient as I did not want to destroy any bonding that was possible. After 3 days, she started to let him nurse. On day 4 we had another cria born to another first time momma (dam). Millie (dam #2) was penned in with baby Juliette for 24 hours to ensure bonding as well as baby getting the extra nutritious first momma’s milk called colostrum. Millie was also unsure of her duties. This soon led to both crias going back and forth between the two dams. I thought “what’s the harm” as long as they both gained weight and both dams stayed healthy. Little Juliette started gaining weight like crazy and this was fantastic! Romeo was not doing as well. He gained only a tiny bit every day.

I also noticed that he was often left alone to wander by himself as his mother was not very attentive. Sometimes I would find him way out in the pasture napping by himself with another unrelated female nearby. We call these females “Aunties”. A lucky cria will have one that sort of looks out for them when mom is busy. There were a few times when I came out to the barn to check on everyone and he was missing. I knew he was somewhere out in the pasture but Tessa was in the barn lounging around without him. Again not the best mom. I would ask in a panicked voice “Where’s the baby!” and then start walking towards the pasture. Romeo’s Auntie Caramel would take off running to him and roust him out of his slumber. His mom never moved. During the next few weeks I noticed several other females looking after him. Sometimes he napped next to them. Sometimes they would just give a quick nudge and sniff showing affection as he walked by. And, there a 3 non-lactating females that let him sooth himself by trying to nurse on them. All this time I am giving him a supplemental bottle as well. Plus, Millie still permits him to take a little nip from her.

So when adding it up he has his #1 actual Mom Tessa who does let him nurse but not enough, #2 Millie who is nursing another cria as well as supplementing Romeo, #3 Me because I give him one bottle daily, #4 Auntie Caramel, #5 Auntie Drewe and #6 Auntie Charlotte. Here’s one more interesting tidbit. Dams and their crias have there own language we call “Clucking”. It’s a little unique sound they make back and forth to locate each other and to communicate. I’ve heard all three Aunties clucking to Romeo. I have never seen this happen. All four of these females stepped up to help this boy when they saw he needed attention. He is one lucky boy with 6 moms.