The ravenous hoard

6 days old and getting big already

I was hoping to hold off bottle feeding until the pups were 1 week old, but Saturday, they were getting increasingly fussy, doing lots of frantic nursing, and Bridget was on empty.  Earlier this week, I picked up 5 gallons of frozen raw goat milk from a local hobby farmer.  So yesterday, I pasteurized one gallon of milk and introduced the pupsters to the bottle.  As normal, the little hungrier pups took to it more eagerly than the big pups.  Responses varied from almost instant, enthusiastic suckling, to resistance and spitting out the nipple, to slow hesitant suckling.  The typical response was that I would put the nipple in the pup's mouth and the pup would immediately spit it out.  I would repeat, working the pup's mouth so some milk dribbled into its mouth.  Then suddenly, the pup would freeze as if processing, take a tenative suck, and then enthusiastically go for its first bottle feeding.  Most pups seem to love how fast they can suck down a meal of goat milk.  Some litters have one or two pups who are more resistant and take 2 to 3 sessions before they accept the bottle, but not this bunch.  Everyone took the bottle the first time, and this AM, were quite enthusiastic, climbing into my lap and rooting around at my feet.  People have now assumed a new level of importance in their little lives.