Anyhow, Mother Doe still won't let him nurse; we go out a few times a day and hold her still so he can get a good meal. Homeschooled Farm Girl has made this her special project, and the goat kid is thriving as a result.
Yesterday, I was working around the barn and then heard a terribly loud, distressed, bleating noise from the goat pen. Stupid Bad Mother Doe had managed to get her head caught in gate; don't ask me how she was able to do this --- the holes were very small. In other words, she had to be trying to get her head through that space. And then she couldn't get it back out. Upon closer investigation, I realized that Stupid Bad Mother Doe had presented her bummer kid with a prime opportunity: she couldn't move. He could nurse as much as he wanted to.
Except...stupidity seems to have been passed along in the genes. He was just standing there, giving her a dumb look. MYF and I figure he must've concluded that he only gets to nurse when a human is in the pen, so he's given up even trying at other times --- no matter how good the opportunity is. Once I jumped into the pen, he went right at the doe's udder. She protested, but couldn't really go anywhere.
Interestingly, the kid continued nursing like a fiend even after I climbed back out of the pen and returned to work. Got quite a good meal.
I eventually returned to free Mother Doe from the gate, but it took a remarkable amount of effort. Thankfully, she hasn't tried that stunt again since. But hopefully if she does, the kid will realize that he's got himself a prime opportunity.
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