Apple/cran juice water v.straight water nursing

[ALS_WIS]

Hey everyone,

I posted a few days ago my mom who was at 115 finally popped. She felt like THREE but had one BIG girl, she was almost 60 grams born.

Within two hours, mom had milk and she is producing it to the point I am almost worried she might get mastitis or something from so much and only one baby.

Anyways, I dont know how to do a poll. This is her second litter. The first time, I gave her no apple juice mixed with water, did give her alfalfa though at birth. First time milk took almost 3 days.

This time, upon litter I put the 100 percent apple juice nothing else, 50 % maybe 55 or 60, in her bottle with the filtered water, and she had her milk within three hours and is making it like nuts. Her NORMAL water intake is small, this time half her 8oz bottle is gone in a day.

SO This is what I am wondering, is there anyone who is of the opinion that they have sound proof either way of the apple juice in water helps with milk production?

It would be nice to see people post some more information on this. I think it would maybe help first time mothers. In my experience, even first time mothers milk normal at best..?

 

[starleomach]

sh should also have a bottle of regular water on her cage.
I don't think it is anything in the apple juice that helps I think it is more that she is taking in more fluids and therefore being able to produce more fluid.

 

[AZChins]

The sugar in the apple juice can actually accelerate bacterial growth in the bottle. After a short time the bottle could actually be pretty grimy and not so good for the digestive system of the mother chin. The sugar in the juice could also lead to the mother chin having a bacterial imbalance in her intestines and that could lead to diarrhea.

The first litter in most any mother chin has is going to mean less milk production than in successive litters. The second and third litters of mother chins will get more milk than the first because the mammary glands have matured much more and have the ability to produce more milk. It seems like the first litter is the initial practice run and everything needs to develop during that time.

From what I have seen mother chinchillas will make sure to drink enough water to support their babies regardless of what is added. My mother chins end up drinking two to three times as much water after they give birth than a normal chinchilla drinks. Also, later in their pregnancies they tend to drink much more. Cages with pregnant and mother chins have much wetter shavings and have to be cleaned more.

 

[chinchewy1]

I used to do the apple juice for new Moms when I first started breeding. After many years it has been my experience that it doesn't really do anything. Most Mom's will drink more without the added juice anyway and most will take the regular water over the juice when you put both in the cage. Any of the chins I ever had with nursing problems never improved milk production when a juice bottle was added after noticing a problem. However I have found with two girls who were having trouble producing enough milk their production upped when fungeek was added daily on a shredded wheat.

 

[AZChins]

I've heard about the fenugreek really helping with milk production in all sorts of animals. Kelly, did you just use the type that you can buy at the health food store in the capsules that you can pull apart and sprinkle or is there another form that can be used?

That's interesting that the chins may actually not want to drink water with something added. I know that the chins won't want to drink nearly as much water if antibiotics are added, and forget getting them to drink if the vitamin drops are added!

 

[chinchewy1]

Susan, I had bought a bulk 1/2 pound bag off of a member when we were CnQ. I'm not certain if she is on CnH ( I haven't been on much lately). I followed her advice along with some other members of just dusting a shredded wheat once a day. It is VERY strong smelling and if too much was put on the shreddy the chins wouldn’t take it.
I have only used it a few times and only because the two females in question were proven good mothers in the past with a bigger litter then normal. Who knows if it was actually the supplement or if it just took them longer to get their milk volume up since they had always had single to twin births in the past and that time had quads.

I seldom use any type of supplemental "cures or aids" when it comes to breeding and I would not recommend someone using it on all of their females as a precaution.. nor continuing to breed a female that has shown to have a problem producing milk litter after litter because then you get into the whole debate of if you are perpetuating some problem down your line or not. If my two females that I used the supplement on wouldn't have been proven good mothers or if they would have continued to have sets of quads that they could not provide enough milk for on their own they would have been culled from my breeding program. But if you find you are having a problem with a female and the babies are already here then yes I would try it… giving a bit of a supplement (if it works) is MUCH better then having to hand feed.

 

[rcr]

I started using a blend of oats, comfrey and alfalfa for my nursing moms a few months ago after reading an article in the Empress magazine about the benefits of comfrey. I don't put anything in the water.

 

[chin-nw]

I always give new moms Fenugeek sprinkled over their feed for the first few days. I also provide a mom and kit supplement. This seems to help bring in mom's milk faster with first time moms. Of course you still need to watch any kits that might need some hand feeding during that time. But in my experience the Fenugeek helps. I tried the apple juice/ water 50/50 mix before. But it never made much of a difference. So I quit using it and now just add the Fenugeek.

 

[AmandaDi]

I usually give 1/4 100% cran juice mixed with 3/4 water for new moms. It entices them to drink more the first two days which has always helped mine get their milk faster.