# bottlefeed baby question



## animalcrazy31 (Sep 23, 2009)

I have a little bottle fed baby goat i got a couple of days ago and hubby is having a fit about her inside saying shes to big either find away outside or get rid of her  he only wants small ones inside that can fit in a platic tote and not pee out of. Is there away to keep her outside and just go out every 4 hours and feed her? shes 10-12 days old.if i put straw in a dog house would it keep her warm? Also if she is raised inside what age do you put yours out?


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## lilhill (Sep 23, 2009)

When I have bottle babies, they live in the house.  I get the Huggies diapers to put on them.  I usually keep them in the house until they are almost 2 months old and then transition them outside for the weaning process.  It depends on the weather as to whether I'd put her outside at her age, especially with nobody to cuddle up with.  My dh has gotten used to the idea that baby goats are going to be bouncing around inside the house at times.


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## Mini-M Ranch (Sep 23, 2009)

Hmm...I don't know, as I haven't ever had a baby goat, but what about one of those training crates for BIG dogs.  I think that would work maybe, but it would be spendy.  Short of that, perhaps your husband could go live in the doghouse for a few weeks...

A diaper seems like a good idea.  Maybe you could build her a cage out of scrap wood?


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## ksalvagno (Sep 23, 2009)

Just out of curiosity since I'm new to goats and not used to bringing livestock in the house, is there a true need for the kids to be in the house or can they do just fine out in the barn with proper bedding, etc?


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## animalcrazy31 (Sep 23, 2009)

i have her in a large dog crate now ive been trying to figaure out to close the back to stop her from peeing out of it. with the diapers do i have to cut out an area for her tail? ive never thought about about diapers even with 3 babies in them go figuare. would cloth diapers work? or are huggie types better?


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## kimmyh (Sep 23, 2009)

If there are two baby goats, they can indeed be outside, but if there is only one, the owner becomes the buddy goat. Diapers work, I start with #1 and work my way up in size putting the diaper on backwards so I can hook the tabs from the goats back. If the diapers are sliding off, I then take an old sweat shirt sleeve and cut leg holes for the goats front legs, and safety pin the diaper to the shirt.


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## cmjust0 (Sep 23, 2009)

Take a few cardboard boxes and cut them into 8-10" strips, then tape the strips to the bottom of the walls in the crate.  Cover the bottom of the crate with puppy-pads, then fill about halfway up the cardboard with pine shavings.  

Tada!

You'll have to change it out somewhat regularly, of course, but you can get by at least a week at a time by adding new shavings frequently..

Don't get cocky about how well it works and not change it out for a really long time, though, thinking that the shavings are soaking up all that pee..  If you do that, you'll look behind the crate one day and realize that the pee started leaking out a while ago -- even though it's nice and dry and comfy on top.

Ask me how I know..


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## lilhill (Sep 23, 2009)

kimmyh said:
			
		

> If there are two baby goats, they can indeed be outside, but if there is only one, the owner becomes the buddy goat. Diapers work, I start with #1 and work my way up in size putting the diaper on backwards so I can hook the tabs from the goats back. If the diapers are sliding off, I then take an old sweat shirt sleeve and cut leg holes for the goats front legs, and safety pin the diaper to the shirt.


Yep, the shirt pinned to the diaper makes it _really_ easy.  My mini poodle is the "baby goat sitter" when there's a baby  in the house.  Maggie loves the babies and lays with them, giving them puppy licks when they cry, and helps me find them when the baby goes exploring.


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## Rence (Sep 23, 2009)

In this warm weather I wouldn't even consider keeping a bottle baby in the house. But that's just me, I realize that.  Even in the winter, I'd be very hard pressed to keep her in the house. They do pretty well as long as they have a good shelter that will keep them out of the wind and rain, and is well bedded.  Those dogloos are GREAT, and since you don't have many of them, you can get the smaller ones. But a small dog crate will do too.

I would keep her outside and somehow acquire a friend for her, as she'll be terribly lonely by herself. Is she the only kid you have? Can you arrange to get another? What about another goat, if not a kid? Do you have any friends or neighbors with goats? I have a friend who will "lend" me kids or goats if I need one. I've been offered a kid because I needed to separate a little one. And I've been offered a doe when mine were dry. I'm sure you can find something suitable. 

I wouldn't want a baby goat in the house either  They pee and poo everywhere, and in my most humble opinion, it's really not necessary under normal circumstances. If your hubby won't tolerate diapers, try not to be too hard on him.  I hope you work it out!


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## animalcrazy31 (Sep 23, 2009)

he aggred to let me try the diapers if that doesn't work she'll have to go out. I have 2 weathers and a buck all 3 1/2 to 4 months old would they be ok would they be ok in the same pen as her? i've been trying to find a second bottle baby to feed but no luck. inside my 7 week old beagle pup is her buddy.


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## Rence (Sep 23, 2009)

They should be fine. Well, I've had kids and very young babies in the same area together and they got along fine. Of course mom was there, but they still played and slept together. Why not try and put baby outside with them and stay a while to supervise? 

If she's not going to be an inside goat (which some people do. You can actually potty train them, they're very smart), then it really would be of benefit to her to stay with the other goats. That way, they will teach her how to eat grass and hay and get her rumen working and basically learn how to be a goat.

You need to watch the water troughs though. Until she's a few weeks old and steady on her feet, make sure she can't fall into the water and drown. If you only have a few kids, I'd keep it somewhat shallow if it's not too convenient for you. You'll be checking on her all the time anyway


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## lilhill (Sep 23, 2009)

Please don't put that 10 day old doeling in a pen with a 3-1/2 to 4 month old buck!  If you can't be her "new mom", then please find someone who would be willing to take care of her.


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## kimmyh (Sep 23, 2009)

The older goats will terrorize the baby, please keep her safe with you, and when you put her out, give her a pen within their pen (without the buck) for a week, so she begins to smell like your other goats. Then try turning her out with supervision, I had a bottle baby that spent her 2-4 months in a pen within the pen because the older goats were just too hard on her.


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## cmjust0 (Sep 23, 2009)

Before I dropped a two week old kid in a pen with an intact male in early Fall, I think I'd maybe consider splitting the pen and keeping the buckling and doeling seperate, with a wether each.  By a month, most kids are fairly hardy (  )..  Wethers are generally pretty docile, too (  )..  

If you incorporated kimmyh's idea of a pen in a pen and kept the doeling seperate from 'her' wether until she was maybe a month old and really kicking up her heels...and if they'd had those few weeks to sniff noses through the fences and whatnot...I sorta think that might work out.  

(...here's another  for good measure...)

Or not...  Might go horribly awry.

It's impossible to say, really, but I still think that's probably your best shot at making things work without incorporating another bottle baby.


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## animalcrazy31 (Sep 23, 2009)

ok whats the issue with the buck? hes actualy more laid back then the weathers. the buck is younger then the weathers. if the diapers and pen inside of the pen doesnt work then maybe i can hold for three more weeks till i get my other female pygym baby after shes weaned in 3 weeks.


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## Rence (Sep 23, 2009)

animalcrazy31 said:
			
		

> ok whats the issue with the buck? hes actualy more laid back then the weathers. the buck is younger then the weathers. if the diapers and pen inside of the pen doesnt work then maybe i can hold for three more weeks till i get my other female pygym baby after shes weaned in 3 weeks.


I apologize, sometimes I forget we all have different setups and I skipped over the buck part. My bucks are usually all separated from my doesn, so my original advice didn't include the buck. I'm sorry, I made a mistake  the other posters are right, you shouldn't put her in with a buck.  

The buck will try to breed the baby, that's why everyone's so adamant about not keeping her with the buck. *however* even with my goats being together temporarily, I've never seen a buck trying to breed a kid that young. But it's better to keep them separate anyway, so she doesn't get hurt.

I do not believe the other kids will terrorize the bottle baby. However, I did suggest that you put them together supervised to see how they all act. 

Erecting a smaller pen for the bottle babies is an excellent suggestion, and one that I should have included in my previous answer to your post. It also has the added benefit of the older kids seeing and getting used to the bottle baby before integrating. But honestly, I haven't had problems integrating kids at that young of age. It's usually after they're over a year that they start pushing each other around to establish the pecking order. At least that's how mine are.

I still would NOT keep the bottle baby in the house, but it's nice that your husband is willing to try the bottle baby with a diaper. It will at least buy you some time. If I were you, I'd put the bottle baby in with the younger goats (except for the buck) and put the buck someplace else. Conversely, you can erect a separate smaller pen and keep the bottle baby in with another bottle baby. That would really be the best thing.


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## lilhill (Sep 23, 2009)

Rence said:
			
		

> animalcrazy31 said:
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I've had lots of 1 week old bucks blubbering, squealing and mounting baby does the same age and by the time they are a month old, they are doing the same antics with the adult does.  If they could breed them, they most certainly wouldn't hesitate.  Just the nature of the buck.  They could care less how old the doe is.


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## goat lady (Sep 23, 2009)

We got two bottle does a while back. One was one week and the other 3 weeks when got them. They are 10 and 12 weeks now. I put them out near our goat pen, but these two little ones were separated in a dog kennel which is made out of chain link fence. I found it on craigslist pretty cheap. Hubby put a make shift roof for on top, and it has worked out great for us. I put some hay down for bedding and something for them to climb on, and they are happy campers in there.  We had tried a bottle baby in the house, but it was a mess and she was lonely by herself and things just did not work out.  Good luck.


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