1st time owner - bottle baby

[misfitmorgan]

We had 2 bottle kids and a bottle lamb so far this year and last year we had 9 bottle kids all at once. It wasnt really that hard.

On a side note..why do i keep seeing different places that kids/lambs should be on a bottle until they are 4 months old?

Or kids and lamb always start eatting hay, grain and drinking water by 4 weeks old even for the last starters, we keep feeding milk thru a bottle until their around 8 weeks and then switch to feeding out of a bucket/bowl. Never had any problems except this year with our broken leg lamb....she will be 10 weeks old on the 25th and will not at all drink water even warm water. She will go all day with a bowl of water and not touch it. i can put the tiniest pinch of milk power or milk in it and she sucks it dry though. Anyone have this issue before? i dont mind giving her milk still bout im worried about her getting dehydrated for lack of water in between feedings.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings @WingAcres from the front range in Colorado! Glad you joined us! Welcome to BYH. As you can see from the numerous replies, it's not THAT difficult or complicated... I'm betting that you and your kids (human & goat) will get it all figured out and have a blast! I sorely wish I could have had farm animals for my kids when they were young like yours. Mine are all grown now and the grands aren't close.

Anyway, there are a LOT of great (goat/sheep/cow/etc) folks here (could you tell?), and if you run into issues, just jump on and post your questions/issues and in short order, I'm sure you'll have the help you need! Mean time, browse around a bit and jump in when you feel the calling!

 

[WingAcres]

Thanks so much everyone! And my apologies for not replying sooner, I thought I was set up to get flagged as others responded but guess not I'm so glad to hear all of your experiences, it's very reassuring and encouraging. I'm guessing once we get our first two goats - "goat math" will hit us just like the chickens.

 

[WingAcres]

"9 bottle kids all at once. It wasnt really that hard."

You're being modest!!! Lol. I'm curious to know what happens with your broken leg lamb. I'm lurking and learning a lot here. Yay!

 

[misfitmorgan]

"9 bottle kids all at once. It wasnt really that hard."

You're being modest!!! Lol. I'm curious to know what happens with your broken leg lamb. I'm lurking and learning a lot here. Yay!

The worst part about 9 bottle kids is....they were also in the house..oh the mess.

Thanks @WingAcres sadly it did not end well with my poor house lamb. Her leg fully healed and she was walking fine, she got the eye infection and healed up from that and regained 85% or so of her vision. Wednesday night she died from we assume Endotoxemia, we had followed the advice of our vet on vaccinating with CDT. The problem is the vet gave us the wrong info and told us we only need to vaccinate kids/lambs for CDT and just to do it in the first 3 months. She also told us the wrong dose with Bar Vac she told us 1ml per....its suppose to be 2ml per. So we thought we were doing that right but no we were not. The entire herd needs to be vaccinated for CDT and given booster shots yearly. We are very sad we lost our lamb but we learned an important part of livestock, read the labels on the vaccines. We stupdily blinded trusted the vet and that was the wrong thing to do.

Anyhow i hope your bottle baby is doing good!! I'm sure you will do a great job.

 

[WingAcres]

Oh my, that is heartbreaking. I am so sorry for your loss @misfitmorgan.

 

[Starlight4Leah]

Hi all,
New here and to backyard anything...my family will be getting 2 Nigerian dwarf wethers soon. The breeder asked if we'd be interested in a bottle baby - in case mom rejects baby or otherwise.

I've been researching but not sure if this would be too much of a commitment since I'm a first time goat owner...I've never even owned a dog either (cats, yes). Will a bottle baby be too much to handle? I two human kids; 5 and 4. 8 chickens (month old) and will be adding 13 chicks in July.

Thanks in advance!

We have always done bottle babies, so I will give you a few pointers/tips.
1.) They will be hard to start the bottle. - I am not exaggerating when I say hard. Every bottle baby that we have done doesn't accept the bottle until around three days of not taking it, by then they learn that this is where there food will be coming from, and quickly learn. (Note: we have had bottle babies that have gone easier and taken it within a day. So don't be nervous, they will not die on you because they don't take their bottle right away. Make sure to allow them access to feed and water.)
2.) Be prepared for a lifelong bond between you two that no one could break.
3.) It will be worth it!!! I mean it too, every bottle baby that we have done is totally worth fighting them to take the bottle, and having to feed them on a set schedule. All of our bottle babies were the sweetest, most kind, lovable goats that we have had. They follow us around like puppies, snuggle, etc. Now I am not saying that any goats that aren't bottle babies are bad, that is not the case because we have had non- bottle babies turn out just as loving.

Now, we did buy one goat and bottle feed him in February, and were just now able to buy him another goat friend, he has not yet taken to the two, we were told that he will it just takes time, but at this rate we are not sure about this as he still prefers the horses over two does. So, just remember that you may want to buy two at once. I hope this helps.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

They will be hard to start the bottle. - I am not exaggerating when I say hard. Every bottle baby that we have done doesn't accept the bottle until around three days of not taking it, by then they learn that this is where there food will be coming from, and quickly learn.

When were these kids removed from the dam?

I raised ~20 last spring and over 20 this year. All took the bottle strong soon after being born. But most of these kids are removed from the dam right after they are born. It's much harder when the kid has been on the dam for a while.

 

[WingAcres]

I guess this is the newbie in me and I can't say I've read about it before but what would be the reason to remove the kids from the doe immediately vs them nursing and weaning later? Think I've only read about removing the kid sooner when mom rejects it.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We have always done bottle babies, so I will give you a few pointers/tips.
1.) They will be hard to start the bottle. - I am not exaggerating when I say hard. Every bottle baby that we have done doesn't accept the bottle until around three days of not taking it, by then they learn that this is where there food will be coming from, and quickly learn. (Note: we have had bottle babies that have gone easier and taken it within a day. So don't be nervous, they will not die on you because they don't take their bottle right away. Make sure to allow them access to feed and water.)

We have not had much of a problem getting any of our kids or lambs to take a bottle so long as they are healthy. I would say within the first 2-3hrs or so they were just fine taking a bottle.

When were these kids removed from the dam?

I raised ~20 last spring and over 20 this year. All took the bottle strong soon after being born. But most of these kids are removed from the dam right after they are born. It's much harder when the kid has been on the dam for a while.

The ones who do nurse on mom are not so pleased with a bottle but i still havnt seen it take more then a few hours...but to be fair the kids we bring in the house to bottle are already having some kind of issue. Such as to cold, mom not producing enough, got stepped on..etc.

I guess this is the newbie in me and I can't say I've read about it before but what would be the reason to remove the kids from the doe immediately vs them nursing and weaning later? Think I've only read about removing the kid sooner when mom rejects it.

Some people just like to bottle all their kids. Sometimes the weather is just to cold so they have to be put someplace to keep them warmer. Sometimes yes the mom rejects them. Sometimes mom is an excellent mother but had twins/triplets/quads and just doesnt have enough milk for them. They also might pull a kid and bottle feed if mom tested positive for CAE or if they are doing herd management to stop/prevent CAE spread in their herd. Probly other reasons I not even thinking about too.