3 day old Nigerian Dwarf Baby Girl--bottle feeding

[Charlottesweb]

Got her yesterday, weighs 3 lbs, a struggle to feed. She's only drinking 2-3 ounces every 6-8 hrs--Help. How much should she be drinking, Im so worried. My Boer goat bottle baby just inhaled her bottles, no struggle at all

 

[Queen Mum]

She is a dwarf so will eat a lot less. Make sure the milk is nice and warm and offer it more often. Maybe that will help. Also she may prefer a different nipple.

 

[Charlottesweb]

Thank you Queen Mum. I tried a pictard but it leaks out of the cap hole, all ive tried do that urrgh. Having better luck with a baby bottle. How many ounces a day should I shoot for? Last night i fed her every 2-4 hrs but she only tool .5-1 oz. Read not to bug her too often--shes getting a little better today, took 2 oz after sleeping all night since 9 pm, not great really but at least she sucked for 30 secs at times!

 

[cjulian214]

Our Nigis from birth to 2 weeks took about 1.5-3oz 5x/day (6am,11am,3pm,8pm&midnightish), then the next 2 weeks took 3-5oz 4x/day, then for 2 weeks 5-7oz 3x/day and then 2 weeks 7-8 oz 2x/day.

One of them was much harder to get to bottlefeed. We sat her on our lap, held her head, had to kind of force the bottle in....but after 4 days or so she got the hang of it.

 

[Charlottesweb]

Oh CJ Julian, thanks so much--I feel alot better. She hasnt even been on bottle 24 yrs yet and is not 4 days old yet--so I guess the 2 oz was pretty good. I have been teary but feel so much better now. Thanks for posting!

 

[Queen Mum]

Yeah, those little ones are dine and dash babies. Grab a bite, run. Grab a bite and run. She will get it soon enough. You are doing just fine.

 

[fortheloveofgoats]

Oh CJ Julian, thanks so much--I feel alot better. She hasnt even been on bottle 24 yrs yet and is not 4 days old yet--so I guess the 2 oz was pretty good. I have been teary but feel so much better now. Thanks for posting!

She is adorable. If it's not much of a pain, do you think we can see more pictures of her? Nigerian Dwarf goats are my favorite.

 

[Charlottesweb]

Actually, the avatar is Charlotte my Boer, shes 2 wks and 10 lbs in this pic. Shes weaned now. I will get a pic of lil Lucy the nigi 3 lb'er tonight, shes adorable also black and white--thanks!

 

[RainySunday]

I read (here, I think, or maybe in Storey's Guide) to aim for 1oz/lb body weight 3x/day of colostrum for the first 24 hours. So, we use that as our starting point, then increase .5 oz at a time once they are finishing that amount. So right now, I have bottle babies (NDs) who were 2lbs 9oz -5lbs 3oz at birth, who are eating 6.5oz 3x/day (the big guy is actually at 8 oz). They were born on the 7th and the 9th, so 6 and 4 days old.

On the other hand, we have a bummer baby in the house who was born on the 10th, who was eating .5-1oz whenever he wanted (about every 3-4 hours). He goes overnight from 11pm-8am without eating. He finally is taking 2 oz at a time.

Anyhow, that's what we do here.

 

[fortheloveofgoats]

Actually, the avatar is Charlotte my Boer, shes 2 wks and 10 lbs in this pic. Shes weaned now. I will get a pic of lil Lucy the nigi 3 lb'er tonight, shes adorable also black and white--thanks!

After looking at that, I should have known that. Can't wait to see her. I love the black and white goats.