Baby Goat Feeding/Weaning Strategy Cliff Notes?

[Cadillac Jill]

I apologize if I missed it, but is there a thread here where people outline their basic strategies for feeding baby goats (i.e. bottle vs. nursing, schedules, duration, quantities, separation, handling techniques)?

I have read a lot, and I'm very confused. We would like to stay in harmony with natural processes when it makes sense, but so many professionals (including the breeder from whom we purchased our goats) say that the babies will be wild if we don't go with 100% bottle feeding. They also say the weaning process is difficult and protracted if you don't bottle feed.

Other reasonable souls seem to employ a combination of bottle feeding and nursing.

They're dairy goats, so we do want milk for our own consumption. We spend time with them every day, and we like the fact that they're so friendly and affectionate. I wouldn't want to lose that trait in the babies.

We're right at a month away from kidding, and I'm starting to realize that I have a lot of general ideas, but no comprehensive game plan. Colostrum? Separating kids from moms? Milk replacers? Ack! I'm lost!

If there's a thread that covers this, I'd really appreciate the link! If not--and I know this is a tall order--would some of you veterans mind sharing your strategies? I'm hoping to glean wisdom from "an abundance of counselors".

Thank you!

 

[20kidsonhill]

I find that my boer goats that are all dam raised, can tame, if you handle the babies a lot with in the first couple weeks, But bottle babies are always very very tame.

As far as weaning, I am not so sure they are ever really ready to give up that milk, They seem to complain either way, weaning them from mom, or weaning them from a bottle. It would probably be easier to keep them with the adult does after weaning if they are bottle raised, because they wont try to nurse on mom, so when it is weaning time from the bottle you wont have to try to find a seperate weaning area away from the does that are milking.

A mom will let their babies start to nurse again even after being weaned for a month, That isn't a problem for me, because I don't milk the does, the does would dry-up, but for someone who is milking you would have to have a seperate place to put dam raised babies after weaning for quit some time, I would think atleast 2 or 3 months, if not more.

Hope that helped a little.

There are some great experts on here on bottle feeding. You will get lots of ideas and help.

Pretty much you are going to have to pool all the ideas and pick what would work for you, since there are different ways to go about it.

 

[whetzelmomma]

I apologize if I missed it, but is there a thread here where people outline their basic strategies for feeding baby goats (i.e. bottle vs. nursing, schedules, duration, quantities, separation, handling techniques)?

I have read a lot, and I'm very confused. We would like to stay in harmony with natural processes when it makes sense, but so many professionals (including the breeder from whom we purchased our goats) say that the babies will be wild if we don't go with 100% bottle feeding. They also say the weaning process is difficult and protracted if you don't bottle feed.
This is 110% FALSE. I have goats from dam raised babies and they are LOVERS. The "tameness" of your goats is entirely up to you and how much time you spend with them on YOUR farm. As to the weaning, I haven't done this part yet, but the breeder I get mine from doesn't have issues. She sells her babies at 2 months old, and they eat like a grown up goat.

Other reasonable souls seem to employ a combination of bottle feeding and nursing.
This is my plan. I will hold babies off at night, and milk in the mornings. Then the kids can nurse and be with mom during the day.

They're dairy goats, so we do want milk for our own consumption. We spend time with them every day, and we like the fact that they're so friendly and affectionate. I wouldn't want to lose that trait in the babies.
Raisins are a goat friend maker's best friend. lol Of course, my breeder's goats don't love raisins, they love corn chips. Either way, the way to the heart, is through the stomach. lol

Thank you!

 

[Our7Wonders]

I started all my bucklings born this year on the dam and moved them onto the bottle one at a time as I was ready to sell them. The last one didn't move onto the bottle until he was three weeks old and he took right to it. All of them were very friendly right from the beginning - but we spend alot of time with the babies just because we enjoyed them so much.

I had only one doeling born this year and she's friendly. She has been soley dam raised. Her dam is a bit stand offish - not mean just doesn't seek out attention the way my other doe does. But the doeling isn't that way at all, she's a little shy but she can't help but come out to see us every time we're in the goat shed or run - she's curious and playful and seems to enjoy our company as much as we enjoy hers.

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

It is indeed not true that Dam raised babies are not friendly. Mine are dam raised and I don't spend lots of time with them, but they just LOVE us and love being with us. The two tricks I used is for while very young to breathe on them every time you got to them, sounds weird but it really does work! Then when they are older I sometimes take out raisins with me. They never know when I have them or when I don't so they always run up to be loved on and given a treat if I happen to have some with me.

 

[Roll farms]

It does depend on the time spent w/ them. With a small herd and some dedication, any kid can be made friendly if you start young.

I have too many to spend that kind of time on them individually.
By feeding them 3x a day w/ a bottle (takes minutes per bottle, and I can feed 3 at a time) they're 'automatically' made friendly.

As for the when / how much / how often part, I've copied / pasted this from my site. Probably more than you wanna know, but it's how we do it.

"We bottle raise most of our kids, for many reasons. CAE prevention, to ensure they're friendly, and because I don't have to worry at 3 am if the kids are warm enough or being fed enough by a first time mom.

Some folks think it's 'cruel' to take babies at birth...
If a doe never 'meets' her kids, she won't cry for them nearly as much as she does when you wean them at 3 mos., and babies won't go off feed / stress out from leaving dams they never met / bonded to.

One of the things I hear most about bottle feeding is, "Isn't that a lot of work?"

Really, it isn't. It takes less than 5 minutes to give a baby their bottle, 3 times a day. I'm in the barn that many times a day anyway.
Plus, I enjoy the time spent with the kids. I love to watch them bounce and play, and to be their jungle gym.

We usually have plenty of goat milk to go around...
But when we don't, we use (and recommend) that you use Vitamin D (whole) milk.
We've tried replacer in the past and had kids scour.
After switching to whole milk, the kids did fine and grew as well as they did on goat milk.
If you can find milk on sale, stock up and freeze it. The kids won't mind if it seperates, just shake it up before you fill the bottles.

I usually send kids home with some goat milk, to help them transition over to whole milk with no sudden dietary changes...sudden changes for any goat, kid or adult, are a bad idea.
I like to switch them slowly, giving them half goat milk, half whole milk for a few bottles before changing them over completely to whole milk.

We use empty soda bottles and Caprine (gray) nipples. We send kids home with the nipple they're used to.

By the time the kids leave here, between 5-10 days of age, they're usually drinking 8-16 oz of milk at each feeding. We gradually increase their intake until they max out at 20 oz. per feeding.
Some kids can take several weeks to reach that amount, some just a week or so.

I try to feed the kids every 6-8 hours. Our typical schedule is 8am, 2pm, and 9pm.
Feeding too often cause all sorts of health issues, like FKS (Floppy Kid Syndrome). They need time to digest the milk between feedings.
Also, do not feed milk to 'cold' kids. If the kid has chilled, warm it up (at least 101 degrees) before offering milk. A tablespoon of molasses is a good pick me up that will help warm them and give energy.

Despite what you might read elsewhere, it is NOT necessary to feed kids every 3 or 4 hours. I've been bottle raising between 30 and 50 kids a year since 2003 and have never fed more often than 3x a day.

Weaning:
At 8 wks of age, they go to 2 bottles a day.
At 10 wks they are dropped to 1 bottle a day.
We wean at 12 weeks.
Make sure they're eating their pellets / hay well before weaning completely! Usually taking a bottle away will increase the consumption of their 'big goat feed'.
Keep fresh water and loose goat mineral available at all times!"

 

[Goatmasta]

Roll is 100% correct. I use to dam raise until I had too many to keep the babies friendly because I just couldn't possibly spend enough time with them all. The answer to that problem is bottle feeding. Since I have started bottle feeding I would probably not go back to dam raising. The advantages for a production herd like I have comes down to $$$'s. If I would dam raise I would lose a entire breeding every 2 years. Since I have 40-60 babies per breeding it would be too costly.
If you choose to bottle raise, once again Roll is correct. Milk replacer is bad. vitamin D milk is good.
I have tried the combo, nursing and milking, the issues I had with this is that kids do not nurse evenly. So you can end up with a lop sided udder often times with one side engorged...

 

[whetzelmomma]

Things like too many, and young enough are relative terms... My breeder has about 25 goats at any one time. It's not as big as some goat herds, but it's bigger than my herd, (and since this forum is "backyard herds" I assume most of the people here have "smaller" herd sizes. Most of her goats were dam raised, and they are all friendly and manageable. The goats she sells leave the farm at 2 months, which is still "young" but I've also bought a "less friendly" goat from her that was 4 years old. Timid is probably a good word for her. With a little work from me, she's become a sweet goat. Not AS cuddly as my younger doe, but still loves her scratches, and hops onto the milking stanchion without trouble. They both will come when called. There are advantages and disadvantages to bottle feeding AND dam raising. It's up to you to decide which things matter to you. CAE isn't 100% preventable simply by bottle feeding. There are other ways for goats to contract the disease. Bottle babies can grow up to be pretty pushy grown up goats... all of these things are things you need to consider and decide for yourself which matter and are important to you and your situation.

 

[Roll farms]

One thing I didn't answer was the OP's original colostrum question.

If your does have been CAE tested negative, they can nurse from mom or you can milk the colostrum from mom and bottle feed it to them. (I prefer to pull at birth / start out on a bottle, it's easier *for me* that way.)
If the dam(s) aren't tested and you're concerned, you can either heat-treat the colostrum or buy some from a CAE free herd.

It's not the only way to prevent CAE, and there are other ways to transmit it. But it is a proven way to lessen the chances of contracting CAE.

I'm not going to stomp my foot and insist I'm right and that bottle raising is the best. I merely explained the hows and whys of our way of doing things.

I agreed that w/ time / attention that tame dam-raised kids can be done. With a smaller herd, that's much easier.

I don't believe 'too many' is relative when you're describing your own (my own) situation. I could NOT tame 40 kids.

Also, I'd much rather have a pushy goat than a wild one. Again, that's just my personal preference...nobody else may share it. I HATE chasing goats at hoof trimming / vaccination time. Much easier with a large herd when they're right there waiting for you.

The OP asked for opinions / experience / schedules / etc. and I'm offering one of many here. I like to hear different strategies / thought processes and then take what makes the most sense for me and create my own.

Cadillac Jill, whatever you decide, enjoy the little buggers...baby goats are the best.things.ever, regardless of how you raise them.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

My theory is that how friendly the kid ends up at weaning is directly related to how friendly that dam is with people. If the kid spends the imprint phase of socialization with a dam that runs to the other side of the paddock every time you want to visit then the kid is going to learn that people are dangerous/scary. If the dam was a bottle baby herself (or dam raised and friendly) and she walks up to you for a treat and a scratch then the kid is going to learn people are safe. I think a buyer that spends a lot of time and patience on the weanling could probably undo this to some degree, but I don't necessarily believe the goat will ever truly be imprinted.

I HATE having to chase our buck wild, dam raised doe whenever it's time to do something with her. I did find that pulling her kids and milking her twice daily made a HUGE difference in how readily I can catch her. She's good for milking. But she's impossible to catch without first having her in a smaller area, milking or no.

I would think that if you have a few very friendly, easily approached and caught does then you could dam raise and still have friendly kids. I'd be more amenable to our bottle raised does dam raising kids than our buck wild dam raised does.