Bottle Baby...coughing after feeding?

RamblingCowgirl

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We just got a little LaMancha buckling yesterday. The girl I got him from is going to send me an e-mail with all the details like DOB and so on, there was just so much to talk about and try to remember. But he is 2-3 weeks old.

Anyways he has a raspy cough after I feed him. He'll cough 4 or 5 times and thats it until I feed him again. Should I be concerned, or is this rather normal? I think they where using those long red nipples you put on a pop/water bottle, while I've been using a baby bottle...would a longer nipple be better?
And is it normal for them to pee more then poop?

Just to fill in some blanks he gets fed 6oz every 4 hours, other then from midnight till 6am { I don't mind, I've got the time for it} He plays hard and sleeps harder, has been disbudded, and his name is Harold :rolleyes: my fiance named him. And my whole family likes to pass him around like he is a real baby. There is a pic of him on Cookies kidding thred.

Thanks
 

elevan

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I would switch him to the Pritchard nipple (red one)...he's probably getting too much air with the system you are using and it's probably allowing him to drink too fast (compared to what he's been used to).

Peeing more than pooping is normal for anything on a liquid diet. More liquid than solid equals more pee than poop.
 

EggsForIHOP

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Yup...my husband calls the babies all the same name until he figures out who is who - his name for them: U.E. - short for Urinator Extraordinaire, because they always seem to pee on something they shouldn't at some point...it's normal.

Like Elevan said, try switching nipples, even still he may be a gulper that does that cough...I have a few like that and some that are dainty little sippers and never a cough is herd...and one that sneezes at the dog when she's done with her bottle just because...i don't know why...but she runs over and sneezes on Ming...baby goats are just weird like that :)

Don't worry to much, and I think Harold is a nice name. Unique and not too hard to pronounce :)
 

RamblingCowgirl

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Yeah thats what I was thinking. I went with baby bottle becouse when I had Nigerians I couldn't get the little guys to take the Pritchard... I'm not sure if it is due to drama, or getting pawed in the head by a horse. But I seem to have forgotten a whole heap about what I knew about goats. I only had them for a few years befor I had to sell out, but still.

Urinator Extraordinaire sounds like something my dad would come up with. :lol: It was funny to me that my fiance was trying to name him 5 minutes into our drive home. I mite have picked something out 4 or 5 days from now...my family gos into shock if I come up with something with in 24 hours. But he just kept saying Harold this and Harold that :idunno It sure works tho, cuz this little guy has got person-ality

Thanks to you both, I'll give the pritchard nippl a try.
 

20kidsonhill

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switching nipples is a good Idea.

I am also wondering if he seems full after you give him the 6 ounces, or if he drinks it really really fast and seems like he wants more?

6 x 6 ounce bottles+ 36 ounces. That seems like it should be enough for a 2 week old. I have a little boer doeling that is 1 week old and weighs around 9 lbs right now, and she is drinking 4 bottles that are 8 ounces and 1 that is 10 ounces. So she is drinking 42 ounces a day. And she is acting hungry after her 8 ounce bottles. I am lazier than you and her last bottle is 10pm and her next bottle isn't until 6am, so I was letting her drink more at her 10pm bottle to hold her over. How much does your little guy weigh?

Also, if you are warming the milk, try not to warm it quite so much that can slow them down.

Are you holding the bottle fairly low, so he has to squat under it, like mom's udder? That also may help.

I wouldn't make all the changes at one time. If you are going to switch nipples, keep the temp the same.
 

RamblingCowgirl

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I'm not %100 sure, but I've got a little dog that is around 6-7lbs and he is close to that. He is from a set of quads, so they where all a bit smaller is my understanding.
I did try the up & down thing, seems the less he had to push on it the better it went - not as gulpy. He seems happy with the 6ozs for now. When I fed him last he started to slow down on those last few ozs. But if he starts fussing at me ahead of time, or hunting for more, I'll give him a bit more.
I get it just warmer them room temp.
I'm glad the other 2-3 kids I'm hoping to get wernt around yet...I don't want to think about having dozens each year. Lol. Just not ready for that yet. I'd like to fade out one of his feedings, but the odds are I'm going to have those other kid with in the week. I feel better doing a lot of small feeding then a few big ones...that mite have something to do with me always being hungery.
 

AdoptAPitBull

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One of my Lamancha does would cough every single time she nursed. I think she drank too fast and aspirated some. Didn't seem to hurt her as she grew like a weed. Try not letting him drink so fast and it should help.
 

EggsForIHOP

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Just like 20kidsonhill said: try a colder temp for his bottles - that ALWAYS helps to slow the piggy type goats down...it doesn't stop them...but it slows them down considerably and helps a little. If it's a tad closer to chilly than warm they just eat slower. Eventually, they get over it and still go back to drinking like it's the last one ever...but it will help for now.

How big is he at this point? If he's still less than 10lbs, I'd probably start working him towards the 3 20 ounce bottles a day also...slowly, like 3 10 ounce bottles, then 3 11 ounce bottles and so on...if only to save my already dishpan hands from washing so many bottles :) Here they only get a few days of small bottles and then we stop that and switch to 3 bottles, gradually upping the amounts. I have a girl that was born 5lbs and she's a week old...already on 3 14 ounce bottles...that's 42 ounces daily...she's already eating more than your guy and she's already put on in a week close to 2lbs...

I'm over protective to a fault sometimes...and I don't like giving 20 ounces at once to anything that hasn't hit the 10lb mark...but I do try to work them up to it on just 3 bottles a day if I can to keep them on the same schedule as the other goats.

Getting them on those bigger bottles REALLY helps them to grow faster, and it makes your day SO much easier :)
 

RamblingCowgirl

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I started feeding a little more last night, he is getting 7oz now. I just got him on thursday so I did want to change a lot of things. He 8lbs. Some one has to pick up that other nipple today. My mother went yesterday, but forgot about it.

As for bottle temp, he drinks it just as fast. Witch itsn't all that quick anyways. It's like he sucks in air from the corners of his mouth while nursing, I think that a pitchard nipple is going to help.
 
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