Bottle baby questions

[kguthrie]

hey guys!
I got my 2 babies (now 2+ months old) nice and healthy and happy, thanks to all who previously gave advice last month.
My husband made a fantastic shed out of tin for them that is plenty big for their futures, and i finally got them out of the house" completely"....phew!!! is it nice to have my house back , carpets cleaned ect.

BUT!!!! I am heart broken, and they are just as sad. They have cried soo much that they have no voices, which makes me cry like a blubbering baby. I am waiting on that "safer" heat lamp but i have one tightly wired in there for them during these cold days. ( 30 + degrees right now)

Question #1 am i feeding them enough / too much?
*2.5 months old
*20+ pounds

I have them on 2 bottles right now about 16oz, or until i feel like they are getting enough, they are eating ALOT of grass hay, love their alfalfa ( I only give a clutched handful of alfalfa 1-2 times a day) and i give then each a 1/2 cup of grain with mineral , and offer baking soda on the side since its been a stressfull few days.
, along with a small mouthful of probios at night.

should they have endless grass hay or could they bloat on it ? (they always look full! even in the morning!)

* I am going to one bottle next week and then planning on weening them within 14 days

Question#2
My original doe kid sheds alot ? I ordered vetRX for ear mites cause i noticed they have tiny bumps in their ears ( they have been deloused)
any idea what else could cause shedding? or do you think its cause she has been indoors soo long?

Question #3 getting them to drink water?
I feel stupid asking this , I've raised goats my whole life, but these are "my" first 2 by myself, without my mom who usually knows all the answers ( she lives 10 hrs away and is kidding at the moment ,soo shes busy lol)
what concerns me is these are my ONLY 2 goats, soo they don't have a heard to learn from. any suggestions on water drinking?
I got one of them to suck a nipple in the water bucket but not the other.
thank you for any suggestions on my questions I feel silly to be soo paranoid but Ive had them both since they were a newborn and 3 weeks old....so my heart is %100.

Makes me want to tell all human kids , to pay more attention and not forget what you learn from your parents and piers when your young hahaha

Thank you!

 

[GLENMAR]

Bottle babies:

Posted by another member here's what I do. Note volumes are listed for standard size goats.
Are yours minis??

Newborn 3 mos

FEEDING:

Any kid under 2 mos of age still needs milk.*
*If the kids is younger, but already weaned, and is eating kid starter feed and hay well, you do not need to put them back on milk if they dont want to take a bottle. Just be sure to feed adequate amounts so they grow to their full potential. Sudden dietary changes can make a goat very sick, very fast.remember to make any changes / additions gradually.

Kids should be trained to a bottle before being sold, but sometimes the mom dies suddenly or other things prevent that. Training a dam-raised kid to bottle can be a challenge. Try sitting above the kid so it is under you and reaching up for the nipple, like it would if it were still on mom.

Bottle feeding:

Feed them 3x a day, with at least 6 hours between feedings.
Whole milk is best (vitamin D from the grocery) unless you have a supply of fresh goat milk.
Some milk replacers work fine, but generally multi species replacers will cause scours and you dont want to risk that with young kids. If the kid is already on replacer and doing fine, use the same replacer throughout the feeding process. If the kid begins to scour, consider switching to whole milk. If replacer is the culprit, the whole milk should straighten them out in a day or so.

Warm the milk as you would for a human baby. A warm water bath or short zap in the microwave will sufficeShake well if you use the microwave, it can cause hot spots.

If you bought them / are buying them from a breeder, ask them for a written-out schedule, how much milk theyre drinking, and what style nipple they are using.
Nipples can be purchased at farm supply stores like TSC, Rural King, etc.
Human baby bottles can be used for mini kids.
Standard kids prefer a bigger nipple, especially as they grow.

A 1 week old kid wont take as much milk as a 2 mo. old kid, obviouslyyou gradually increase the amount given until they peak at around 20oz for standard kids, 12 oz. for mini kids, 3 times per day.

Newborns Newborns NEED colostrums for the 1st 24 hours. If you dont have any, farm stores carry colostrums REPLACER. It needs to say REPLACER, not supplement. Standards take 4-8 oz every 6 hours for at least 3 feedings. 4 is even better.

Suggested feeding schedule for standards (use a little more than half for minis and adjust accordingly. Not every standard kid will eat this much, and some minis may want more). Make adjustments slowly.

Days 2-7

Bottles at 8am - 2pm 9pm 6-8 oz.

Days 7-14

Introduce them to hay. They will probably only play with it at first, but put a little in front of them. Change it daily if its soiled / stepped on.

Bottles at 8am - 2pm 9pm 10-12 oz.

Days 14-60

Introduce them to pelleted feed a good 16% goat ration.
Offer only a handful at first, and change it out daily. They wont eat old feed.
You can research what is a good feed in your area, not all feeds are available in all places and there are many additives you may (or may not) want to consider, such as ammonium chloride to help prevent Urinary Calculi or Deccox / Rumensin to help prevent Coccidiosis.

A good, loose mineral should be offered as well. Be sure it has adequate copper levels and is formulated for

 

[GLENMAR]

goats. Refresh the mineral often, goats will ignore old mineral.

Bottles at 8am - 2pm 9pm 16-20 oz.

2 mos. -

Assuming they are doing well at eating their grain / hay, cut them back to 2 bottles a day and adjust the amount of feed you put out. They will quickly figure out that that empty feeling in their tummy is helped by eating the pellets. 1/8-1/4 cup of feed offered 2x a day.

8am 2pm 20 oz.

2.5 mos.

One bottle, 1x a day, and adjust feed amounts accordingly to roughly 1/4-1/2 cup 2x a day. Meat breeds will need more than dairy, minis less than standards, etc.

3 mos.

No more bottles Youre a big kid now!

 

[GLENMAR]

Yes fresh water always.

 

[kguthrie]

Thanks for the info, but what about the hay.....with grass hay can i bloat them? they eat the hell out of anything I give them. Even the straw ,they eat the heads off it all day.
Im just horrified of bloat.

also * my kids are Boer and Boer/ cross

 

[kguthrie]

 

[kguthrie]

those are my girls above any advice on the mites and hair shedding? as i said i should get some vetRX in the mail tomorrow

 

[rosti]

No, they won’t bloat on grass hay, or alfalfa either, as long as the latter is introduced slowly. I feed all my goats straight alfalfa.

 

[babsbag]

My entire herd eats 100% alfalfa and with 50 goats and over 100 kids I have never had a case of bloat. NEVER. (in 9 years)...knock on wood.

 

[Latestarter]

My 7 get straight 100% alfalfa and never an issue (aside from excess waste) for me either. If you want to give them a real treat, trim some fruit tree (not cherries or pitted fruits) branches (with leaves is even better) or really about any tree branches and give those to them. Mine LOVE bark and leaves.