I've read that you should give newborn crias colostrum supplements...do you do this only when they aren't nursing from mom or as a supplement the 1st 2 days?
I've not had a cria yet, but to my way of thinking, if the mother is tending to the cria in a normal manner and the cria is feeding right from the get-go, I wouldn't see the need to supplement anything at that point.
If you have issues with the mom rejecting the cria or other extenuating circumstances, then that's a different matter.
I haven't ever heard of giving a cria colostrum supplements instead of the real deal unless the mom rejects the baby or doesn't have any milk. I had one cria years ago that wasn't all there, if you know what I mean , and she couldn't figure out how to nurse for a couple days. I had to milk the mother (not as easy as it sounds!) and bottle feed Cassie just enough to make sure she would be ok, but not enough to fill her up so she'd keep trying. She got it eventually and is *relatively normal* now.
Those supplements are not needed if cria is nursing on mom. If you need colostrum because mom doesn't have it, you need colostrum replacement not supplement. The supplement will not offer a cria what they need.